Airport industry in dire need of research: Bahrain expert

Manama : Nations need more airport research centres and more studies to promote the growth and development of the airport industry, an expert said during a key event yesterday.

Although a great deal of developments has taken place in the field of airport science, the industry is in need of more research in order to grow, said Airports Arabia Conferance Chairman, Dheya A. Aziz Tawfiqi  at the second edition of the Airports Arabia Conference which opened here yesterday. 

The two-day event which concludes today covers a wide variety of airport related subjects including planning, airport design, airport engineering, architecture, baggage handling system, fuelling systems, airport presentations etc. The event was organized by Bahrain Society of Engineers at Mövenpick Hotel.

“As the Chairman of this Conference, I want to send three messages.  Firstly, the need to have an in-depth master plan coupled with the strategic plan with emphasis on flexibility for every airport, which must be updated regularly.  Second, the need to establish more research centers in the industry. Third, to have specific progammes for qualifying airport engineers,” he said.

“Airport industry continues to grow worldwide to meet the demand of air transport coupled with the rapid technological development in aircraft technology and its consequences on airport planning and design. Airport statistics show continuous increase in figures related to airport development.  Airport industry deals with astonishing figures with every respect. For example, the total cost of construction of airport projects worldwide in 2016 was about $560 billion. The share of Middle East airports was about $90 billion. The total annual global passengers reached 7.7 billion in 2016 and the total airport revenue reached $152 billion.” he said. 

“Airport industry and construction is quite complex as it is a unique industry in requiring very high amount of precision planning, engineering and implementation to meet the objectives of airports related to security, safety, efficiency and many others. Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the airport industry is the capability to adjust with the continuous technological development in airport. This shall obviously take us to the basics and the need for precise master planning which cannot be done without a well-studied strategic plan,” he added.

“Having highlighted the figures related to airports and despite the technological advancement that went in airport science, there is still a great need for more researches and studies in airport fields.  It is very clear that airports worldwide, have not been subject to implementation of the required researches compared to the amounts of investments,” he said.