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.

Following the opening of the new Athens airport, located approximately 30 kilometres from the capital in Spata, in 2001, and the opening up of the remaining airports to public-private management starting in 2015, the next big project for Greek aviation is the construction of the new airport in Kasteli in Crete, which will replace the airport in the capital, Heraklion. With an initial capacity of 8.9 million passengers, it will be Greece’s second largest airport, after Athens. According to the Greek government, this new infrastructure project will generate approximately 7,500 direct jobs once completed, plus another 37,000 indirect jobs in the tourism and commerce sectors.

Heraklion International Airport, is a joint venture between the Greek firm GEK Terna and India’s GMR Airports Limited (GAL), which were awarded the concession contract in 2019. Ineco is developing the design of the new airport for the construction company Terna, which has a period of five years to carry out the works following the signing of the contract, which took place in February 2020. In addition, during the pre-bid phase, the company also drew up the Master Plan for the future airport, which will occupy an area of approximately 600 hectares.

Air transport generates 457,000 jobs in Greece and contributes 17.8 billion euros to its economy, equivalent to 10.2% of Greek GDP, according to a study by IATA, the International Air Transport Association. It is closely linked to tourism, which also accounts for more than 10% of national GDP. Having weathered a long period of recession, the Greek economy returned to positive growth beginning in 2017, which is reflected in airport traffic, which, according to the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, recorded a record 65.4 million passengers in 2019, 3 million more than the previous year, an increase of 5 percent. The total number of flights also increased by 3.7%.

Greece broke its tourism record in 2019, with more than 31.3 million visitors, 18% of whom, more than 5 million, travelled to the island of Crete, the country’s largest island and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean. With a population of just over 634,000 inhabitants and covering an area of around 8,500 km², it is one of the five most visited Greek destinations: its thousands of years of history, cultural and monumental heritage, the Mediterranean climate and the island’s beautiful landscapes and beaches are its main attractions. It is also an important geostrategic enclave due to its location. The local economy is mainly based on agriculture and tourism.

The island has three airport facilities, all located along the northern coast: the small airfield in Sitia, and two international airports, Chania, which was used by 2.9 million passengers in 2019 and shares its installations with a military base, and the Nikos Kazantzakis airport in Heraklion, the island’s capital and the fourth largest city in Greece, with a population of just over 313,000 inhabitants, in the central area of the island, which is also used for both civilian and military purposes.

Activity has been on the rise in recent years, with a steady increase in traffic reaching 8 million passengers in 2019. Today’s installations date back to 1972 and were expanded in 1996 and 2005, although they become particularly congested in summer. In addition to the three civilian airports, 39 kilometres southeast of Heraklion is the Hellenic Air Force base at Kasteli, next to the location of the new airport.

The construction of other major energy and transport infrastructures on the island is also being planned, involving a total investment of more than 3.1 billion euros and with the financial backing of the European Union: the roughly 180-kilometre VOAK highway, which will connect Chania with the town of Agios Nikolaos, and two power supply interconnections with the Greek mainland: Crete-Attica and Crete-Peloponnese.

Africa was the location of one of Ineco’s first projects abroad: in 1975, the company, then a small consultancy firm made up of a small group of engineers from Renfe, was preparing a feasibility study for the Kindu-Kisangani railway line in the former Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ineco, which began its aeronautical operations in Africa in the early 2000s, has carried out projects to improve and expand airport infrastructure, navigation systems and airspace management in various countries across the continent. One particularly noteworthy example, due to its condition as a group of islands, is Cape Verde, where Ineco has carried out numerous projects.

A study of the procedures and modes of operation at the São Filipe aerodrome on the island of Fogo is currently underway. Ineco is preparing a review of obstacles and safety in relation to the introduction of night operations and instrument flight conditions, and is designing the instrument flight procedures. Another recent project in the archipelago was a study, carried out in 2019, for the installation of an ILS (Instrument Landing System) at São Vicente’s Cesaria Évora airport, one of the country’s four international airports.

