This short presentation introduces the new Delhi Noida greenfield airport for the National Capital Region of India and shares the benefits of a design competition that was completed during this pandemic. If you are in a lockdown state, with limited time and a need to keep up the pace of your projects and find a variety of solutions and development approaches, a design competition is the right choice. This presentation discusses additional benefits offered by design competitions where you can test collaboration with potential master architects. It will show how, with clear assignment and defined expectations, a design competition can deliver more in constrained times.

What the audience will learn

• The complexity of building up an airport organization and project organization simultaneously in a pandemic situation
• A design competition completed in lockdown that elevates the process quality, saves time and provides solid development solutions
• Design competition vs. tight timelines
• A variety of solutions and why a feasibility study to define the competition brief is a must

During this pandemic, airports have been forced to reconsider their normal business and operational processes for the safe movement of passengers. The need of the hour is for the deployment of innovative planning, technologies and solutions for self and autonomous operations. Airports, in cooperation with health ministries, are implementing preventive measures throughout terminals to deal with the outbreak – such as temperature checks, health screening, installing extra hand-sanitizing stations, stepping up scheduled cleaning and enhanced sanitization efforts. Although the airports have become operational, the challenges involved are many, to make the airport processes as contactless as possible, maintaining social distancing. Technology will help the airports implement passenger processing that will enable higher throughput of passengers in existing capacity, better passenger experience, a reduction in operational costs and fewer opportunities for further spread of the virus.

What the audience will learn

• Airports to reconsider their normal business and operational processes
• Adjustments that can be made for the post-Covid-19 environment that will be beneficial in the near to long term
• Preventive measures in the terminals to deal with this outbreak
• How the airports in India are trying to overcome this challenge

Never before has the aviation industry suffered from such a setback. Travel restrictions and the general insecurity of the population led to a significant drop in traffic movements. How have the pandemic and the associated regulations affected airport transition projects, and which additional challenges have to be taken into consideration? MAI has successfully completed various projects throughout the year, despite the difficult circumstances, and is happy to share some insights.

What the audience will learn

• ORAT and airport transition projects in the time of Corona
• Maintaining a high level of passenger experience during a pandemic
• Best-practice solutions for efficient project management despite Covid-19

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), the operator of Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB or BLR Airport), has been working on developing contactless and biometric boarding solutions as part of its digital transformation efforts. As part of these developments, the team at BIAL worked extensively on building passenger confidence in flying again in the post-Covid world through the extensive adoption of digital/contactless travel solutions.

What the audience will learn

• Digital transformation strategy
• Enhanced passenger experience
• Biometric and contactless travel

Aviation is facing a paradigm shift, from decades-long continuous growth to a post-pandemic restart and recovery. Aviation security and facilitation were preparing to cope with a demand for high throughput to prevent congestion, but have now to operate in a very different environment where sanitary measures apply. The presentation will address the challenges associated with this paradigm shift and how threats have evolved. It will also explain the key role of ICAO, as a global organization, to help mitigate the risks and keep our industry safe and secure, by mobilizing innovation and promoting an effective and sustainable security culture.

What the audience will learn

• The new threat picture
• The challenges associated with Covid-19 and how they are handled
• Innovation in aviation security and facilitation
• ICAO initiatives in the Year of Security Culture 2021

Sars-Cov2 is, without contest, the most efficient terrorist ever. Nothing else has ever been capable of forcing authorities to ground aircraft and close significant portions of the economy for months or lock down a large part of humanity for weeks. The usual threat and risk models – from assessment to risk avoidance, risk mitigation, risk transfer and risk tolerance – seem to have been replaced by a new zero-tolerance or principle of precaution model. How will aviation survive without safety and security risks? How can aviation security principles and pillars even adopt a zero-tolerance model? Is aviation security even needed after Covid-19?

What the audience will learn

• The need to perform a 'Great Reset' on 40 years of aviation security provisions
• The need to capitalize on new information collected from passengers and staff to perform risk-based differentiated and targeted screening
• The need to create new 'trusted networks' with advanced equipment, data and information-sharing criteria to promote 'human-free' operations

Covid-19 has significantly impacted security operations, including how security is delivered and the resources available to deliver it. As we start to emerge from the pandemic, airports and security authorities will need to continue to adapt to provide a future-proof, resilient regime that continues to deliver an efficient, safe and secure set of security measures, through new processes, smart technologies and flexible regulation.

