Top Ten International Mega Airports For Connectivity

London Heathrow has taken the number one spot in OAG’s annual list of the top 50 international megahubs, with the top three airports all hailing from Europe.

Frankfurt took second spot while Amsterdam is in third place.

However, Heathrow was the only UK airport to feature in the top 50 list.

Measured through OAG’s connections analyser, the list looks at those airports with the highest ratio of possible scheduled international connections to the number of destinations served by the airport.

John Grant, senior analyst at OAG, said: While London Heathrow tops our connectivity index, it has the potential to cement its number one spot through more extended services within the UK but also by opening up to more low-cost airlines, which will inevitably happen when the third runway is operational.

On a single day in July there were over 72,000 possible international connections between flights arriving at London Heathrow and flights departing within a six-hour window.

Interestingly, only London Gatwick featured in OAG’s top 25 list of international low-cost megahubs, placing at number 20 with the list largely dominated by Asia-Pacific airports.

Grant said the importance of international connectivity has an obvious link to potential economic performance for those cities that have ranked among the most internationally connected and clearly, Heathrow is a convenient connecting airport for travellers from Eastern Europe and ASPAC looking to reach North and South America.

Top ten international mega hubs for connectivity:

- London Heathrow, UK.

- Frankfurt, Germany.

- Amsterdam, Netherlands.

- Chicago O’Hare, USA.

- Toronto, Canada.

- Changi Airport, Singapore.

- Jakarta, Indonesia.

- Atlanta, USA.

- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

- Paris Charles de Gaulle, France.



Tourism Observer

KAZAKHSTAN: SCAT Airlines Migrating Moscow Flights To Vnukovo

Kazakhstan’s SCAT Airlines is in the process of switching the destination airport for its three Moscow services from Domodedovo to Vnukovo. The carrier performed its first flight into Vnukovo from Aktobe on September 6. By October 29, it will have similarly changed the Moscow destination for its other two routes, from Shymkent and Aktau.

This is our 20th year in operation, and we are currently working to develop our route network,SCAT Vice-President Marketing Alexandra Sytnik said.

At the current stage, we find that Vnukovo offers convenient maintenance options, an appealing price policy, and a chance of concluding agreements with other airlines.

We have also received multiple requests from passengers to transfer to Vnukovo, which is located closer to the city and offers connection flights that are interesting to them.

Sytnik added that moving to Vnukovo should help the carrier keep its current prices despite the weaking Kazakhstani currency.

SCAT is the first Kazakh airline to launch flights to Vnukovo.

The Russian capital city is a key destination for the airline, which expects traffic on its Moscow routes to grow further.

In the first seven months of 2017 the figure stood at 33,800 passengers. up 16.5% year-on-year.

The carrier also plans to develop its route network through interline, code-sharing, and special prorate agreements.

We believe that Vnukovo will help us with this, Sytnik announced at the inauguration news conference for the Aktobe-Moscow route.

We will thus offer a great network of connection flights to Kazakh citizens, whereas Russian citizens will avail of our domestic route network, which is the most extensive in Kazakhstan.

This will give travelers the possibility to reach the farther corners of our country.

Sytnik said that SCAT is currently negotiating a possible interline and special prorate agreement, complete with full baggage transfer, with Russia’s UTair Aviation.

The latter uses Vnukovo as one of its bases, and performs about 160 flights per day from there.

SCAT Airlines currently operates 45 domestic and 22 international routes.

Its international destinations are in CIS countries and Georgia, as well as in China and Turkey.

The airline offers routes to several Russian cities other than Moscow, including Astrakhan, Krasnodar, Sochi, Makhachkala, Mineralnye Vody, and Kazan.

At present, SCAT is not allowed to operate flights between Moscow and Kazakhstan’s two largest cities, Astana and Almaty: the current intergovernmental agreements permits the two countries to designate only one operator each for these routes.

For the same reasons, Sytnik said the carrier cannot fly from Astana to Zhukovsky, another airport serving Moscow.

