Passenger Terminal Expo 2017 has been declared a resounding success with a record number of visitors, delegates and exhibitors attending the event on March 14-16 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, the three-day event attracted more than 6,800 visitors, including CEOs, architects, airport and airline executives, suppliers and key decision makers from across the world. PTE 2017 provided an ideal platform for the industry to come together and share its latest news, views and developments.
Normunds Feierbergs, board member of Riga International Airport, said, “It’s been great to see what’s happening in the industry and what the future looks like for the big airports. We also have some big plans for Riga in the next five years and beyond, and the show contains some excellent technologies that we would like to use in the terminal.”
There was a big focus on single token travel this year, with many companies showcasing their latest biometric technologies combined with the latest border gate and bag drop solutions. Demonstrations included SITA’s walkthrough Smart Path experience, Rockwell Collins’ facial recognition bag drop technology, and Safran’s biometric MorphoFACE checkpoint solution. The latest version of Indy Associates’ Caiba concierge robot also drew a lot of attention having returned from its trial at Tokyo Haneda Airport in 2016/2017.
Seating and architecture also played a big part at this year’s Passenger Terminal Expo, with a number of exhibitors showcasing their latest product releases. Highlights include Arconas’ bullet resistant seating, developed in partnership with Amulet Ballistic Barriers. The seating is capable of withstand handgun fire from a .44 Magnum and provides shielding for vulnerable passengers in hostile situations.
Lynn Gordon, vice president of airport solutions, Arconas, said, “We recognize the challenges faced by airports to keep their passengers safe in the event of a crisis. Integrating Amulet’s ballistic barriers with existing furniture is a discrete way of adding security options to protect the public and first responders, as well as giving peace of mind to airport facility operators.”
More information on all the latest product launches from the show can be found at PassengerTerminalToday.com
Passenger Terminal Conference
The conference, which was held alongside the exhibition at the three-day event, hosted 1,300 delegates and more than 375 international speakers.
With a comprehensive nine different streams, conference sessions covered everything from airport cities and design, to security, commercial development, customer service, the passenger experience, future airports and sustainability.
Louise Brix-Hansen, head of airport optimization at Copenhagen Airports, said, “I’ve really enjoyed attending the conference, there’s been a lot of really interesting speakers and I’ve found the venue this year is even better than last year. I work in airport optimization, which applies to all areas of the airport so it’s good to have a wide range of subjects from security and terminal design, to passenger processing and operations. Our hope is to be inspired by the latest technologies and to learn from other airports in terms of previous challenges.”
Highlights from this year’s conference included presentations from the world’s top airports, including Heathrow, Schiphol and Abu Dhabi, on topics such as digital retailing, sustainability and baggage handling. Meanwhile planning and design proved as popular as ever, with the teams developing the mega-hubs of tomorrow in places such as Mexico and Istanbul presenting their plans and ideas.
Topics and issues relevant to all sizes of airports were comprehensively covered, with lively sessions on how to turn-around failing airports using tools such as employee engagement and innovation from Paul Hoback, senior vice president of facilities, engineering and maintenance at Pittsburgh International Airport, and Neil Pakey, chairman, Regional and Business Airports Group.
Other packed out sessions focused on how to automate and improve passenger journeys by using innovative technologies that collect and share data about passenger behaviors, with contributions from experts such as David Sie from Deloitte Real Estate and Curtis Fentress from Fentress Architects.
Skytrax Awards
Passenger Terminal Expo once again played host to the Skytrax World Airport Awards on Tuesday, March 14, recognizing the best airports in the industry. Singapore Changi Airport was triumphant yet again, claiming top spot for the fifth consecutive year. The airport beat a number of other world leading airports in the race to the title including Tokyo Haneda International (Japan), Incheon International (South Korea), Munich (Germany), and Hong Kong International (China).
Lee Seow Hiang (far left), CEO of Changi Airport Group, said, “Winning the Skytrax World’s Best Airport Award for the fifth consecutive year is immense encouragement to our 50,000-strong airport community at Changi Airport, every one of whom is passionate about delivering the most memorable airport experience to our passengers.
“We share this honor with the Changi Airport community and many government agencies and commercial partners. Without their support, we could not have achieved this. Above all, to all of our passengers, thank you for your vote of confidence.”
Other winners at the awards included Copenhagen for Best Airport Security Screening, London Heathrow for Best Airport Shopping and Hong Kong International for Best Airport Dining. Munich Terminal 2 also picked up the World’s Best Airport Terminal accolade and Tokyo Haneda was voted the world’s Cleanest Airport.
A full list of all the winners can be found here.
Passenger Terminal Expo and Conference 2018 will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 20-22. For more information, click here.
More feedback from the show floor…
Exhibitors
“We have been able to meet with a lot of customers. At two minutes past 10:00am there was a flood of people coming towards us.
“It’s great because we put a lot of effort into our presence here. You have a mix of system managers and technical here, so you get to do business and meet the technical people.” Kim Madsen, senior system manager of IT and controls, airport and logistics systems, Beumer Group.
“The Expo is a great opportunity to listen and hear people showcasing their recent project experience. I’ve been looking at some of the sustainable solutions around Schiphol. I’ve also been listening to Bahrain International’s development plans followed by Peter Moore’s presentation from Dubai Airports. It’s also great to catch with colleagues of the past as well as speaking to potential future clients.” Kieron Bradley, head of airfield engineering, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff
“We’re looking to expand our business and the exhibition presented a very good opportunity – so far there’s been an excellent turnout. In our line of work you don’t necessarily seal new deals straight away but you receive enquiries from the show later down the line.” Ivica Matic, business development manager, Magnetic Autocontrol
Visitors
“The Expo’s been great. I’m meeting clients, talking to a lot of the exhibitors and partners, and even checking out the competitors. We’re also looking for some partnering options for some new solutions that we don’t necessarily have in our portfolio. This is a good exhibition and a good venue for networking because you have all the major players here.” Hakan Andersson, director of airports and global transportation, Unisys.
“I’ve been impressed by the breadth of topics and the size of the conference. I’m interested in the detail of airport planning. I wanted to learn how other airports are tackling the common challenges, developing and working to meet passenger expectations.
“The topics are relevant and I am looking forward to visiting the exhibition at convenient times around the conference. I can still download presentations that I’ve missed later on.” Gabriel de Geza, chief engineer, engineering and maintenance, Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana.
“The Expo is great for seeing what’s new to the industry in terms of technology and operations. We always try to offer our clients the best possible solutions, especially software. It’s also great to catch up with our clients and to spend time networking.” Nuria Alsina Pujol, consultant, ALG Transportation, Infrastructure and Logistics