Electrical Engineering Solutions

SA airports now offer a more streamlined and efficient passenger experience (05/11/10)

The airport infrastructure upgrades for South Africa’s three leading airports, OR Tambo International Airport, Cape Town International Airport and King Shaka International Airport, were all completed in time for the 2010 World Cup.  However, while the upgrades were fast-tracked to meet World Cup deadlines, the airports have in fact for some time needed to be upgraded to enable them to cope with the volume of passengers using them in peak periods each year.

Interestingly, statistics have shown that the number of passengers making use of the airports during the World Cup were lower than the number of passengers using the same airports over traditional peak periods, such as the festive season.

What is not widely known is that the route between Johannesburg and Cape Town is one of the busiest flight routes on the globe.  It has more scheduled flights between the two locations than most similar routes throughout the world. And now that the upgrades are complete, South African airports have greatly increased passenger handling capacity.

Apart from the upgrades making the passenger experience more streamlined and comfortable, with less time needing to be spent at airport terminals, airports have increasingly provided facilities for internet connectivity, enabling businessmen and holiday travelers to conveniently keep in contact with business and personal transactions, at terminals and on aeroplanes.  For example, Wifi hot spots are becoming ever more prominent.

Integral to the upgrades, is technology in the form of intelligent infrastructure.  Cape Town-based Electrical Engineering Solutions (EES) was responsible for project-managing the implementation of Cape Town International Airport’s intelligent infrastructure, and it also provided technical assistance with the integration, commissioning and operational trial testing of over 40 special systems at King Shaka International Airport, north of Durban.

The Cape Town airport’s intelligent backbone carries all the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services at the new integrated terminal.  “This project involved integrating the domestic and international terminals, as well as 25 systems providing services to about 120 stakeholders, in order to streamline operations, boost efficiency, ensure the airport is better utilised and enhance the overall airport experience,” says Bradley Hemphill, Managing Director of EES.

“The new foundation of the entire airport is now the IT network, making Cape Town International Airport an intelligent infrastructure in line with world-wide standards.”

King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) was built from scratch to replace Durban International Airport.  “The systems requiring integration commissioning included the fuel system, aircraft ground lighting (AGL) and associated systems, baggage sortation system (BSS), as well as the services that feed these systems externally and inside the terminal, including IT, Security and life Safety and the associated management systems,” explains Hemphill.

Enhancing the passenger experience does not stop at aeroplane flights and terminals.  “Today it extends well beyond this to include passenger transport and accommodation facilities, which to optimize passenger comfort and convenience, should also operate by means of an intelligent infrastructure,’ Hemphill points out.

In most cases, international air transport hubs have a high speed train linking it to the nearest Central Business District (CBD).  With the construction of the Gautrain, linking Sandton (Johannesburg’s CBD) to OR Tambo International Airport, South Africa is following this trend.  South Africa is also following global accommodation trends, and for those not wishing to leave the vicinity of the airport, OR Tambo now has accommodation in the form of an Intercontinental and a Travel Lodge within very easy walking distance.

Today, those travelling to and within South Africa will by all accounts find the flights, the airport terminals and their overall travelling experiences right ‘up there’ with the best in the world.