Global Aviation

With traffic levels and investment in airports reaching unprecedented heights, the commercial aviation industry is rapidly recovering from the difficulties of the last few years. The new exciting changes the industry is going through are captured in this edition where you will find by-lined reports, features and case studies contributed by esteemed international organisations and individuals from the aviation community.

In our Regional Developments section, do not miss a paper by (Mrs) Chinyere Asika,Senior Special Assistant to the President on NEPAD and Head of NEPAD Nigeria. It discusses the latest developments in aviation policy and infrastructure in Africa, and is followed by an airline’s perspective of its 43-year relationship with the African continent presented by Lufthansa AG’s Dr Holger Hätty. For the markets of Europe, Roy Griffins, Director General of ACI Europe presents a vision for European aviation, while those keen to find out what secrets are contained in the UK government’s progress report of the2003 Airports Policy white paper might get an insight from BAA plc’s CEO Mike Clasper as he discusses what needs to be done to meet the increasing growth in air passenger demand.

On the technology front, John L. Martin, Airport Director of San Francisco International Airport, and Robert J. McKinley of Alien Technology speak about the implementation of RFID - the new visibility system for airports. Further along, Tom Murphy of IATA reveal show industry efforts to simplify the business are picking up steam and could generate US$6.5 billion in cost savings. In another article, a cutting edge video-security system,the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB), is presented by Boeing’s Tom Healy. Available on Boeing’s Class 3, the EFB is a core technology to the aircraft manufacturer’s vision of an e-Enabled transport system and its answer to the industry’s demands for better security. Speaking about security, ACI has kindly allowed us to include in this edition its first ever position paper for airports on biometric authentication - a technology representing yet another giant leap for the future of airport security.

Also in this issue we celebrate the introduction of the Airbus A380 – “the flagship of the21st century’’ – which will no doubt revolutionise air transport in the coming years. In an exclusive feature containing an opening article from Charles Champion - the key man behind the Airbus A380 programme - we look at the environmental impact, technology and innovation, passenger comfort as well as airport compatibility (do not miss Rod Gilmour’s case study of Sydney Airport’s preparation for the A380) associated with this impressive double-decker.