AIRPORT WORLD 2021, ISSUE 01

VIEW THE ISSUE HERE

Theme: Safety & Security
Airport report: Nashville
Special report: Vertical take-off and landing taxis
Plus: Airport design, IT innovation & People matters

Carefully does it

Airport World editor, Joe Bates, considers some of the health and safety challenges facing airports in this ‘safety and security’ themed issue.

Nearly a year on from the global outbreak of COVID-19 and with vast parts of the world still in lockdown, in some ways it feels like everything, and yet nothing, has changed over the last 12 months.

Hands up those of you who, upon first hearing about the threat of the coronavirus, thought that it wouldn’t spread to where you live, and if it did, it would all be over in a matter of weeks?

I know I did, yet exactly a year on from the first national closure of UK plc, the country is still in lockdown and like millions of others,

I haven’t seen most of my family or any of my friends in this time.

It has been tough, and obviously much harder for those that have lost jobs and most devastatingly family and loved ones to this dreadful disease, but maybe, just maybe we are at last beginning to see the beginning of the end of the pandemic with the global rollout of vaccines now in full swing and countries starting to talk about lockdown exit plans.

What happens next in terms of the re-opening of borders and relaxing of existing quarantine rules – on February 15, the UK introduced a new law effectively requiring all new arrivals to quarantine in government sanctioned hotels for 10 days at a personal cost to them of £1,750 each – will determine how quickly the aviation industry recovers from the worst downturn in its history.

In the meantime, all that airports can really do is to continue to demonstrate that they are going out of their way to ensure that they are COVID-19 safe environments for both passengers and staff.

We have, of course, covered many of these initiatives before and, as you would expect, we touch on many again in this ‘safety and security’ themed issue, along with a combination of some of the more unusual, new and ACI World driven developments.

But it’s not all about the pandemic, as the themed section also contains features about airfield safety and the safe return of operations post-COVID; the drone threat to airports; and how digital solutions can help ensure healthier and safer airports.

We also hear from INTERPOL’s secretary general, Jürgen Stock, and take a look at some of the latest security news and developments from around the world.

Elsewhere in the issue, ACI World director general, Luis Felipe de Oliveira, shares his thoughts on the challenges of the year ahead and how, with more government assistance, the industry can eventually get back on track, and still allow passenger numbers to double over the next 20 years.

Our main feature is on Nashville International Airport, where we learn more about the gateway’s ambitions – and some exciting infrastructure development projects – from Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority’s president and CEO, Doug Kreulen.

We also shine the spotlight on IT innovation at Qatar’s Hamad International Airport and, in a global airport design feature, report on Bahrain International Airport’s new terminal and a host of planned new facilities in Helsinki, Seattle-Tacoma, Dublin and Delhi.

Looking even further into the future, we report on plans for new electric vertical take-off and landing air taxi services in Singapore and the United Kingdom, whose development might be nearer than you think.

The latest news, views and developments from ACI’s World Business Partners and our regular ‘People Matters’ column, which this time out addresses the topic of psychological safety, rounds-up the editorial content of this issue.

I hope that all sounds good and makes for an interesting and positive read in our first issue of 2021, which looks set to be another eventful year for the world’s airports.