How will the airports of the future embrace digitalisation?

Is new airport infrastructure soon to become digital?

A lot of airport infrastructure already is. Our thinking, working and doing is increasingly ‘digital’ in nature.

Design and delivery of airport infrastructure is increasingly influenced by digital technologies and ways of working. For example, Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) is the design of assets where the asset data created through the design process efficiently supports the manufacturing to the manufacturing process, through to onsite delivery and assembly. The digital asset supports rehearsals for logistics, and construction sequencing. The asset information flows in and out of client or supplier-managed platforms for storing, managing, presenting and repurposing the content in order to support decision making through the asset refresh cycle.

Digital technologies such as biometric deployments support process optimisation and in some instances a step change in the operating model for airports. These changes can provide a reduction in infrastructure requirements (we build less) and/or dramatically increase throughput and provide a significant investment return for airlines, handlers and asset owners/operators.

Increasingly cost effective IoT solutions and platforms which provide predictive maintenance capabilities and analytics can help asset owners and operators gain better insight into the performance of airport infrastructure.

How do you help airports face the future in a responsible and sustainable way?

A priority for Atkins is helping our aviation clients reduce the environmental impact of their infrastructure projects.

For example, river corridors and road bridges have been designed to enhance and improve biodiversity; landscaping around new terminal and runway assets can sequester carbon into the soil to avoid it being released into the atmosphere. Carbon sink meadows absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the environment.

Mobility-as-a-Service and modern technology solutions promote more sustainable surface access strategies from a diversity and inclusion perspective. This can be seen in our TOC Ability pilot. TOC Ability is designed to be an adaptable and intuitive intelligent mobility solution, capable of better managing accessibility needs through enhancing the accessibility and inclusivity of services for vulnerable users, by using an innovative digital platform to share their journey requirements with the asset operator.

How can airports get the most out of investments and more from their assets?

Investment is required to understand and manage asset condition and establish robust asset investment planning. This is where true savings lie, through a professional and informed team, using up-to-date asset performance data and taking a leading role by interfacing productively with finance and treasury teams and optimising investment plans to deliver enhanced value rather than managed reductions in annual budgets by a few per cent or a few heads each year.

How will airport design in the future be different from today?

Our design and delivery approach will evolve and we will become ever more collaborative and digitally connected.

The work of the Integrated Design Team (IDT) on Heathrow’s Expansion Programme is a great example of forward thinking; the IDT model meant that Heathrow could invest in and develop British talent and technology, and hone this collaborative approach, setting a model for future infrastructure projects.

In terms of airport design, safeguarding flexibility will become a dominant theme. Spaces will be re-imagined and redesigned according to technological advancement and innovation.