Made in Holland - Holland Trade

Photo Hollandse Hoogte
yourself check-in facilities, and super-efficient baggage
handling systems comprising hundreds of metres of conveyor
belts in the basements of the airport, through to lightning-fast
iris-scan passenger identity checks – Schiphol has it all. All of
this technology makes the airport a fly wheel in a flourishing
Dutch aviation technology sector, because a large number of
the suppliers come from the Netherlands, and once they have
successfully developed and put their product into operation at
Schiphol Airport they will invariably export it to foreign airports
(see also the article entitled ‘The comfort and convenience of a
business traveller’ elsewhere in this edition of ‘Made in Holland’
for more information).
This situation is not surprising, because technology is often
born of necessity, and the Netherlands is a densely populated
country, which presents more than a few challenges for a major
airport. For example, quieter airport approach procedures and
more bundled approach routes need to be found in order to
comply with noise control regulations. One of the solutions
is a steeper angle of descent, which involves the aircraft, as it
were, ‘gliding’ in to land, because this restricts noise pollution
to a smaller area. An additional advantage of this solution
is that there is less CO2 released into the atmosphere. Krul:
“Special software is currently being developed to make these
ideas reality.” The resulting system will be another display of
innovative aviation technology.
One single, fluid movement
There is also another limitation, and this one is on the ground
rather than in the air, as the increasing motorway congestion is
undermining Schiphol’s accessibility. Consequently, the airport
is working with Dutch Railways to organise certain train stations
in such a way that passengers can easily reach them in their
cars. Then they can take the train to the station underneath the
departure hall. The process can be made even more appealing
by giving passengers the option of checking in on the train
platform.
Schiphol is also continuously working on innovations in its own
area: Joop Krul specifically mentions the ‘Passenger Redesign
Process’. “The ideal is the one-stop model where passengers
move from their car or train to the aircraft in one single, fluid
movement. In the process, a high-quality information system
10 Holland Airport Technology
keeps them informed of all relevant information. The only stop
that remains is the security check. However, long queues at the
check-in desks and the gates, for example, will increasingly be a
thing of the past.” In other words, travelling will become more
comfortable, although Krul is the first to admit that the financial
advantage is also a major motivation: “The traditional check-in
process is extremely costly for the airlines, which is why they are
very enthusiastic about new and more efficient methods.”
This is why Schiphol – more than any other airport in the
world – is literally and figuratively clearing the way for the
do-it-yourself check-ins: there are already a large number of
self-service check-in kiosks in the terminals where passengers
can check themselves in using the data they received on the
Internet. Krul can foresee this trend really taking flight in the
near future, with passengers increasingly printing out their
boarding cards at home. “That still leaves the baggage flows,
of course”, continues Krul. “The future in that regard involves
passengers printing out baggage labels at home and having ID
chips sent to them at home. Once that’s a reality, passengers
can leave their bags with very little fuss at drop-off points,
which could then be in train stations, for example, as well as in
the terminal buildings. This possibility was factored in when the
train station was built under Schiphol Airport because there is
an underground tunnel that can be used to transport bags from
the station platform to the aircraft.”
Nevertheless, there is still a great deal of work to do before all
of these new improvements are actually implemented, since
Schiphol is taking the lead in innovative aviation technology and
has an entire Dutch business sector in tow. Joop Krul stresses
that Schiphol is playing a largely directing role: “We don’t so
much think up something ourselves as ask the question and
bring the necessary parties together to find the answer. Our
great strength lies in the fact that we make innovations possible
and provide a testing ground for them.”
www.schipholgroup.nl
AirportCity Concept
Although Dutch airport technology is often smart, the
AirportCity Concept behind the technology is also extremely
clever. The AirportCity Concept revolves around the fact that
an airport is a city offering its visitors and users everything
that they need, 24 hours a day. The property value is so
high that an enormous return can be made if it is organised
to maximise profit, which is why Schiphol’s terminals are
surrounded not only by extended car parks, but also by
office blocks, hotels and shopping precincts. This objective
can be seen from one look at the map of the airport. The
income from all of these surrounding businesses is invested
in the core activity of organising everything that has to do
with the arriving and departing aircraft. The Schiphol Group
is also developing this concept (or parts of it) at foreign
airports, including in Brisbane, Terminal 4 at JFK Airport in
New York, Stockholm, Jakarta, Milan and Hong Kong.