The company has obtained recognition from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the National Air Safety Agency (AESA) for the design of instrument flight procedures, which establish the trajectory of aircraft to prevent collisions.

Ineco has thus become the first Spanish company to obtain the ICAO certificate, which only 14 other companies worldwide have been awarded. The accreditation is valid for three years, for both conventional and performance-based navigation (PBN).

The National Air Safety Agency (AESA) has also certified Ineco as a provider of flight procedure design services, making it the second organisation in Spain, after Enaire, to have received this recognition, which is valid throughout the European Union.

The Spanish-Dutch consortium KL AIR, formed by the architects Kaan and Lamela, and the engineering firms ABT and Ineco, are carrying out a new study of the sizing and location of spaces for the new South Terminal of Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport. The study, following the impact of COVID-19 on the airport’s traffic, is limited to the same plot of land where the previous design was planned, and must consider a phased development of the new terminal, adapted to its future needs.

Ineco’s consultancy work will focus on the sizing of the different areas of the building, the establishment of a concept of operations and the analysis of the requirements that will form the basis of the future design.

checking in our suitcase

The big day is finally here! It’s time for us to fly. We leave everything neat and tidy at home, pick up our suitcase, and head to the airport. When we get to the terminal, we make our way to the check-in desk, where we witness the first stage in the journey taken by our baggage: tagging.

The tag serves to identify our baggage in the BHS, and normally consists of a sticker bearing a series of printed details and a barcode. This sticker is usually wrapped around the handle of our suitcase. The barcode, by the way, is a unique reference and ensures that every item of baggage has its own exclusive identification code.

In addition to the tag, at the same check-in desk the size and weight of our suitcase is checked automatically. After the tag has been attached, and provided the suitcase is within the permitted dimensions, it enters the BHS.

BHS stands for Automated Baggage Handling System, and comprises a series of elements that convey our baggage automatically from the check-in desk to the point of delivery to the handling agents, who are responsible for loading it onto the plane. (See Figure 1).

BHS. A series of elements that convey our baggage automatically from the check-in desk to the point of delivery to the handling agents.

Our suitcase makes its way into the BHS

Our suitcase enters the system via a series of automated conveyor belts. It leaves the airport’s check-in area and is taken to a technical and rather industrial area within the same building. The suitcase is now one of many that are currently within the system, and are being conveyed in an orderly fashion along the multitude of conveyor belts that snake their way through the facility.

The BHS controls the progress of the baggage using Programmable Logic Controllers, or PLCs. These devices govern various elements within the system, including the motors that move the conveyor belts, and decide whether to start or stop each motor based on the prevailing conditions within the system at the time.

Our suitcase continues to make its way along the conveyor belts and soon passes through a gate, which is fitted with several strategically positioned laser barcode readers. This gate is known as the Automatic Tag Reader (ATR).

Scanner arches enable the BHS to identify the suitcase by reading the barcode that has been attached to it. Once it has been identified, the BHS assigns the suitcase a final destination within the system. It should be noted that the BHS is able to distinguish between suitcases based on the flight they correspond to, thereby ensuring that baggage for the same flight is delivered to the same end point (i.e. the make-up carousels).

At no point has our suitcase stopped in order to be identified as it made its way through the Automatic Tag Reader. The transit process is continuous, except for a couple of occasions when the system stopped the suitcase at a junction, so that an item of baggage from another line ahead of us could join the belt.

Ineco is currently working on the design of the BHS for the international airports of Schiphol (Amsterdam), pictured, and Dammam (Saudi Arabia). / PHOTO_INECO

Baggage inspection

All of the baggage that enters the BHS is inspected, in order to ensure the safety and security of people, aircraft and the airport facilities. Our suitcase continues to make its way along the conveyor belts, heading towards a large machine in the distance that appears to be swallowing up all of the baggage in front. This is the baggage screening machine.

Baggage screening machines examine every single item of baggage that enters the BHS. They are equipped with advanced technological features designed to detect elements that might cause harm to people and property, such as weapons and explosives.

A small curtain marks the point where the inspection process begins. As with the identification process, our suitcase does not stop during the inspection process, and after a few seconds it emerges from the machine and passes through a second curtain before continuing its journey through the facility.