What the audience will learn

• Challenges faced by airports during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Airport measures implemented
• Near term solutions and challenges
• Long term future vision

Recent progress in biometrics performance, interoperability, standards and enrollment data quality are all essential to improve the robustness of the security tokens secured in current eMRTDs and their future generations. In particular, contactless biometrics technologies may thrive due to the Covid situation. Responding to recurrent ID theft, and specifically preventing biometrics attacks ('spoofing') is still a challenge that will require strong coordination between all security stakeholders, in AVSEC and beyond. The EU has recognized the need for sustained R&D biometrics efforts, along with an evolution of current privacy impact assessments to protect citizens against excessive biometrics mass usage.

What the audience will learn

• What were the main breakthroughs and what are today's biometrics challenges?
• Why are biometric standards, metrics, data quality and stakeholder alignment so important?
• How will biometrics continue to sustain ID security in the transportation industry?
• Are contactless biometrics innovations in line with current health transportation constraints?
• Will biometrics in mobility become a benefit for the public?

This unprecedented crisis in the aviation industry has taught us, in a hard way, how critical it is to have a more harmonized, coordinated approach among the EU, EEA and UK states if the sector is to recover. Airlines, airports, ANSPs, businesses and passengers are suffering the impact of the crisis, and only if each one of us does our part, and we work in a coordinated way, will we be able to recover in an efficient and sustainable way.

What the audience will learn

• How the aviation industry has not stopped looking for solutions to this crisis
• How collaboration and harmonization have helped to ease the impact of the crisis
• How building the industry back up is going to be a real challenge

The presentation will provide an outline of the scenarios of recovery and their impact on the Airspace Network of Europe, coupled with the partnerships for recovery

What the audience will learn

• Forecast scenarios for recovery
• How the network responded in 2020
• How the network is preparing for recovery

In the current context of Covid-19, aviation faces a new reality that will change the route development process in the long term. There has been a significant reduction in flights and passenger volumes. To manage this crisis, a well-prepared action plan, with fast and non-traditional decisions followed by strong cooperation with airline partners, is vital to make the situation an opportunity rather than an obstacle. This presentation shares how Lithuanian Airports is coping with this crisis and what actions are relevant for the recovery.

What the audience will learn

• How Covid-19 will change route development
• Relevant actions in managing this crisis
• How to make it an opportunity rather than an obstacle
• Lessons learned from this crisis

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, airports are under pressure to minimize capital investments, reduce operating costs and use their infrastructure and resources more efficiently. Additionally, this crisis has made the traditional planning approach – which relies on historical data – no longer relevant. Airport managers have to increasingly rely on new data sources, break down organizational silos, and develop strategic partnerships with airlines, government agencies and other stakeholders. This presentation outlines an agile planning and operating framework to address short- to medium-term challenges where the focus is on scenario testing, new data sources, efficiency and flexibility, and sustainable financial performance.

What the audience will learn

• This crisis has completely changed our industry, but how can we take advantage of it?
• What should airport managers focus on in the short to medium term?
• Practical and concrete examples of what to do next

The presentation will offer a summary of the steps taken by Oman Airports during the Covid-19 pandemic and highlight steps taken for the airports' closure, dealing with repatriation flights and preparing for reopening to scheduled air traffic.

What the audience will learn

• Operational interfaces
• Stakeholder engagement and communication
• Managing staff and passenger concerns
• Providing confidence in the aviation community
• Preparation and delivery of PCR test on arrival

The presentation focuses on smart measures for regional airports at summer leisure destinations, mainly characterized by high seasonality and very high traffic peaks during their busy periods. The measures aim to achieve a higher passenger throughput in the Covid era, and also to find ways to welcome passengers back in the summer 2021 season. We must not forget that even during the most difficult era for aviation, airport passenger experience remains relevant and of paramount importance. Passenger experience does not require opex, but leadership, operational ideas and team creativity.

What the audience will learn

• Solutions to mitigate increased operational needs originating from restrictive Covid measures
• Practical ways for leading teams to the new operational reality where safety and passenger experience remain important
• Ideas for welcoming passengers back to Europe in the summer 2021 vacation season

This presentation will discuss how airports are preparing for the return to (new) normal operation. The dynamic resilience is complex to manage and requires new ideas.

What the audience will learn

• Key problem areas
• Managing the traffic demand
• Adapting the organization
• Challenges

Thinking of the times before Covid-19 and feeling like it was heaven? Wanting to go back there once the crisis is over? Hold on – be honest with yourself. We were in fact hanging on in the middle of rising delays and overcrowded terminals, with little idea how we would actually manage our way out of it all. We do not want to go back there. The future is what we make of it using the opportunities the current crisis presents.

