Azerbaijan Airlines-Baku Airport customer story

Design,
build,
operate
AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES – BAKU AIRPORT
CUSTOMER STORY
Azerbaijan’s state-owned airline and airport
operator Azerbaijan HAVA Yollari – AZAL
tasked SITA with providing technology
integration and consulting for a new terminal
at the Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport.
The terminal would symbolize the country’s
increasing economic sophistication. SITA’s
challenge was to ensure that world-class
IT services to support passenger processing
and airport operations were an integral part
of the infrastructure when the terminal was
completed in 2014.
Azerbaijan sits at the crossroads between Western Asia and
Eastern Europe in a region called the Caucasus. Rich in natural
and cultural resources and with a booming business sector it is
making extensive investments in its air transport infrastructure
in order to become the hub of the Caucasus hosting events like
the Eurovision Song Content (2012), the World Economic Forum
Summit (2013) and the inaugural European Games [2015] which
have helped put Baku on the map.
“AZERBAIJAN IS DEVELOPING,
AND THE NUMBER OF VISITORS
TO OUR COUNTRY IS ALWAYS
ON THE RISE. OUR ECONOMY
GREW MORE THAN THREE TIMES
DURING THE LAST TEN YEARS.”
ILHAM ALIYEV
PRESIDENT, AZERBAIJAN
“Azerbaijan is developing, and the number of visitors to our
country is always on the rise,” said Azerbaijan’s president,
Ilham Aliyev. “Our economy grew more than three times during
the last ten years,” he also told the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly in June.
HANDLING GROWTH
Baku Airport’s existing terminals were not designed for
long haul aircraft and were unable to cope with the 5 million
Azerbaijan visitors the country expects to attract as its
business and tourism sectors expand.
“We need modern, integrated solutions to help us process
passengers more quickly and efficiently and improve our
operational efficiency,” said Jahangir Askerov, president of
AZAL, the national airline.
“AZAL’s main construction contractor for the new terminal,
MAPA (part of the MNG Group) needed a knowledgeable
technology partner to help create the world-class airport
terminal and to handle third-party technology suppliers. SITA
was selected on the strength of its long-term partnership
with AZAL, which has seen the successful deployment of IT
infrastructure at the airport, including the recent introduction
of its Passenger iCheck application for self-service kiosks
in time for 2012 Eurovision contest,” said Mr Jawad Dbila,
Director of the new Terminal One.
2
© SITA 2015
2012
“A HUGE AMOUNT OF OUR WORK WAS COORDINATION, WE HAD
A SMALL TEAM WITH EXPERTISE WHO COULD BE FLEXIBLE TO
ENSURE PROJECT GOALS, TARGETS AND DELIVER ON TIME.”
MIKE POWELL
PROGRAMME DIRECTOR, SITA
SITA’s extensive role at Baku Airport included best practice
consulting and system design, integration of third-party
systems, technology deployment and on-going operational
support. “We recommended the best possible approach,” said
Mike Powell, Programme Director for SITA.
KEEPING TO SCHEDULE
Having a great experience in master system integration,
SITA worked closely with third-party technology suppliers and
the new terminal management company to ensure solutions
were installed on schedule without impacting the master
building plan.
“A huge amount of our work was coordination,” said Powell.
“We had a small team with expertise who could be flexible to
ensure project goals, targets and deliver on time.”
SITA coordinated technology-related activities on and off
the site, working closely with suppliers to make and execute
decisions. The team was required to manage predictable
installation challenges that might slow construction. In
one example, the team chose to configure and test network
switches off site in order to avoid potential delays to the
construction schedule.
Drawing on its extensive industry knowledge, SITA provided
consulting services on security systems.
To support these technologies SITA deployed a common
network infrastructure across the terminal. This puts most
airport systems on a single network, boosting operational
and integration efficiency and laying a foundation for future
technology improvements as the terminal’s needs evolve.
INTERNATIONAL TIMES
Baku’s old terminal did not have the equipment required to
handle AZALs’ newly acquired Airbus and Dreamliner fleets.
The airline addressed this by installing 12 air bridges designed
for long-haul aircraft at Terminal One.
Safegate deployed a new aircraft guidance and docking
system in order to support the new bridges and incoming
flights. The system enables aircraft to dock with the new air
bridges automatically and accurately as well as connecting to
airport systems, speeding operational efficiency and boosting
passenger safety.
