Innovative cabling networks are the foundation for airport digitisation

Nabil Khalil, Executive Vice-President of R&M Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

Airports faced two main challenges prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Airports were looking at how they could support growing traveller capacity and how to modernise their operations. In 2018, for example, the top 20 busiest airports in the world experienced an average passenger growth rate of 5.2%. This growth brough with it challenges around how to boost profits and control costs, how to comply with the latest regulations, how to operate more sustainably and how to enhance safety.

As an example of how expansion to support added passenger capacity required investment, consider Muscat International Airport, which is an R&M customer. The new terminal, a state-of-the-art facility with 28 contact gates, has been designed to handle a flow of 12 million annual passengers, with a net floor area of 340,000 sqm.

Closely related to the need to support growing passenger capacity, airports have also had to modernise their infrastructures with the aim of streamlining operations, increasing passenger comfort, enhancing security and create new revenue streams. Such modernisation is a costly undertaking. Consider Lviv International Airport in Western Ukraine, also an R&M customer.

It was built between 1923 and 1928 and now, its passenger traffic is expected to exceed 3.7 million by the end of this year. As a result, the airport had to undertake a massive $200 million reconstruction project, the completion of which took around two years.

While the request for quotation is important and serves as a guideline, R&M goes much further in having discussions with the airport authority, the project owner, technical authority and other stakeholders. The many hours put in at this phase give a better understanding of the challenges, objectives, and timelines, which technical experts then translate into comprehensive cabling solutions.

The complexity of airport cabling projects is the result of a combination of factors, namely the expanse of cabling, data centre connectivity, Power over Ethernet, redundancy and availability.

Airports are characterised by very large areas being covered by IT infrastructure. This necessitates the use of fibre at a large scale. In the data centre, given the scale of these projects and the volumes of copper and fibre cabling being utilised, there is need for world-class cabling management and automated infrastructure management.

Looking beyond the data centre, PoE is essential for connecting the myriad of devices such as CCTV cameras, sensors, access control systems and more. Without high-density fibre and PoE, these highly modernised airports simply would not be possible.

With airports being 24×7 operations, redundancy is another critical factor. Redundancy must be built not only into the data centre and fibre cabling, but also into the entire network design such that there is no single point of failure. Addressing this is as a design intensive process involves several teams as there are also the elements of compliance, and post-implementation maintenance.

Within terminals, airports typically have a fibre to copper ratio of 70:30, with fibre being utilised for wide scale high-bandwidth connectivity and copper for the connectivity of endpoint devices such as computing terminals, cameras, and sensors. This ratio shifts outside terminal buildings as the fibre density scales vastly to connect the multiple service building that support the main terminal. These fibre networks are designed with high levels of redundancy and even multiple network paths.

The foremost priority for airports in the post-COVID world will be gaining back passenger confidence by ensuring their safety. For this, airports will have to invest in technologies that accurately screen for infected passengers, streamline operations and enable social distancing to be maintained, and enable more cost-effective operations.

For obvious reasons, regulations for IT systems will be very strict as the safety and reliability of the operation of the whole airport depends on the quality of the IT infrastructure. With the increased utilisation and dependence on IT systems in modern air travel, a high-performance cabling network is the critical platform for airport’s entire internal and external telecommunications plus other operational applications and services.

This high-performance cabling network is fundamental to connecting and supporting the key airport systems including its ICT infrastructure for security, police and customs.

Technology can be increasingly leveraged for contactless services – for example in the UAE, smart gates have greatly reduced the human to human interaction through the immigration process. Eye scanners and other equipment can reliably identify people without need for contact. Cabling infrastructure typically features 20-year refresh cycles. For a 24-hours business such as an airport, the highest reliability is essential as any downtime can significantly impact operations and passengers.

Nabil Khalil, Executive Vice-President of R&M Middle East, Turkey and Africa.
Nabil Khalil, Executive Vice-President of R&M Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

 


Key takeaways

  • Complexity of airports is the result of expanse of cabling, data centre connectivity, Power over Ethernet, redundancy, availability.
  • Airports are characterised by very large areas being covered by IT infrastructure.
  • There is need for world-class cabling management and automated infrastructure management.
  • PoE is essential for connecting CCTV cameras, sensors, access control systems and more.
  • Without high-density fibre and PoE, highly modernised airports simply would not be possible.
  • With airports being 24×7 operations, redundancy is another critical factor.