The airline believes that Zhukovsky offers great potential for cargo transportation.

The carrier is considering launching flights to Russia’s Orenburg, Chelyabinsk and St. Petersburg, and might relaunch operations to Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, and Tomsk.



Tourism Observer

TURKEY: Istanbul’s Third Airport To Provide For Flights To More Than 350 Destinations

Turkey’s aviation sector, which grew by 14 percent over the past decade, is expected to grow even further once the Istanbul Third Airport becomes operational.

The airport, set to open Oct. 29, 2018, is expected to be the largest airport in the world when completed in 2023 and will serve as Turkey’s primary airport and a hub for connecting flights between Europe and Asia.

The airport will serve 90 million passengers annually once the first stage of the project is completed in the first half of 2018.

Last month, Transport, Maritime Affairs, and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan announced the number of employees working on construction of Istanbul New Airport reached 30,000, while 57 percent of the project was complete.

He added that they were aiming to reach 35,000 employees soon and estimated that direct and indirect employment would rise to 225,000 once the airport is completed.

The airport is expected to provide opportunities for flights to more than 350 destinations for nearly 100 airline companies.

According to the best-case scenario, as of 2025, 120 million passengers, including 35.5 million domestic and 84.9 million international fliers, will be served in and out of the airport.

While passenger traffic expectations for 2025 was 120 million, 69 percent of passengers were expected to travel internationally, while 31 percent were expected to travel on domestic routes.

Arslan previously said that Istanbul New Airport, currently under construction, will contribute greatly to the Turkish economy and to employment rates, noting that it will make very serious contributions to trade and is expected to generate 4.9 percent for the gross domestic product (GDP), with an additional $79 billion obtained just through the airport.

The minister added that Turkey’s aviation sector has made great advances due to the emphasis placed on aviation by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), asserting that the liberalization of the sector allowed it to expand and pointed to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s instructions to make airlines the way of the people.


Tourism Observer

JAPAN: Japan Prepares Airport Infrastructure For 2020 Olympics

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on Japan to prepare its airport infrastructure for the 2020 Olympics and future growth of the tourism industry using joined-up thinking and extensive consultation with industry.

Japan has set aggressive targets for attracting international tourist arrivals.

In 2016 Japan welcomed some 24 million international tourists.

In the 2020 Olympic year, Japan hopes to welcome 40 million visitors, who are expected to spend some $70 billion (JPY 8.0 trillion). And the 2030 target is to attract some 60 million overseas visitors with expected tourism receipts of $130 billion (JPY 15.0 trillion).

Successful infrastructure planning will play a key role in the continued growth of tourism in Japan.

The development of Tokyo-Haneda’s international network, the privatization of Sendai and Osaka’s Kansai and Itami Airports; and continuous efforts to improve competitiveness by reducing costs and optimize infrastructure all are welcome developments.

“Not that long ago Japanese airports were the most expensive in the world.

They are not cheap today, but Kansai and Narita have dropped from among the ten most expensive to 13th, and 23rd, respectively. We are moving in the right direction and there is still more to be done—particularly at Haneda which is bucking the positive trend by raising charges,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO, in a speech delivered today to the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

IATA is calling for economic regulation of airports to ensure that there is a proper balance of public and commercial interests when charges are set. As critical national infrastructure, airports must play a role in building national competitiveness.

However, as monopoly service providers there is not always the incentive to do so.

“It’s a real issue for airlines. To be successful in a highly competitive environment, airlines have restructured and improved the efficiency of their operations.

Doing so has allowed them to improve profitability even as average airfares fell by 45% since 2000. Over the same period, on a global basis airport costs have risen by some 29%c.

The initial results of Japan’s airport privatization have been positive.

In recent weeks agreements for charges reductions were signed for Kansai and Sendai airports. “This is a positive start, particularly as Japan has no formal economic regulation in place.

I hope that Japan has found a formula that will work long-term. The eyes of the world’s aviation community will be following developments closely,” said de Juniac.