Members of the Ineco team at the opening of the new Boa Vista airport terminal (2007).

The first projects in Cape Verde date back to 2003, with the project and management of the new Boa Vista international airport, which opened in 2007. Since then, a large number of studies, projects and supervision of subsequent improvement works have been carried out. These include the review of the master plans of Sal, Boa Vista, Praia and São Vicente, in 2012, easement studies, technical and economic feasibility analysis of night operation in Boa Vista and São Vicente. In 2014, ASA also commissioned Ineco to draw up the master plans for three domestic airports: Maio, Sâo Nicolau and Fogo, and between 2015 and 2018, the management of the expansion of the passenger terminals at the international airports of Boa Vista and Sal.

Ineco has also carried out its aeronautical activity on the African continent in a half-dozen other countries. In 2015, it worked on updating the air traffic management system for the state-owned Airports of Mozambique (ADM). The company provided support services for the design of ATM systems in the specification of equipment and systems and also provided support for their subsequent deployment.

In 2012, as a result of an intergovernmental collaboration agreement between Spain and Angola, Ineco formed part of the Aena Internacional team that, over the course of a year, developed physical and operational security procedures for the airport of Luanda, the country’s capital. Airport staff were also trained and a quality assurance plan was introduced using indicators, similar to the one applied by Aena at its airports.

In Morocco, between 2011 and 2012, Ineco was part of the consortium that carried out the Study, analysis and reorganisation of Morocco’s airspace project that was included in the country’s Strategic Plan to boost its tourism industry. At the same time, the company carried out a capacity study for the Moroccan Directorate General of Civil Aviation for the Mohammed V airport terminal building in Casablanca.

Ineco’s first project in Egypt was awarded in an international tender in 2010, when the Egyptian Company for Airports and Air Navigation (EHCAAN) selected the company to develop a strategic plan for the country’s civil aviation. The plan included an analysis of the CNS/ATM infrastructure, the proposal of a new airway network, the definition of a modernisation plan for navigation systems and the development of specifications for a new air traffic control system for the Cairo Control Centre.

In 2009, in Kenya, the company reviewed and updated the expansion project of the Jomo Kenyatta airport in Nairobi. Due to the strong growth in traffic volume up to that point, the airport operator had to revise its planned expansion project. This plan was opened to international tender and awarded to Ineco in 2008. Works included a traffic demand forecast through 2030, the computer simulation of passenger, baggage and aircraft flows –both of the airport’s current situation and future forecasts– and the assessment and proposal of recommendations to optimise the capacity and functional, economic-financial, architectural and operational safety viability of the expansion project.

In 2009, Ineco designed the improvement and extension of the airfield at Walvis Bay airport for the Namibian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, for which it also drafted the basic project for a new passenger terminal.

Focal points of wildlife attraction (water points, landfills, dovecotes, etc.), favourable habitat environments in airports and their adjacent areas, aspects related to bird migration or any other circumstances that encourage the presence and concentration of wildlife in and around airports must be properly managed to prevent conflicts with aircraft operations.

Aena, as an airport manager, implements measures at its aerodromes to monitor and control wildlife populations in order to reduce the risk of animal strikes. These are implemented in accordance with the regulations of technical guides produced by the Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency (AESA), in particular CERA-09-GUI-001 for the preparation of Airport Manual AUP-17-ITC-113 Preparation of wildlife and habitat studies in airport environments and CSA-14-IT-025-1.0 Special technical instruction for the drafting of airport wildlife strike risk studies.

Ineco has produced information guides describing the most common birds for Aena’s staff at the airports of El Hierro and Jerez (pictured). / PHOTO_ MIKEBERT4 (FLICKR)

Airports and heliports, in turn, manage risks by implementing the guidelines in these guides, as established by Procedure 4.12 of the Airport Manual and in the respective wildlife control programmes. The scope of use includes aerodromes covered by Commission Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 of 12 February 2014, which establishes aerodrome requirements and administrative procedures in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the Parliament and of the Council, and by Royal Decree 862/2009 of 14 May, which approves the technical standards for the design and operation of aerodromes for public use and the certification and verification regulation for airports and other aerodromes for public use.

