Plan, develop, deliver
Passenger numbers at Edinburgh Airport continue to grow, despite the recession. Development director Kevan Jamieson tells Jane Bordenave about the airportÔÇÖs plans to keep pace with that growth.
On 26 June this year, Edinburgh Airport saw the highest number of travellers passing through its doors in its 32-year history. ÔÇ£The recession hasnÔÇÖt manifested itself as much at Edinburgh Airport as elsewhere, which can be attributed to the fact that we get quite a mix of domestic and international passengers,ÔÇØ explains the airportÔÇÖs development director, Kevan Jamieson.
ÔÇ£What has changed, however, is the ratio of these different customer sectors,ÔÇØ he continues. ÔÇ£Before the recession, many of our fliers were business travellers catching the red-eye down to Heathrow. But as businesses tighten their belts, the number of passengers on these flights has decreased.ÔÇØ On the other hand, the number of customers taking international flights out of Edinburgh has increased. ÔÇ£The rise of low-cost airlines has offset the reduction in demand for domestic flights and contributed to an overall increase in passenger numbers,ÔÇØ he says.
Jamieson is responsible for the planning, development and delivery of the airport Masterplan, a projection of the growth the airport expects to see over the next 30 years. It is delivered in five-year snapshots, the current edition having been published in 2006, with the next one due to be published in 2011. The plan projects the growth of passenger numbers and a strategy to develop infrastructure and services to support it. However, the numbers forecast are not set in stone. ÔÇ£Before the recession, we had expected growth in annual passenger numbers from nine million in 2008 to 13 million in 2013,ÔÇØ says Jamieson, ÔÇ£but we have to be flexible and responsive to the present situation.ÔÇØ
BAA, which owns Edinburgh Airport, plans to invest £240 million over the next 10 years as part of the Masterplan. A £40 million expansion of the airport terminal is already underway; construction began in early 2009 and is scheduled for completion in 2011. The 5,000 square metre extension will enable the airport to handle 13 million passengers per year. Future builds include new aircraft stands and extending the cargo base.
But the Masterplan does not just focus on accommodating more passengers; it also considers their needs inside the airport. ÔÇ£We have to take into account new technology and new processes. In the past, everyone stood in a queue, baggage in hand, waiting to check in. Now, with advances like self-service check-in kiosks and online check-in, the customerÔÇÖs experience and behaviour is changing,ÔÇØ explains Jamieson. ÔÇ£A passenger travelling for a holiday will have more time on their hands and may be prepared to wait in line but for a business passenger, speed is of the essence and new technology helps them move through the check-in phase more quickly.ÔÇØ Improvements made during the current stage of the Masterplan, including a wider range of shops, restaurants and bars, also enhance passengersÔÇÖ experience of the terminal building.┬á
There have also been investments outside of what the customer experiences directly. There is a new air traffic control tower that replaces the original, which was built in 1977. The new tower gives a 360┬║ view of the surroundings, a feature that the original tower did not have.
Travel to and from the airport is an important part of Edinburgh AirportÔÇÖs plans for sustainable aviation. ÔÇ£Time spent at the airport is only part of the passengerÔÇÖs journey. Their departure starts right from when they leave their house, so access to the airport is also one of our major projects,ÔÇØ says Jamieson. ÔÇ£We are enhancing our public transport connections to and from the airportÔÇöpublic transport is already a popular way to get here, but further encouraging the uptake of travel by the new tram or bus is an important part of reducing our environmental impact.ÔÇØ┬á
Key to this, Jamieson explains, is discouraging ÔÇÿkiss and flyÔÇÖ journeys, where a single passenger is driven to and from the airport by a friend or family member who stays behind. ÔÇ£This involves a total of four car journeys for a single personÔÇÖs flight. Two people go to the airport, the driver goes home, goes back to collect the customer and then finally both return home. This creates unnecessary congestion at the approach to the airport, which is frustrating for everyone, and increases emissions. We hope that by encouraging more passengers to use public transport, we can overcome this problem.ÔÇØ
Although the Masterplan is currently receiving the largest amount of capital investment, asset management is still a top priority, too. The recent resurfacing of the runway, a ┬ú16 million investment carried out in 2008, is an example. Although not particularly ÔÇÿsexyÔÇÖ, resurfacing was a delicate operation of massive importance for customer safety. Carried out in stages overnight so as not to disrupt flights, the new surface is made of hardwearing Marshall asphalt and incorporates grooves to encourage water run-off.
The future of Edinburgh Airport is well planned out, but one must always be prepared for the unexpected, as the recession has demonstrated. ÔÇ£One of our biggest challenges is trying to accurately forecast demand, and how to respond to it accurately with infrastructure and the service we offer,ÔÇØ explains Jamieson. ÔÇ£Progress in technology can present a challenge for us as well. It can help improve the efficiency of car parking, checking in, immigration and so on, but you have to make sure that you fully understand the implications of a piece of technology first, to be sure that it complements the rest of your infrastructure.ÔÇØ