At the end of the inspection, the machine sends the result to the BHS, which incorporates this result into the data it has for the item of baggage in question. This data is vital, as the BHS must ensure that the only suitcases to reach the planes are those that have been ‘cleared’ (i.e. they have passed the inspection).

So, with the inspection result now linked to its data file, our suitcase continues on towards a critical decision-making point in the system. Here, there is an electromechanical device that separates the ‘cleared’ baggage from the rest, sending it along one belt and the ‘non-cleared’ baggage along another.

At this decision point, the BHS is able to verify the inspection status of each item of baggage. If –and only if– a suitcase’s status is shown as ‘cleared’, the system will allow it to continue on towards the final destination. In all other cases, the system will divert the baggage so that an additional inspection can be carried out.

As our suitcase does not contain any dangerous items, it was ‘cleared’ during the first inspection and can now make its way to the final destination. Behind it, at the decision point, other suitcases that were not so lucky are diverted onto a different line, where they will be subjected to a new inspection.

Early baggage storage line with stacker crane operation, Alicante airport. / PHOTO_JOAQUÍN ESTEVE

 Baggage classification and final destination

Because it classifies baggage by flight, the BHS helps to make airport operations more efficient. Our suitcase is now nearing the end of its journey. The line it is now travelling on has a multitude of junctions leading off to different locations, such as early baggage storage, manual encoding stations, make-up carousels, and docks for ‘problem’ baggage.

Early baggage storage is a temporary destination for baggage that has been introduced into the system but whose flight does not yet have an assigned make-up carousel. It is a sub-system that is of tremendous help to airports that handle high volumes of baggage for connecting flights, when there can be a difference of many hours between the arrival and departure flights.

Our suitcase continues on past the entrances to the manual encoding stations, as the BHS has not lost track of it at any point. It also goes past the entrance to early baggage storage: the make-up carousel for our flight is now ready to receive baggage, so there is no need to store the suitcase within the system temporarily. When our suitcase reaches the junction for the make-up carousel assigned to our flight, the system activates a switch to send it along the right track. During this final stage in its journey, the baggage is carefully deposited onto the make-up carousel.

Make-up carousels are electromechanical elements that form a closed circuit, into which all the baggage for a particular flight is deposited. The baggage trains are positioned alongside the make-up carousels, in order make the process of loading the baggage onto the trains as efficient as possible.

Once the suitcase has reached the make-up carousel, it is out of the hands of the BHS and becomes the responsibility of the handling agent. Via the baggage train, the agents transport our suitcase to the plane and load it into the hold. Sometimes, if we look through the plane window, we can see this process taking place.

Summary and final thoughts

Figure 2 shows the processes that a suitcase passes through after it has been checked in.

DIAGRAM OF AN OUTBOUND BAGGAGE SYSTEM. This diagram shows all of the processes that a suitcase passes through, from its arrival at the check-in desk to the final destination of the loading dock, where it passes out of the hands of the BHS and becomes the responsibility of the handling agents.

The BHS has a number of technical solutions, contains many more elements and carries out many more processes than those described in this article. Ineco is aware of this complexity and takes the specific nature of each project into account. This enables the company to provide tailored services for the domestic and international markets.

Ineco has contributed to the implementation of the first stage of HISPAFRA: a nationwide project involving the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, the National Air Safety Agency, the Chief of Staff of the Spanish Air Force, and ENAIRE. The project’s aim is to implement the free route concept –which involves freely planning routes between predefined points with minimal restrictions– in Spanish airspace. The benefits of this approach include a reduction in emissions, fuel consumption and controller workload. The rollout of HISPAFRA at the European level has been divided into four stages, the last of which will come to an end in December 2025.

Once again, Ineco is to update the Master Development Programmes for the 12 Mexican airports (Guadalajara, Tijuana, Mexicali, Hermosillo, Los Mochis, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Morelia, La Paz, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo) that are part of  the Pacific Airport Group (GAP), which is partly owned by Aena Internacional. The recovery in air traffic, which has returned to pre-pandemic levels, has given rise to a need for updated information in order to adequately plan airport development.

Ineco first began work on drawing up and revising these plans for the GAP in 2003. Currently, the company is preparing a Master Plan for Kingston airport in Jamaica, which –along with Montego Bay airport– is also managed by the GAP.