In order to manage wildlife, it is necessary to implement methodologies that provide data for understanding basic population dynamics, habitat selection and movements within the airport

Within this context, since April 2017, Ineco has provided technical assistance to Aena for the implementation and monitoring of programmes that offer different alternatives for wildlife population management at airports. The company has also drafted training documents to help staff at certain airports to identify species and improve the reporting of sightings of birds that could interfere with air operations.

Wildlife monitoring methodologies

In order to manage wildlife populations, it is essential to implement methodologies that provide data for understanding basic population dynamics, habitat selection and wildlife movements, mainly of birds, within the airport. Ineco’s technical assistance includes the implementation of methodologies for the monitoring of wildlife based on basic parameters related to abundance, density, distribution, flows and sampling of focal points of attraction in order to assess their significance in terms of potential risk of collisions with aircraft. Census methodologies for birds and mammals are currently being designed in compliance with AESA’s instructions. The idea is to carry out repeatable and comparable standardised samplings over time to enable analysis of the evolution of animal populations and determination of wildlife flows/movements that could affect operations.

Since 2017, Ineco has been providing technical assistance to Aena to implement and monitor programmes that offer different alternatives for wildlife population management at airports

The target animal groups are diverse and their significance varies depending on the airport, but they are essentially birds and mammals. Mammals may pose a risk to operations as in the case of ungulates (roe deer and wild boar) or may cause strikes because they themselves constitute focal points of attraction by representing a food source for other animals such as birds of prey. This is the case with lagomorphs –small herbivorous mammals such as hares and rabbits– a group on which work is being carried out to develop methods of monitoring and control in places with this type of problem, through standardised censuses and population control protocols.

Habitat management

To a large extent, control of wildlife at airports involves adequate habitat management. Airport habitats should be as unattractive as possible to wildlife. It is important to identify elements that attract wildlife, such as plant species that encourage nesting, feeding and shelter, the presence of roosting spaces, puddles etc. Different technical notes have also been developed regarding the application of new vegetation cover using hydroseeding or, for example, responses to airports about the suitability of the implementation of certain vegetation cover in the airport environment, analysing its suitability and proposing alternative crops that are less attractive because of reduced palatability or method of cultivation.

Monitoring and management of lagomorph populations

The presence of lagomorphs can cause various problems, from damage to infrastructure due to burrow digging to broken wiring or creating foreign object damage (FOD) due to animals being run over by vehicles or aircraft taxiing on the runway. These prey species can also themselves be a focal point of attraction for predatory species that pose a risk to operations, such as birds of prey. Standardised methodologies are currently being developed to monitor lagomorph populations where this wildlife group is identified as the protagonist of risk, and management plans are being implemented to adapt to the population dynamics of these species in order to reduce their density on the air side of airports. Other proposals include the capture of animals during periods of the year in which successful reproduction decreases, with the ultimate goal of causing a negative population trend; management of crops in airports that require it to reduce habitat suitability; management of burrows by ploughing; and new methods of capture when needed.

Ineco works on improving lagomorph monitoring and control systems at the affected airports. / PHOTO_ARTHUR CHAPMAN (FLICKR)

The Ministry of Public Works has presented the budget for 2017, increasing the total by 3,336 billion Euros, or 24.2% in comparison with 2016.

The budget, which the Ministry describes as realistic, aims to protect the large projects that are underway, such as the Mediterranean Corridor and the high-speed railway network. In regard to roads, a large part of the budget will be allocated to upkeep and maintenance.

Connections to airports and ports will be improved and investment in air navigation systems and airports will be increased. These budgets are aimed at the real needs of the citizens, to improve the quality of life of the Spanish people and to guarantee the territorial backbone and social cohesion, contributing to economic development and job creation.