Solution lies in timely technology integration

Last year, for the fifth consecutive time, Hong Kong International Airport was adjudged as the world's best Airport.

Last year, for the fifth consecutive time, Hong Kong International Airport was adjudged as the world's best Airport. Opened in 1998 with an investment of $20 billion, this greenfield airport was built to relieve the congestion of the island's old airport. A high-speed rail system, two tunnels, two bridges, and a six-lane expressway, besides hotels, retail outlets and convention centers, connect the 34-kilometer stretch from the new airport to the main island.

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If Hong Kong is an ideal case for greenfield projects, the US’ Tucson airport is a recent example of how to modernise existing airports. It changed and upgraded everything from runways to baggage claim conveyors and built new roads.

The above examples can be good case studies for Mumbai and Delhi airports where the former needs to develop a greenfield airport and the latter needs to modernise. The Delhi airport is using only one of its two runways catering to 25 flights an hour as against a word average of 50. Spread over 5,000 acres, the airport has enough space to create four runways and another 50 parking bays and taxiways to remove its worsening congestion.

The essence of airport modernisation is to integrate new technologies into existing infrastructure and develop peripheral amenities. Airports require easy access to terminals, shuttle services, swift baggage clearance, and quick turnaround of aircraft.

An Air Train at the JFK Airport ferries passengers between the terminals, car rental facilities and hotel shuttles. For smooth baggage handling, the airport uses Advanced Package Screening System, a state of the art X-ray equipment. Hong Kong's new airport recently introduced Radio Frequency Identification technology with an investment of $50 million to track baggage efficiently.

Indian airports can learn from Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport where the departures and arrivals baggage handling systems have been upgraded by 20 per cent through 218 check-in desks.

To ensure airport and passenger safety, US airports are experimenting with biometric security to recognise passengers by physical or behavioral traits. JFK Airport plans to install surveillance cameras in cargo warehouses, which will also require authorised personnel to scan their fingerprints on a biometric reader.

India's outdated and problematic air traffic control systems (ATC) can gain valuable insights from 29 countries, including Australia, Britain, and Canada which have successfully corporatised their ATC operations.

Indian airports can also be among the early users of the microwave or GPS landing systems that Europe and US are currently experimenting with. We need to integrate modern technology in our airports not to just make flying smooth but also to ensure that thousands of passengers don't get stranded at airports on foggy winter days.

Airports of the future

* Shall be noticeably quieter due to silent aircrafts under trial

* Will use vertical take-off and landing technologies

* Would use Personal Rapid Transit technologies

* Could be based off-shore on floating platforms

* Would have automated, wireless check-in kiosks

* Might use artificial intelligence for security purposes

* Will have external runways built away from main airports

* Would be essentially vertiports or self sufficient small cities