What the audience will learn

• Get a realistic picture of the past
• Recognize that the current crisis presents lots of opportunities to improve things
• Instead of wanting to go back to pre-Covid times, look forward
• Agree that whoever uses these opportunities best will own the future

Travel restrictions and local lockdowns have led to an immediate decrease in passenger mobility. This has affected not only aviation but also road traffic. A study has been done to look at the effects of reduced air traffic on the local air quality at the airport in the closer vicinity of Zurich Airport and to assess the contribution of air traffic to the overall ambient air quality situation.

What the audience will learn

• Effect of Covid-19 lockdowns on air and road traffic and their emissions
• Ambient air quality situation at local monitoring stations before and during lockdown
• The significance of meteorological anomalies
• The effect of aviation on local concentrations

Covid-19 has elevated the importance of mission-critical facilities like airports to support the movement of passengers, goods, and services. DFW Airport is implementing a set of aspirational goals (Sustainability North Star initiatives) that will allow us to strategically focus our efforts for maximum impact (driving economic, social and environmental value). Highlighted by our Net Zero 2030 commitment to climate action, these goals will support our recovery while making the world a better place for future generations.

What the audience will learn

• DFW Airport’s approach to sustainability
• Overview of DFW’s Net Zero 2030 roadmap
• How we are using data science to understand our complex airport ecosystem and drive our progress

Continued and meaningful climate action as part of aviation and airport recovery strategies is essential to restore our passengers' confidence, gain access to public and private funds, and reduce current and future costs related to infrastructure and operations. Airports must reinforce the 'green recovery' of the aeronautical sector and build a path toward recovery that is compatible with the achievement of zero net CO2 emissions, working in collaboration with all stakeholders, promoting and reinforcing actions, adapting to the new scenario in which we are immersed, and thus guaranteeing the future of our activity, not only in the short term, but also in the medium/long term. For all the above, Aena has prepared a Strategic Plan for Sustainability and Innovation, which details the objectives to be achieved, as well as the specific initiatives and programs that make it possible to make the objectives a reality, and the corresponding indicators to assess the level of achievement of these objectives.

What the audience will learn

• The Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences represent a major challenge for the survival of many sectors, with air transport and the tourism sector being two of the most affected. However, at Aena we have faith in the sector's recovery plan
• With this objective, we have updated our objectives in terms of decarbonization and protection of the environment, reinforcing our strategy against climate change, designed to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement
• We are in no doubt that this trend is going to take hold in business because of the significance of environmental sustainability
• Technological progress makes sustainability initiatives profitable. It is a win-win for everyone because there is no trade-off between profitability and environmental protection
• We provide our customers with the infrastructure they need to enhance their environmental requirements

San Francisco International Airport continues to advance its ambitions of becoming the world’s first net-zero energy, net-zero carbon and zero-waste airport campus as a key tenet of its pandemic and economic recovery to resilience pathway. Explore SFO’s priority 'zero' initiatives and the resulting triple bottom-line benefits achieved for the airport, its workers and the surrounding community.

What the audience will learn

• SFO and industry’s definitions of 'zero' – net energy, net carbon, waste
• Which measures and enhancements SFO is cost- and resource-effectively pursing
• Tools SFO uses to quantify and prioritize the triple bottom-line cost benefits of its investments
• Third-party rating systems that legitimize and offer a guide path to 'zero'

Crisis management is dealing with those incidents or events that you either have no plan for or where existing plans are inadequate. The August 2018 theft of an Alaskan Airlines jet from the Seattle Tacoma International Airport is an example of such a crisis. The lessons from that brief, isolated incident demonstrate the challenges that have later been experienced in grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic. Those lessons may also provide a path forward for the current situation. Focusing on the desired future end state, modernizing policies and procedures, and strengthening communications are critical parts of crisis management.

What the audience will learn

• The difficulty in sometimes understanding when the crisis is upon you
• The importance of communication internally and externally
• The need to look forward at the big picture when the crisis overtakes you
• The need for constant review and assessment of existing policies and practices to reduce the likelihood a crisis will overwhelm you

The experience of the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) offers an example of the complexity of addressing a crisis in the context of a complex environment. The initial measures taken as the understanding of the Covid-19 threat increased demonstrate the tension between response, regulatory requirements and restrictions, and the need to maintain public confidence. The CDA crisis management must also be understood in the context of a crisis response simultaneously being conducted for a major urban area. The importance of a coordinated response with the city’s airports as an integrated part of response were hallmarks of Chicago’s early efforts.

