Equipped for airport functioning

Analysing how advanced equipment and solutions are facilitating efficient airport construction and operations.

The Indian civil aviation sector has been exhibiting exponential growth during the last few years. “Going by the annual growth rate of 22 per cent (provisional) for the year 2016-17, the domestic air traffic, carried by scheduled Indian carriers, could reach about 126 million passengers during 2017-18. The provisional annual growth for the year 2016-17 for international air traffic passengers, carried by scheduled carriers is about 10 per cent,” informs Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha recently.

India aims to become the world’s third largest aviation market by 2022 and largest by 2030. In this regard, the government plans to pump in around $ 10 billion to develop airport infrastructure in India in
next five years.

With the aim of expanding aviation network, the government has granted in principle approval for setting up of 18 greenfield airports and site clearance approval for setting up of 7 greenfield airports across the country. Out of these, Mopa Airport in Goa, Navi Mumbai and Shirdi Airport in Maharashtra, Kannur Airport in Kerala, Kushinagar Airport and Jewar Airport in Uttar Pradesh, Dholera Airport in Gujarat, Bhogapuram Airport in Andhra Pradesh, Machiwara Airport in Ludhiana, Alwar Airport in Rajasthan and Rajkot Airport in Gujarat are international greenfield airports. The airport project at Kannur has been completed.

In our subsequent reports, we feature some of the advanced equipment, technologies and solutions that are gaining popularity for efficient airport construction and operations.

Advanced escalators and moving walkways are no longer a fad but essential components for any airport operation across the globe. Moving walkways facilitate passengers to move with heavy luggage, from increasingly long distances between the terminals or to parking and transport stations whereas escalators help moving passengers between levels of airport terminals, train stations, subway stations, and other public transport and urban areas around the world for decades.

As airport runways must withstand the huge forces applied by aircraft landing or taking off, the engineering and construction behind them requires a higher level of quality than for regular roadways. Equipment that is used to build these runways must also meet this performance requirement. Here we feature some of the advanced earthmoving and construction equipment that are used in airport runway construction.

Due to their superior quality, flexibility in designing and durability, steel is increasingly being used in infrastructural applications in almost every airport construction across the world. Here we analyse why steel is a superior choice for airport construction.

Today’s airports are intrinsically designed as architectural masterpieces. However, at times, it becomes difficult to maintain this landmark structures. Here, we featuring some of the most advanced access equipment used for airport maintenance.

2