Technology will prove central to the future of the aviation industry. With efforts being made globally to improve safety and demand growing among travelers for connectivity, it will become paramount for airport operators to utilize satellite connectivity.
With airports around the world often located in remote areas with harsh geography, it is difficult to maintain the level of connectivity needed at all times for the safe and productive running of airports. There is often also very little to no infrastructure in areas where sites are located. Satellite connectivity solves all these issues requiring very little infrastructure and able to maintain consistent internet services at all times regardless of changing weather conditions or remote environments. Therefore, the provision of reliable, high quality communication that has become so essential to the successful operation of airports worldwide is enabled.
Getting Back to Business
As the world starts to get back to normal, with only 1.8 billion passengers being carried globally last year creating a revenue of just $328 billion which is down from 4.5 billion travelers in 2019, passengers will soon start flooding into airports once again as they look to travel abroad for business trips or holidays. This will bring a heightened need for connectivity that can support high bandwidth applications such as video streaming, video calls, catching up on work between flights and the checking of live travel updates, to increase customer satisfaction as travel becomes a part of everyday life once again.
Alongside this is the ever-present need for mission critical communication for the continual improvement of safety. Flight crews are expected to assume much larger roles in route planning and metering than ever before, with communications between flight controllers now becoming crucial. The logistics of running an airport and keeping ground crew safe, as well as passengers, requires a communications system that has a high performance and is extremely reliable.
From being able to exchange flight plans to keeping updated about changing weather and passenger manifests, it is crucial airports can remain in constant communication with each other at all times to enable them to make the best decisions for safety and business. It is also important for airport managers to keep track of any security alerts, logistical issues or report any conditions that may crop up on site for ultimate safe and successful operations.
A Real Challenge
The changing business requirements, along with surrounding environments and weather conditions, can make providing this connectivity rather difficult. As airports expand in size and population, with flights coming and going every minute, it is clear they need a network that can prove flexible and futureproof against any changing bandwidth and traffic needs.
At the same time, infrastructure needs to be able to offer the same high performance regardless of any difficult geography or harsh weather conditions, and still enable communication with airports located elsewhere. This means regardless of conditions or environment; airports can continue to safely operate and provide the best service possible to customers. Downtime is non-negotiable and cannot be tolerated within a field where fast-moving airplanes and large numbers of people need to be carefully managed to avoid any accidents.
Satellites are the Answer
Satellites are the solution airports should utilize to ensure the smooth day-to-day running of operations. They are able to provide the safe, secure, reliable and resilient connectivity needed, thanks to their high capacity, availability and ability to work in situations where conditions can prove difficult to other network topologies and where security and service availability are paramount.
With satellite connectivity, airport operators will have access to communications that are reliable and highly effective at reaching sites, even in remote areas. However, this is only possible with a network and solutions that are designed to meet the specific requirements needed for that particular airport and its fast transmission of health and safety information and mission critical communication. Not all airports have the time, knowledge and resources to implement this themselves. Therefore, it is important that airport operators work with satellite solution providers who can design and implement innovations that are adapted to specific business needs. This will ensure the appropriate network is put in place and managed in a way that will provide the highest efficiency and the best performance.
Putting Theory Into Practice
This was a real issue faced by Aeuronatica Civil de Colombia in South America, which is responsible for running more than 130 airfields across this largely rural country, with a rugged geography that includes the Andes Mountains, part of the dense Amazon rainforest and islands in the Caribbean. Air safety in Colombia relies on constant communication between airports to exchange flight routes and plans, share any weather or report updates and any other pieces of information that may affect scheduling.
All of these locations have their own difficulties that must be overcome, such as variable weather conditions and extreme geographies, alongside the overall challenge of having a network that must be able to communicate to other site in remote places where there tends to be very little existing infrastructure. This makes the geography a daily challenge to the agency’s ability to carry out its mission to keep flights running on time and safely. This has been a problem made more severe by the disruption to air travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The aviation agency relies on national telecommunications company Empresa Telecomunicaciones de Bogata (ETB) to connect its far-flung network of airports located across the country. ETB itself relies on a satellite solution provider to connect the 12 most remote airports. As such, these sites are connected by a high-reliability VSAT network which had to be especially designed, installed, and operated linking it to ETB’s terrestrial network.
Upgrading Infrastructure Seamlessly
While the pandemic had a huge impact on the aviation industry, it also boosted demand for connectivity to transmit urgent health and safety information and fast-changing travel regulations. It soon became realized by ETB and the air agency that a network upgrade was needed to address this growing requirement for greater bandwidth and network flexibility.
ETB required help to increase its capacity in light of the global pandemic. This required the installation of new infrastructure and bringing it online at each site without any disruption to ongoing operations. However, converting and upgrading the entire satellite network took more than just the flicking of a switch. This is where it becomes imperative for airport operators to utilize the services of a highly experienced and leading satellite solution provider, such as Speedcast, to ensure an upgrade is as seamless as possible and is capable of truly meeting business requirements and passenger demand, both now and in the future.
All 12 airports needed new equipment, which meant having expert engineering design, purchasing, and testing to make sure the proposed network would meet the needs of each of the sites and provide the required connectivity. The work also involved the logistics of getting the equipment to its destination, installing it and bringing it online quickly. This was achieved without any interruption to critical communications, while complying with COVID-19 safety protocols through curfews, roads, and airport closures, all within a short amount of time.
Category 5 storm Hurricane Iota did create an additional challenge, as it devastated the Caribbean islands, parts of Colombia, and the neighboring nations of Honduras and Nicaragua. Despite this, the upgrade was achieved on-schedule within a matter of months with no interruptions to existing services. One of the airports, on the island of Providencia, suffered so much damage that it became necessary to rebuild the control tower before completing the installation.
As a result of utilizing satellite connectivity, there was a significant upgrade in bandwidth and the network was fully converted from Ku-band to C-band to resist the ability of rain and wet leaves on trees to soak up the radio waves. This increased the network’s ability across the 12 sites to work effectively despite weather conditions and the surrounding environment. The satellite solution also increased the accessibility and reliability of the network in times of crisis. Despite the challenges, the network was significantly improved and within a short space of time, the airports could continue to safely knit together the people, businesses, and institutions of Colombia.
Looking Ahead
It is important to realize the importance of satellite connectivity and the benefits it provides to airports with high performing, reliable internet services, unaffected by any difficult weather conditions or rugged geography. Satellite has the ability to service locations in remote areas where there may be little to no infrastructure for telecommunications and can prove extremely cost effective in providing the connectivity so urgently needed to keep operations safe and passengers satisfied.
However, satellite connectivity requires expertise. It is crucial airport operators who want to utilize the power of satellite work with a satellite services provider who has the knowledge and resources to provide solutions that will truly meet the needs of the business. Not only that, but a high-quality provider will be able to carry out any maintenance, easily install any upgrades and work with the airport operator to effectively manage and optimize the network. With all this in place, airport managers can rest in peace knowing they have a communications network that will keep everyone safe and customer satisfaction high, while addressing business needs of the future.
Jose is a Telecommunications Engineer with a postgraduate degree in business management. He is responsible for the consultative sales of technology solutions and has more than 14 years of experience in formulating projects related to fixed, land mobile and satellite communications for the public and private sectors.