MODERN LIVES
Terminal One needed to provide the modern self-service kiosks
and amenities international travellers expect. However, AZAL
president Jahangir Askerov insisted technology should be
deployed because it was required, rather than for its own sake.
“Building a new airport is a very complex process,” said SITA
account director, Marina Zviagina. “Our challenge was to help the
customer choose the right solutions that would remain modern
and not require any development for at least a decade.”
In addition to advising on third party solutions, SITA delivered
some of its own technologies to handle airport management,
travel information, baggage handling systems, passenger
communications and more.
RESULTS
Baku’s Terminal One is now truly international: the long haul
carriers already serving Baku make use of the new terminal’s
air gates, which, “show Azerbaijan is prepared from the point
of view of international standards and safety,” said Powell. This
builds the perception of Azerbaijan as a modern destination,
which was one of the key aims of the project.
Departing or arriving, travelers can make use of the selfservice kiosks that they have already become accustomed to at
airports elsewhere to handle check-in and baggage recovery,
and enjoy clear travel information in Russian, English and Azeri,
which was not available before.
This enables passengers to spend more time exploring
the airport’s shops and restaurants, rather than becoming
confused and frustrated by unclear signage, language barriers
or long queues at check-in. “The new terminal is modern, wellequipped, and well provisioned,” said Zviagina.
Meanwhile state-of-the-art airport management systems make
it easier for the terminal to manage passenger and air traffic for
better operational efficiencies.
For example, SITA’s shared-use check-in desks and self-service
stations can be used by any of the airlines at the airport.
SITA’s success in managing third party technology supplier
relationships and in deploying solutions that truly boost airport
efficiency and passenger enjoyment have been recognised by
AZAL since work ended in 2014.
Now the terminal is operational and SITA’s role shifts to
support. A five year contract to maintain all of the technologies
it has deployed assures the airport that it will not need to make
extensive investment in its own IT sector. SITA also cooperates
closely with AZAL in further developing the concept of business
intelligence by implementing solutions that help to analyze and
manage passenger flows in Terminal One more effectively.
© SITA 2015
2012
3
“THE NEW SITA SYSTEMS
INCORPORATE THE INDUSTRY’S
MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY,
AND ALIGN WITH ALL IATA
RECOMMENDATIONS AS WELL
AS THE LATEST INDUSTRY
TRENDS. WE APPRECIATE THE
CONVENIENCE OF DEALING
WITH A SINGLE SUPPLIER,
SITA, FOR ALL OUR IT AND
COMMUNICATIONS NEEDS AND
SUPPORT.”
JAHANGIR ASKEROV
PRESIDENT, AZAL
“The new SITA systems incorporate the industry’s most
advanced technology, and align with all IATA recommendations
as well as the latest industry trends. We appreciate the
convenience of dealing with a single supplier, SITA, for all our IT
and communications needs and support,” said Askerov.
Heydar Aliyev International Airport’s new terminal and its
systems are now equipped to cast the country in a positive new
light when handling any future huge influxes of international
traffic as the country seeks to host future international events.
For further information, please visit www.sita.aero
Follow us on www.sita.aero/socialhub
© SITA 15-END-076-1
All trademarks acknowledged. Specifications subject to change without prior notice.
This literature provides outline information only and (unless specifically agreed to
the contrary by SITA in writing) is not part of any order or contract.
SITA’S SOLUTIONS AT BAKU
SITA designed and delivered a variety of its own airportfocused solutions at Baku’s Terminal One. These include:
Airport Infrastructure Management
Airport’s Local Area Network (LAN) including 3,500
data ports, 100 wireless access points and 500 VOIP
telephony handsets.
Airport Management
Operations management solution for airports and
ground handlers including tools to manage passenger
communications (147 large screens displaying up-tothe-minute multilingual flight information have been
deployed throughout the terminal), aeronautical billing
and reporting, as well as mobile and fixed resources.
AirportConnect Open
Common-use platform enabling airports, airlines
and handling agents to access their respective IT
applications in real time, on 66 shared workstations.
AirportConnect Kiosk including Passenger iCheck
12 CUSS (common use self-service) kiosks and their
check-in application.
BagManager
Application providing industry-leading functionality for
loading, reconciling, tracking, tracing and managing
baggage operations. Baggage handlers can access it via
the 20 handheld devices that were also provided.
BagMessage
Global, secure and fully managed baggage messages
distribution service.
WorldTracer Kiosk
Enabling passengers to quickly file missing bag reports
to the international WorldTracer system developed with
IATA in 1991.