Along with being competitive and affordable, airports must also be efficient and provide sufficient capacity to meet market demands.
In preparation for this growth, IATA urged a comprehensive plan for the development of a more competitive Japanese air transport infrastructure:

Smart Security: In January Japan’s first Smart Security implementation became operational at Kansai International Airport. It is delivering a better passenger experience along with more effective security.

With Smart Security implementation assessments having been completed at Narita, de Juniac encouraged Japan to become a model for Smart Security implementation in time for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Terminal Efficiency: While Japan is a leader in self-service technology for domestic operations, many features are not available for international travelers.

To maximize terminal efficiency in advance of the Olympic Games, IATA urged Japan’s airports to prioritize enabling international travelers to take advantage of mobile boarding passes, kiosks and home-printed bag tags.

Airspace Efficiency: IATA expressed its support for the Collaborative Actions for Renovation of Air Traffic Systems (CARATS) to deliver the promised doubling of airspace capacity.

Airspace is a particular constraint in Tokyo and IATA also called for government efforts to alleviate congestion by opening more airspace over central Tokyo.

In the long-term, cooperation with US military authorities, which control significant parts of Tokyo’s airspace, should also yield more capacity.

Low Cost Terminals: IATA recognizes the significant capacity enhancements achieved through the development of “Low Cost Terminals” at Kansai and Narita Airports.

It, however, urged that costs and benefits of future developments be carefully considered. “All airlines want lower costs. So we should first maximize the utilization of capacity at existing facilities before building new infrastructure for a specific business model.

And before terminals are built, proper cost-allocation and long-term commitments from the users are essential,” said de Juniac.

Coordination: Tokyo will continue to be the primary gateway to Japan and there needs to be clarity on the long term roles of the Japanese capital’s two airports – Haneda and Narita – so that capacity can be developed in line with market demands and with a well-coordinated and defined future vision.

The Olympics are an important milestone and an impetus to get things done. But it must be part of a long-term joined-up planning process focused on the big prize of welcoming 60 million visitors to Japan annually —and keeping Japanese businesses and people efficiently linked to the world,” said de Junaic.

Aviation accounts for 1.8% of Japan’s GDP. In Korea, it is 3.1%. “The rapidly expanding tourist industry will help to close that gap.

Much of this is with short-haul services by budget carriers.

This is meeting a market need that will, for sure, continue to grow. But we mustn’t lose sight of other important market segments as well.

Long-haul and hub connectivity also have potential for further growth.

But the conditions must be right—sufficient capacity, efficient operations and affordable costs. To fully realize Japan’s aviation potential, we need joined-up thinking and a clear long-term vision.

There is a lot at stake. A healthy aviation industry generates both economic and social benefits that help people live better lives. Aviation is, after all, the business of freedom,” said de Juniac.

GHANA: Ho Airport Phase One Commissioned By President Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama commissioned the first phase of the Ho Airport project last Friday.

The project includes a 1,600metre runway with width of 45metres, a taxi way, an apron and two parking base for aircraft.

The President’s helicopter touched down on the tarmac at 1300 hours to a rousing welcome from the people, most of whom were clad in National Democratic Congress (NDC) party paraphernalia.

President Mahama stated the resolve of his government to turn the country into an aviation hub in West Africa and called for support from all.

He said the government had reduced aviation fuel to 25 per cent and was rebuilding and expanding aerodromes and airports towards positioning the country for that status.

President Mahama said the Ho airport and that of Wa, in the Upper West Region would be opened for commercial flights next year.

The President who also cut the sod for commencement of work on the second phase of the Ho project, expressed the hope that the airport would boost trade and tourism in the Region.

Mr. Fiifi Kwetey, the Minister of Transport said the completion of phase one of the project showed the government’s commitment to opening up the country for massive development.

Togbui Kasa III, Chief of Ho Ahoe expressed gratitude to President Mahama and appealed for more projects in the Region.

The second phase of the Ho airport project comprises a terminal with an air traffic control tower, a commercial area, rescue and firefighting station and an electrical power substation.

