Gearing up for the A380 at CAAS
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Posted Date: 16/06/2008
Issue: Airside International June 2008
Publication: Airside International
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has spent $68 million to prepare Changi Airport’s Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 for the A380’s flight operations to Changi Airport. Since the late 1990s, CAAS’ Airport Planning Section in the Engineering and Real Estate Development Division spearheaded the preparations for Changi Airport to handle the A380. The team, comprising some 10 technical staff representing different fields of expertise, worked closely with other airport counterparts, such as those in apron control and management, airfield lighting, ground handlers, airlines, pilots as well as the aircraft manufacturer, in preparing Changi to receive the A380.
Tackling the airfield
The modification works to existing airport infrastructures began in 2004 and were completed in 2006. A380 requirements have also been incorporated into the design and construction of Terminal 3.
Works include widening of runway shoulders, runway-taxiway and taxiway-taxiway intersections, modification of gates and taxiway bridges, extension of baggage belt carousels and construction of two new A380-compatible remote aircraft parking stands and two A380-compatible freight aircraft stands.
The runway length and width at Changi Airport are adequate to handle the A380. However, the original 3m wide runway shoulders had to be widened to 7.5m on each side to meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s safety requirements for A380 operations. Fillets at the junctions of taxiways were reconstructed and enlarged to cater for at least a 4.5m safety separation between the outer gears of aircraft with a long wheel base (such as the A380) and the edge of taxiways in line with international design and safety recommendations.
The two taxiway bridges spanning Airport Boulevard (a roadway linking Changi Airport to the rest of Singapore) were designed from day one to support A380 loading. However, jet blast deflector fins have had to be added along the sides to shield public road users of the Airport Boulevard situated below from the jet blast emitted from the outboard engines of the A380, which stretched outside the bridge platform.
CAAS has also acquired four new ultra large foam tender vehicles to replace its older vehicles and two emergency evacuation air stairs. The air stairs will enable firefighters to have quick and direct access to the upper deck of the A380.
Passenger flows
Works have also been carried out in the passenger terminal buildings. Five and six existing gates in Terminals 1 and 2 were modified respectively while Terminal 3 has eight gates that can serve A380 flight operations when the terminal opened on January 9, 2008. Each of these gates has also been installed with an additional fixed gangway and a third aerobridge. In all, Changi Airport will have 19 enlarged gate hold rooms to accommodate A380 flights. Two baggage belt carousels in Terminal 1 and four baggage belt carousels in Terminal 2 were also extended to accommodate the larger volume of arrival bags for A380 flights.
Besides modification works, CAAS has to make provisions for an adequate quantity of equipment and manpower to be in place, where required, to cope with the increased number of passengers through the entire departure and arrival process to ensure swift and efficient processing of passengers. For example, each A380-compatible gate hold room has been equipped with three x-ray machines, compared with two x-ray machines in other gate hold rooms. In addition, ground handlers may also deploy more personnel in the gate hold room to assist in boarding card processing and ushering of passengers onto the right deck.
Timely and efficient
These modification works had followed the original timeline for the A380’s entry into service. Changi Airport's planning philosophy has been to ensure that the airport infrastructure was ready and in time to meet new aviation requirements. Although the A380’s arrival was delayed, Changi Airport has been A380-ready since November 2005. This was proven during the four trips the A380 made to Singapore before its commencement of commercial operations on October 25, 2007.
During each trip, different trials including loading and unloading of cargo containers, docking of catering trucks, docking of aerobridges and security screening timing at the gate hold room were conducted. Volunteers were also roped in to participate in the trials to simulate passenger flow boarding and disembarking the A380, and also passenger flow via the three aerobridges.
The four visits gave stakeholders the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the A380’s handling requirements. For example, staff from SIA Engineering were familiarised with the marshalling and servicing of the aircraft. Furthermore, planners and air traffic controllers also took the opportunity to check the runways, taxiways and apron parking stand to ensure obstacle clearances were fully met and mapped out several routes for the aircraft to taxi around for testing purposes. These tests and trials proved that the efforts of many parties in preparing for the arrival of the A380 had come to fruition.
Looking into the future of aviation, passenger traffic is expected to soar and the trend will change. Currently Changi Airport has sufficient capacity to handle all the flights operating into the airport. Changi's capacity will grow even higher, to about 70 million passenger movements per year, from the time Terminal 3 opened for flight operations on January, 9 2008.
With the larger passenger load each A380 will bring, the aircraft is able to carry more passengers in the same slot, allowing more efficient usage of the airport’s capacity. This is advantageous for both the airport and the airlines, in view of the expected continued strong growth in passenger traffic.
CAAS will also continue to review its facilities and processes, including manpower deployment, to ensure that the movement of passengers is not compromised.
UFIS plays an integral role in the departure of the A380 from Singapore
UFIS Airport Solutions’ software suite has played an integral role in the preparation for the departure of the A380 from Singapore. UFIS is used by Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS), a key ground handler at Changi International Airport, to make sure the right personnel was in place for services such as fueling and servicing the aircraft. CAAS used the location management features of UFIS to ensure that a parking stand big enough to handle the A380 was reserved and available for the first flight. UFIS Status Manager module, providing a graphical overview of the statuses, was used to make sure each service was completed in time for an on-time departure.
The UFIS software was optimised two years ago to handle the A380. For example, the gate and position planning and management system can handle dual-use positions and sub-positions. Many airports handling the A380 will have dedicated positions for this aircraft type. However, there will not always be an A380 at that position all the time. Using a matrix function and rules which define which aircraft can be adjacent to each other and which cannot, a position reserved for an A380 can be used by one or more aircraft at the sub-positions when not in use by an A380.
CAAS awards tender for next generation air traffic control system
CAAS has awarded its tender for a new air traffic control system to Thales. The new air traffic control system, known as LORADS III (which stands for Long Range Radar and Display System III), will replace the current system, LORADS II. The contract is valued at over S$300 million,Thales will customise the system to suit CAAS' specific requirements, and will provide both technical and operational training to enable air traffic controllers to transition smoothly to the new system. In addition, Thales has set up a regional Customer Support Centre in Singapore to provide after-sales support for LORADS III as well as for the region.
LORADS III will enable air traffic controllers to handle safely increasing air traffic beyond the next decade. It will also employ advanced surveillance and communications technologies to build in tighter safety nets and streamline air traffic management processes. LORADS III will be implemented in two phases, with the first phase to be completed in 2010 and the second phase in 2012.
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