Simón Bolívar International Airport is situated in the far north of the Republic of Colombia, 16.5 kilometres from the city of Santa Marta, capital of the department of Magdalena. The region’s main tourist attractions include the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range, Tayrona National Park and the cities of Barranquilla and Cartagena, two of the country’s most important conurbations.

Opened some 60 years ago, in recent decades tourism and economic development in the region have caused airport traffic (primarily of domestic origin) to grow from 532,000 passengers in 2009 to 2.4 million in 2019, with a compound annual growth rate of 16.5%. To accommodate this growth, the airport was modernised in 2017 with new facilities such as a control tower, passenger terminal and car park.

In recent decades, tourism and economic development in the region have driven growth in airport traffic, with 2.4 million passengers in 2019

At present, the airport has one runway (01/19), which is 1,700 metres long by 40 metres wide and accessed via two taxiways. There is an apron with six stands for parking commercial aircraft, two general-purpose aviation hangars, and a helicopter pad. The three-storey terminal building covers an area of 14,600 m². There is also an underground car park for cars and motorcycles, and a surface-level car park for taxis and buses. Road access is via the Troncal del Caribe, one of the country’s most important trunk roads.

Despite these improvements, the investments that have been made in the Magdalena region to boost tourism mean that a growth in international traffic is expected over the coming years. This is reflected in the traffic forecasts in the Master Plan drawn up by the UTE APM Simón Bolívar consortium, which is led by Ineco and also includes the Spanish engineering firm Ivicsa. The Plan was approved by Colombia’s civil aviation authority, Aerocivil, in December 2020.

Future plans

The Master Plan is the centrepiece of the planning process for an airport. It sets out the path for development and growth based on different traffic forecasts. Taking the current situation as the starting point, a study is made of potential demand in different time horizons. The aim is to determine what infrastructure and services will be required, in accordance with international safety and quality standards, and when they will be required, along with an estimate of costs.

The Plan also evaluates the impact of the airport’s activities on its surroundings and coordinates actions with the aviation authorities, the local community, and local and regional administrations and public bodies. The final stage is approval of the Plan on the part of the state aviation authority (Aerocivil in the case of Colombia). In order to meet these objectives successfully, a Master Plan must be updated periodically, and whenever changes in demand require it to be modified.

Ineco has over 20 years of experience in the drafting and updating of Master Plans: not only for the Aena network of Spanish airports, but also for countries such as Mexico and Kuwait.

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS. Summary of the developments proposed by the Master Plan, in comparison with the airport’s current boundaries (marked in green). PLAN_UTE APM SIMÓN BOLÍVAR

The first step: predicting the evolution of traffic

In order to draw up the Master Plan, Ineco’s airport experts began by generating short, medium and long-term traffic forecasts for Simón Bolívar Airport, taking into account factors such as the anticipated growth in international tourism. After an exhaustive analysis they defined a number of different traffic horizons: in the short term, a volume of 3.5 million passengers, with 27,400 aircraft movements; in the medium term, 4.5 million passengers, with 35,000 movements; and in the long term, 7.3 million passengers with over 52,000 movements. In light of the investments made in recent years to promote tourism in the Magdalena region, it was estimated that almost 5% of this traffic could be international.

After preparing the traffic forecast, the experts then identified the needs of the existing infrastructure. They found that the length of the existing runway limited the potential for flights to international destinations in the region, and that it would therefore be necessary to extend it. They also concluded that both the terminal and apron were close to saturation; however, the airport’s proximity to the sea prevented expansion in its current location.

Consequently, in order to meet the forecast growth in traffic, the key action would be to extend the runway in order to serve new destinations up to 2,000 nautical miles away (e.g. New York, Mexico City), and to adapt the airfield so that it meets international standards. To achieve this, the Master Plan proposes a number of different expansion options, which have been evaluated using a multi-criteria matrix that takes into account factors such as air navigation and operability, costs and acquisition of land, impacts on urban areas, noise and restrictions due to obstacle limitation surfaces, construction feasibility, and the impacts on other infrastructure and the environment.

Proposed solutions

Once the needs and the different development options had been studied, the Master Plan defined the key actions to be taken with regard to each traffic horizon. The most notable actions comprise the extension of the runway over the sea platform, for which Ineco prepared a design in 2021; and the transfer of the commercial traffic operations to the eastern side of the runway, which would involve the construction of new taxiways, apron, terminal building, car parks, access routes and other facilities.