GHANA: Construction Terminal 3 At Kotoka International Airport Underway

Construction work on the new terminal three at Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Ghana set to begin by April this year. The project is scheduled for completion by December 2016.

The new terminal will be situated at the round airside stretching to the Old Fire Service area, to the Hanger area of KIA according to sources, and will have a capacity of 5million passengers a year. The airport terminal construction plan comes after the country registered gradually growth in demand for the international flights, thus putting pressure on airport facilities.

However, one of the construction firm has already been awarded the project tender; it has also been confirmed that the handover of the project is expected is expected to be finalized by end of March.

The planned airport terminal construction project aims at positioning Kokota International Airport as the hub for aviation business in the sub-region, and it will be operating along with three terminals, of which one will handle domestic activities while the remaining two handles international travels.

Furthermore, facilities at the current arrival and departure halls at Terminal 2 are set to undergo upgrading and activities will temporarily be moved to the new terminal while managers begin the upgrade.

SOUTH AFRICA: Plans To Merge National Airlines Underway

South Africa will explore merging two of its state-owned airlines, South African Airways (SAA) and SA Express, and seek a minority equity partner for the company, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday.

Many of South Africa’s 300-odd state entities are a drain on the government’s purse and a team commissioned by President Jacob Zuma to review the companies recommended that some companies should be sold.

Treasury said in its 2016 budget review the government was implementing recommendations of the committee and would examine private sector participation in the state-owned companies.

“We do not need to be invested in four airline businesses,” Gordhan said in his budget speech.

“(Public Enterprises Minister) and I have agreed to explore the possible merger of SAA and SA Express, under a strengthened board, with a view to engaging with a potential minority equity partner, and to create a bigger and more operationally efficient airline.”

Treasury said the financial position of SAA has deteriorated and in the event of a default, the government would likely be called to pay a portion of its guarantee to the airline, which stands at about 14.4 billion rand ($939.3 million).

“Government will seek opportunities to enter into strategic partnerships that allow SAA to draw on private-sector capital and technical expertise to improve its performance and expand its network,” Treasury said.

South Africa’s state-owned firms range from SAA to power utility Eskom and logistics group Transnet, among others.

Eskom was expected to receive a 23 billion rand cash injection from the government, but Gordhan said Treasury had delayed giving the power utility the remainder of 2 billion rand until it complies with equity allocation conditions, such as cost cuts and improving maintenance.

Treasury allocated 4.5 billion rand over the next three years for the implementation of the National Health Insurance, which is still in the pilot phase, as the government seeks to make healthcare services affordable for all South Africans, irrespective of whether they are rich or poor.

Gordhan said further details on financing of the scheme, expected to be rolled out in three phases over a 14-year period, will be released soon.

SOUTH AFRICA: AFRAA Stages Its 4th Stakeholders Convention

The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) successfully staged its 4th Aviation Stakeholders Convention at the Emperors Palace in Johannesburg – South Africa. The event had over 350 registered delegates from 40 countries consisting of airlines, suppliers, solution providers, airports, Civil Aviation Authorities and ATNSs. The Convention, which was held under the theme, “Building and Sustaining Strong Partnerships” deliberated on issues covering the aviation industry in Africa with a focus on intra-Africa connectivity, partnerships, cost control, demand expectations, technology and use of mobile applications in aviation.

The Convention was held under the patronage of the Department of Transport of the Republic of South Africa and was co-hosted by South African Airways. The conference provided a platform for users and suppliers of aviation products, solutions and services to showcase new developments and innovations, discuss industry trends, network and forge beneficial partnerships. From the excellent opportunities for networking, high quality presentations and debates from different experts on a wide variety of subjects relevant to the growing needs of the aviation industry on the continent, delegates had a valuable experience at this year’s Convention.

