1. The 3-Tier Process
to Keep Pavements
and Runways in
Top Form
Edinburgh Airport is Scotland's
capital airport with more than 40
airlines
that
serve
100+
destinations and some nine
million passengers a year. With
such huge volume and high
standards of quality, how does
Edinburgh Airport keep its
pavements and runways in top
form? To find out, IQPC’s
Darwin Jayson Mariano spoke to
David Wilson, Chief Operating
Officer of Edinburgh Airport to
discuss how it ensures efficient
operations as well as the latest
trends in airport engineering.
Please give us an overview of
your company and your role in
the organization
Edinburgh Airport is the busiest
airport in Scotland, and the sixth
largest in the UK. We have
approximately 500 staff and
employ 5,000 staff indirectly.
Edinburgh airport has about 40
airlines serving 100 destinations
in the region of 9.3 million
passengers per year. I took up the
role of Chief Operating Officer in
June 2012. In March of this year,
just now, we’ve just been
awarded for being the Best
Airport in the UK for Passenger
Satisfaction.
contractors.
Giving
the
contractors sufficient time to
carry out what that they planned
in a timely fashion and to a high
quality, whilst at the same time,
ensuring safe airport operations
continue.
What are the most common
challenges that you face while
expanding
or
refurbishing
airside facilities? Please share
some details.
First of all was the cost of capital
and
maintaining
a
good
understanding of the return on
investment.
It’s
also
very
important
to
expand
infrastructure in line with
forecasted passenger growth and
aircraft movement growth. So
that’s a very important piece of
information that we need
The critical part is maintaining
operations, so cutting out projects
that were allocated to principal
When
implementing
or
contemplating
airport
expansion,
what
kind
of
dilemmas do you face? How do
you deal with them?
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2. “We have to be very focused on the future
plans of our airline customers to ensure that
we have the right infrastructure in place.”
David Wilson, Chief Operating Officer, Edinburgh Airport
to
contemplate
expanding.
prior
to
Also, working with the airlines to
anticipate in advance, what type
of new fleet they are likely to be
bringing in and if they are going
to upsize the type of aircraft that
they have, for example, 737 up to
757 or a Boeing 777. So making
sure that the infrastructure meets
the needs of the growth and
anticipating both the passenger
numbers and the aircraft size as
taxiways stand around specific
aircraft size and dimensions.
Therefore, we have to be very
focused on the future plans of
our airline customers to ensure
that
we
have
the
right
infrastructure in place.
Do you find it very difficult
proving the ROI or justifying
the cost of capital in these
projects?
Return on investment can be
quite challenging in the current
economic climate, certainly in the
European economic sector at the
present moment. So we have to
balance the cost of capital
projects with some likely income
and growth that we anticipate
and forecast.
Can you share best practices to
keep pavements/runways in top
form?
The common operational basis
we have is what’s called the 3Tier inspection regime. Tier 1 is
carrying
out
four
daily
inspections per day of the
pavement surface by the airfield
operations’ duty personnel. Tier2 inspection is carried out on a
daily basis by a supervisor or
manager on foot, inspecting the
pavement surface and if anything
has been highlighted through the
Tier 1 process. And then Tier 3 is
a larger group of senior managers
carrying out inspections on a
weekly basis of those areas
highlighted as requiring further
investigation and inspections.
We do that on a regular basis and
that is recorded and documented
within our safety management
system. We carry out these 3 level
inspections
with
pavement
engineers as well as airfield
operations duty team so using
their experience and expertise is
essential to ensure that the
pavement surface is free of fault.
And if anything is seen as
deteriorating, we carry out
immediate steps to reduce the
risk of any breakouts or foreign
object debris being produced.
We also have twice yearly,
walking inspections of the field
runway. We walk the runway
from threshold to threshold;
inspecting the field, all the lights
and other areas of the pavement
surface.
What are some of the current
trends that you see in airfield
engineering that will shape the
future of the industry?
I find that there are 2 things
going on in the world of
pavements
and
airfield
engineering. One is the evolution
of LED light settings. LED light
settings
are
slightly more
expensive but LED products
certainly demonstrate or reduce
maintenance requirement and
allows for a reduced utility
consumption
and
electricity
usage. So whilst there is a larger
cost of capital for the installation
and procurement of those LED
lights, there is no doubt that over
a 10-year period, the investment
is well worth it.
The maintenance part required to
keep the lights in good condition,
in
particular
with
lamp
replacement, demonstrates a
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3. good return on investment. So
that is, I believe, something that
is developing further in the
airport
business
globally,
certainly within the United
Kingdom.
The second part I would say is
the development in different
asphalts and pavement surfaces.
There are now new options
available other than Marshall
Asphalt, which is predominantly
being the favorite product for
runway surfaces in the past.
Edinburgh Airport celebrating after award success
18 March 2013
Edinburgh Airport has been named the best in Britain for passenger satisfaction, and one of the three best airports in Europe, at the
Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards for 2012.
No other British airport appears in the European shortlist, which includes Moscow Sheremetyevo, Malta, Keflavik and Zurich, and this is
the second year in a row that Edinburgh Airport has featured in the top three.
Over 250 airports from all over the world are judged, with the very best being recognised and rewarded according to the Airports
Council International (ACI) ASQ passenger satisfaction survey, a global benchmark tool which is used to measure how passengers
perceive their experience of travelling.
Commenting on the announcement, Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: "We are delighted to have been
recognised once again at the ASQ Awards. This announcement is further motivation for Edinburgh Airport to continue to work hard and
provide the best service possible for our passengers.
"The fact that we have again been placed so highly shows that our customers are pleased with the service they receive when travelling
through Edinburgh Airport, something that we will continue to work hard to maintain.
"Ensuring the best passenger experience is one of our top priorities. Having recently launched our Passenger Commitments, we are
confident that 2013 will be the year that Edinburgh Airport reinforces its position as one of the best airports in the world.“
(Source: Edinburgh Airport Media)
David Wilson is one of the distinguished speakers at Airfield Engineering
and Asset Maintenance 2013. To learn more about Best Practices and
Technological Innovations in Airfield Expansions and Maintenance to Ensure
Operational Efficiency and Safety, visit:
www.airfieldengineering.com
IQPC: Please note that we do all we can to ensure accuracy within the transcription to text of audio interviews but that errors may still understandably occur in some
cases. If you believe that a serious inaccuracy has been made within the text, please email darwin.mariano@iqpc.com.sg
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