BIAL Official Updates January 2008

Official updates for January 2008 The integrated trial phase is on at the Bengaluru International Airport. This stage signals the final trial phase of the airport and involves integrating various processes to simulate real life airport operation. The integrated trial phase will continue till next month. The trials held earlier in the months of January and February included basic and advanced trials. The advanced trials continue and involve testing of combinations of basic processes and stress tests to check capacity of installations, systems and the staff. These trials test the capacity of different sub-processes and eventually show critical areas and possible obstacles. Based on the feedback received, processes are improved and/or fine-tuned. The Airport Readiness Programme (ARP) consists of Core and Complementary Processes that need to be tested. BIAL follows a guideline termed FISH to ensure that each of these processes are addressed and are ready. FISH is defined as follows: Facilities Different facilities required for different processes Information Work orders, manuals, checklists, standard operating procedures, etc Systems Computer systems including hardware and software Human Resources People involved in various processes which also involves trained manpower The six core processes are as follows: Aircraft Guidance: Simulation of the on-ground process begins when an aircraft lands, parks and disembarks. Similarly for a departing aircraft, the process begins from the time the aircraft pushes back till it takes off. Aircraft Handling: All ground handling concessionaires that come into play once an aircraft is parked, simulate and coordinate aircraft handling processes including passenger boarding bridges, refueling, flight catering and movement of ground vehicle services. Passenger Process: The complete passenger flow from check in to boarding is simulated. Mock passengers check-in, pass through security check and depart for the passenger boarding bridges through the departure lounge. Manual passenger check-in, in case of a system failure is also simulated. Baggage Process: The baggage process is simulated right from check in to labeling and passage through the inline X-ray screening system. Both automatic as well as manual screening processes are tested. The reverse process is also tested for arriving baggage where it is transported through the conveyor belt to the baggage carousel in the baggage make-up area. Cargo Process: Cargo loading involves palletization, a process where various types of outgoing cargo are sorted depending on the destinations they are headed to. Cargo unloading involves de-palletization of incoming cargo. These processes are simulated and cargo manifests are prepared which comprise of detailed computerized data of the cargo. Operational Airport Management: This concept is new to Indian airports and ensures smooth and efficient airport operations. The Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC) is the nerve centre of the new airport where representatives of all the various organizations operating at the airport are stationed. This set up encourages and enables automatic sharing of information. For this trial phase, the Flight Display System is simulated, the Location Management System is tested and operational data is validated. The above core processes are supported by the following six complementary processes: Landside Airport Access, Commissioning & Utilities, Safety, Security, Licensing and Relocation from HAL airport.