Opening Ceremony speeches

• Welcome and opening remarks by Dr. Elijah Chingosho, AFRAA Secretary General

• Remarks by Mr. Barry Kashambo, Regional Director – ICAO Eastern and Southern African (ESAF) Office

• Remarks by Ms. Poppy Khoza, Director , Civil Aviation - South Africa Civil Aviation Authority

• Remarks by Mr. Nico Bezuidenhout, Ag. CEO – South African Airways

• Remarks by Mr. Raphael Kuuchi, Vice President, Africa - IATA

• Remarks by Mr. Samuel M. Gaiya, AFCAC Legal Advisor on behalf of AFCAC Secretary General, Ms. Iyabo Sosina

• Speech on behalf of Hon. Dipuo Peters, Minister of Transport of South Africa

Presentations

• Mitigating risk and complexity for African Airlines, Mr. Saggar - Hahnair

• Assessing the key drivers of African aviation industry growth, Mr. Kuuchi - IATA

• Are stakeholders meeting the Abuja safety targets, What next, Mr. Kashambo - ICAO

• Financing airline and airport growth projects, Ms. Musamirapamwe - Barclays

• Aircraft Tracking - Management by exception, Mr. McCormack- SITA

• Fare Management Implementation by ATPCO

• HGS and Vision Systems by Rockwell Collins

Masterclasses

As part of the Convention, there were master classes where cutting edge ideas, industry best practices, new opportunities and practical solutions were presented and discussed. The following master classes were conducted:

1. Fare Management for airlines by ATPCO

2. Head Up Guidance Technologies enabling more efficient airline operations by Rockwell Collins

One-to-one meetings

The 2015 programme incorporated a session for one-to-one meetings where exclusive appointments took place with airlines, selected airports and CAAs, AFRAA and IATA.

Awards

The Aviation Stakeholders awards took place on 29 April during a colourful gala dinner. There were two award categories at the 2015 event: the Distinguished Service Award and the Service Provider of the year Award. The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Mr. Terence Naicker - GM: Contracts, Purchasing & Maintenance at TAAG Angola Airlines and Mr. Mustwafa Murad - Manager Strategic Purchases at Astral Aviation for their remarkable contribution, dedication and technical support to AFRAA joint projects. ATNS was received the Service Provider of the Year Award for excellence in the provision of safe, efficient & innovative Air Traffic Management solutions and services to the African continent.

The awards recognize the excellence in service delivery, innovation and competitiveness in best services providers to the African aviation industry.

Sponsorship and Exhibition

In addition to the presentations, panel discussions and masterclasses, the event provided excellent opportunity for brand visibility through sponsorship and an outstanding products exhibition and business opportunity for industry partners and suppliers of equipment, components, solutions and services. There were 13 proud event sponsors including: Atlantic FuelEx, ATNS, Barclays Africa, Cronos Air, Engen, GE Aviation, Hahnair, Interair, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, Kintetsu World Express South Africa (Pty) Ltd, SITA, South Africa Civil Aviation Authority and UAS International Trip Support

29 suppliers and/or service providers benefited from the outstanding visibility, networking and direct sales opportunities by displaying their products and interacting with delegates at the conference. The exhibitors included: African Aerospace, APG Network, ATNS, AVIANET, Barclays Africa Group Limited, Cronos Airlines, Ethiopian MRO & Aviation Academy, FLYHT, GE Aviation, HADID International Services FZE, Interair, Kenya Airways MRO & Pride Center, East African School of Aviation, Lufthansa Systems, MTU Maintenance, Rockwell Collins, Sabre Airline Solutions, SITA, South African Civil Aviation Authority, South African Airways, SA Express Airways, Skywise Airline, Swahili Aviation Aerospace (USA) LLC, TCR, Travelport International Ltd, Tunisair Technics, UAS International Trip Support, Wirecard and World Meteorological Organisation.

Venue and date for the 2016 Aviation Convention: The Secretariat takes this opportunity to express its appreciation to all delegates who participated at the event and looks forward to host you at next year’s Convention. The 5th Convention is scheduled to take place from 08-10 May 2016 in Kigali – Rwanda and will be co-hosted by RwandAir.