What the audience will learn

• The importance of leadership focused on holistic resiliency in the face of crisis, from operations to financials to customer trust
• The importance of developing an internal structure to address critical issues in response planning
• The need for well-defined communication channels and the continuous exercise of those channels
• The need to understand that airport response is only a small part of larger concerns in a widespread threat to community health and safety

In an aviation environment where threats abound, airlines must be prepared for crisis. Particular attention must be paid to maintaining operations as crises are identified and addressed. This presentation will outline the basic guidelines for handling a crisis. It will also offer an examination of the anatomy of a crisis, looking at the phases that individuals pass through as situations develop. As crises are met and handled, some common features for successful resolution become apparent. Lessons from prior events will be shared and offer a basis for discussion of the essential actions required for favorable outcomes to crisis situations.

What the audience will learn

• The importance of balancing focus between the crisis and routine operations
• The basic guidelines for handling a crisis
• The effects of crisis on individuals
• Tips from successful crisis resolutions

If there is one thing that many organizations have experienced since the start of Covid-19, it is that the frameworks they have used to model, prepare for and engage with crisis scenarios have proved to be fundamentally unsound. This presentation will look at some of the fundamental issues that are critical to any crisis management program, and that can be used to audit and benchmark current practices as well as identify realistic and achievable steps that can be taken within any organization's crisis management network.

What the audience will learn

• Understand the nature of emergent crisis events
• Recognize the predictable fail points in classical risk and crisis management programs
• Understand the process for developing effective enterprise-level crisis management capabilities
• The issues within the organization that can be used to develop more effective crisis management capabilities
• Create risk-sensitive, crisis-ready organizations

This presentation will cover a trajectory of progress that follows where O’Hare started 2020, how its ambitious capital program has progressed, and the innovations that are in development as a result of the pandemic. This presentation will share how flexibility and resilience have helped fuel recent developments across O’Hare and the balance that exists between sustaining progress and managing the challenges of an airborne virus. The audience will get a glimpse into the strategies that designers are applying to new terminal facilities and the proactive approach that O’Hare is taking for its future facilities.

What the audience will learn

• ORD21 capital program: major features of ORD21 and its path forward
• In construction – O’Hare Terminal 5: where it started, where it is and where it will be
• Concessions: the rethinking of the goods delivery pipeline from concessionaire to passenger
• Design reevaluation: building mechanical reconfigurations to accommodate new needs amid a global pandemic
• Biometrics: implementing technological and electronic advancements that allow for a more touchless passenger processing experience

The impact of Covid on aviation is an ever-changing new normal to which airports and airlines are adapting. YVR has embraced these changes on multiple fronts, which will be highlighted in this talk. How did YVR incorporate Covid safety/social distancing in the terminal and within construction sites? How has YVR worked with government agencies and business partners to collaborate on ensuring successful passenger experiences. There are also new questions to answer: how do we future-proof existing facilities for another pandemic, can we pivot to alternative revenue opportunities, should there be global standards for the passenger experience?

What the audience will learn

• Collaboration to quickly pivot to a new way of managing the airport
• Establish clear messaging to passengers and the general community to explain Covid protocols
• Ensure that workers on expansion project construction sites have the same Covid safety measures as the terminal
• Collaboration with business partners and government agencies to evaluate options for long-term initiatives to ensure safe travel
• Corporate planning for the short term and long term across all departments

This presentation will highlight a proactive planning effort undertaken by LAX to develop a series of best practices specifically aimed at making the Tom Bradley International Terminal a healthy terminal. A variety of operational, physical and technological concepts were explored to develop a range of potential initiatives. Initial ideas were considered for immediate application in a reduced passenger traffic environment where little or no infrastructure changes would be required. Initiatives requiring greater investment were studied at a conceptual level. A throughput optimization analysis was conducted to identify triggers for when additional measures might be considered.

What the audience will learn

• Near-term interventions that provided required physical distancing and barriers
• Longer-term solutions that could impact the future design and operation of passenger terminals
• Taking a risk-based approach based on flight origins and destinations
• Available technology solutions that could be employed for a safer passenger journey

This presentation will offer a success story in which leadership and risk management efforts rescued a project as it entered a pandemic.

What the audience will learn

• Changing the landscape during Covid.
• Timelines and impacts
• Hurdles that had to be overcome
• Risk management efforts