In total, the Plan aims to improve the airport’s operational safety, meet the forecast demand, enable the development of new activities associated with the airport environment, and facilitate the airport’s potential development even beyond the horizons studied in the Master Plan.

In the airfield area, the plan is to extend the runway towards the south, in order to provide an available take-off run of 2,040 metres. This will make it possible to operate flights to JFK using A320 Neo aircraft without compromising the number of passengers. Additionally, the Plan proposes enlarging the runway strip to a width of 150 metres and adding runway end safety areas (RESAs) at both ends, in accordance with Colombian Aeronautical Regulation RAC 14.

To carry out these works, breakwaters and earthworks will be used to reclaim land from the sea and reroute the railway line that runs close to the current airfield. These works are designed to maximise the current capacity of the facilities –in order to accommodate up to 3.2 million passengers per year–and will be carried out within a short strategic time frame, in order to be able to handle the anticipated levels of traffic in the coming years.

In the medium term, the commercial operations will be moved to the east of the airfield, thereby making it possible to undertake a major expansion of the airport by creating a new apron, terminal building and car parks, in addition to the auxiliary facilities required to enter into operation (rescue and fire-fighting services, power plant, etc.). In the long term, in order to handle 7.3 million passengers it will be necessary to enlarge the apron to provide 13 aircraft parking stands, expand the terminal building to 35,000 m² and enlarge the various surface-level car parks constructed during the previous stages.

The Plan also provides for new road access from the Troncal del Caribe: this, together with the FENOCO (Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Colombia) railway line will enable the development of an intermodal connection, which is of vital importance to the strategic projects being planned for Santa Marta’s district of cultural, historical and tourist interest.

This intermodal connection will also facilitate the development within the airport of an area for complementary activities (e.g. FBOs, specialist logistics, maintenance and cargo facilities). Land has been set aside for this purpose, in line with the strategic national vision of the country’s civil aviation authority. The current facilities to the west of the runway will be used for general aviation operations (FBOs) or other purposes.

The Master Plan also includes an estimate of the investment required, distributed (approximately) as follows: 35% in the short term, 51% in the medium term, and the remaining 14% in the long term.

Ineco joins a new project in Jamaica with the update of the Master Plan for the Norman Manley Airport in Kingston. The project involves the analysis of air traffic forecasts, the collection of the data necessary to carry out airport planning and the proposed development of existing facilities up to 2040. This work for the concessionaire PAC Kingston Airport Limited, which belongs to Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP), owned by Aena Internacional, follows the work already carried out for Sangster Airport in Montego Bay and Ian Flemming Airport in Boscobel, in the north of the island. Ineco has updated the master plans for both, as well as managing and projecting various works at Sangster International, where it began working more than a decade ago (see ITRANSPORTE 62 and 67). 

Ineco will form part of the team responsible for the airport planning tasks associated with the construction of the future third runway at Taoyuan International Airport, the largest and most important airport in Taiwan.

Among the works to be carried out will be the definition of low visibility procedures in the area and an estimate of the capacity in such conditions, the definition of new stop bars and taxi routes and other aeronautical safety studies. An analysis of the construction method of the current end-of-runway access taxiway (05L/23R) will also be carried out and the safety of operations will be assessed so that they are not compromised during the execution of the work.

Since the beginning of its aeronautical activity in the mid-1990s, Ineco has participated in the enlargements of major Spanish airports (Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, Málaga, etc.), before making use of this experience in other countries such as Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Peru, Colombia, the USA, the Netherlands and the Ukraine, among others.

Ineco has carried out various radioelectric and safety studies to ensure that the buildings of Airbus Spain’s new 51,200 m² corporate headquarters in Getafe, located next to the air base, do not interfere with airfield operations.

The new Airbus headquarters complex, named ‘Futura’, was inaugurated on 14 April in the presence of King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Last April, Aena announced the completion of Aena’s remodelling work on the South Dock of Terminal T1 at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport, a project carried out by Ineco in 2018 (see ITRANSPORTE 65).

The works were aimed at increasing the capacity of the Dock to cater for the growing number of wide-body aircraft operations, which now have five new parking positions. The south wing of T1 has also been remodelled with the construction of four new boarding bridges and the extension of an existing fifth, all equipped with moving walkways for large aircraft.

The interior of the building has been divided into three levels, separating incoming and outgoing passenger flows.