Milan · 2012-04-03 · DESTINATIONS BUSINESS BUSINESS DESTINATIONS June-J uly 2009 AprIl-mAy 2009...

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DESTINATIONS BUSINESS BUSINESS DESTINATIONS June-July 2009 IN ASSOCIATION WITH AprIl-mAy 2009 vIlNIuS DublIN ISTrIA SINgApOrE mAlmO ST luCIA £3.45/€5.00 PLUS… Book reviews Travel laptops Summer trends Wine review Aviation looking on the world from its highest point commemorating the fall of the berlin wall Twenty-year anniversary The ultimate ascent Milan Where the art is enJoy the charm and culture of the place

Transcript of Milan · 2012-04-03 · DESTINATIONS BUSINESS BUSINESS DESTINATIONS June-J uly 2009 AprIl-mAy 2009...

D E S T I N A T I O N S BUSINESS

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I N ASS O C I AT I O N W I T HA p r I l- m Ay 20 0 9

vIlNIuS DublIN ISTrIA SINgApOrE mAlmO ST luCIA

£3.45/€5.00

PLUS…Book reviews

Travel laptopsSummer trends

Wine reviewAviation

looking on the world from its highest point

commemorating the fall of the berlin wall

Twenty-year anniversary

The ultimateascent

MilanWhere the art is

enJoy the charm and culture of the place

128 june-july 2009 Business destinations

Athens InternAtIonAl AIrport Is A desIgn And commercIAl success - more InnovAtIve, reseArch-drIven And energy effIcIent thAn Any In europe. Shirley redpath reports

With over 3,000 airports in your geographic area, according to figures compiled for the 2008 World fact Book, there is a large crowd

from which to stand out in the race to win passengers – and awards. But that is just what this year’s winner of the Business destinations award for Best Airport – europe has managed to do.

Athens International Airport (AIA), named elefthérios venizélos after the most prominent political figure of the twentieth century in greece, was built to replace its aging predecessor in time for the city’s hosting of the 2004 summer olympic games. first opened in 2001, the airport has been setting standards and winning awards ever since.

In fact, the airport was bucking trends and setting standards well before the first jet loads of passengers began to arrive. When they considered options for upgrading the Athens air transport facilities in time for the 2004 games, planning officials took a long term view and realised that the existing ellinikon International site could not accommodate the kind of growth the city wanted for the future. the decision was taken to build a completely new airport, and a large tract of land 33km east of Athens was set aside for the purpose.

“there is no question that the decision to build from scratch rather than modify existing facilities has made it easier for us to create the success that we have today,” explains george Karamanos, director, communications and marketing, Athens International Airport. “By constructing a completely new facility we could incorporate a modular design to accommodate future growth, along with complete uniformity of systems to facilitate more efficient delivery of services across the entire airport.” By way of contrast, Karamanos points to heathrow Airport in london where each terminal has a separate and distinct set of operating conditions.

construction of the new Athens facility was carried out under the world’s first public/private airport financing arrangement, which brought a wealth of commercial expertise into the project from its inception. the private partners brought access to more flexible finance, along with access to specialists in all the relevant business areas, from It to retail, and the know-how to build a world class airport. It was as a result of this innovative partnership, Karamanos

believes, that the project was delivered six months ahead of schedule, and has been developing traffic volumes ahead of original plans ever since.

Service firstBut to the average passenger enroute to a destination, the construction and financing of the airport is not of immediate relevance. AIA won the Business destinations award based on its ability to deliver services that facilitate the best possible passenger experience. these range from a supervised creative entertainment area where children can occupy themselves in a safe environment, to an on-site museum and culture centre, and free wi-fi internet connectivity for business travellers. everything is

focussed on making the passenger’s transit as pleasant and hassle-free as possible, from the excellent signage throughout the airport, to fast check-in and security queues, and the team of roaming agents providing on-the-spot information and advice. All of this is delivered by staff who are chosen and highly rated for their friendly approach to serving customers.

And the focus on service doesn’t stop there. “even though we are a new airport with excellent services already,” comments Karamanos, “we are aware that passenger needs are constantly changing, so we make sure we review

and refresh our service provisions on a regular basis.” As an example, airport retailers have just completed a refurbishment of retail areas, while the Airport company installed new internet check-in facilities within the terminal buildings.

While passengers have given AIA the thumbs up for its ease of use and friendly service, the airline industry is equally impressed. for four years in a row, Athens International has won the prestigious oAg (official Airline guide) Airport marketing Award, reflecting its innovative and constructive approach to supporting airlines’ route development. “marketing is one of our clear competitive advantages,” says Karamanos. We provide a full package of information, service and incentives to our existing and prospective airline partners.”

In addition to incentive packages and an abundance of capacity, perhaps the most attractive offering for airlines is AIA’s investment in information technology to support their marketing and operations. “We

George Karamanos,

Marketing director, aia

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never forget that one of the reasons airlines chose to come to Athens is not for the airport, but for the attractiveness of the destination,” explains Karamanos. “We provide research information that supports the airlines’ commercial decisions around route planning.

“our research goes beyond traffic flows to include the qualitative data behind those statistics, like where the passengers live, how they booked their flight, how often they travel and the reasons for their journeys, so when an airline decides to open a route to greece they already have a detailed understanding of the clientele.” there are very few airports in the world that can offer this facility because of the large investment in research required. AIA has further upgraded the service by providing the data on a secure internet site, and backing it up with joint marketing promotions and advantageous media buying.

More than just an airportWithout doubt, air travel is being hurt by the global recession, calling for innovative measures on the part of all airports. “the previous slump in air travel was caused largely by fuel price rises, and that affected mainly the airlines,” notes Karamanos. “today we are seeing not only a reduction in flights but also in the commercial revenues of airports. At AIA we are trying to become leaner operationally, but we are also trying not to burden our customers with increased charges, and we are working closely with our airlines and the local tourism authorities to stimulate the demand for air travel.”

As well, AIA has successfully diversified into other business operations which contribute significantly to its overall income. Karamanos estimates that 40 percent of revenues and 65 percent of profits are derived from non-aeronautical activities. Within the 17 sq km site set aside to accommodate the projected growth of aviation activity is a 5-star hotel with over 300 rooms, the largest exhibition centre in greece, and a retail park with stores including IKeA, leroy merlin, a fashion factory outlet and an electronics superstore.

AIA’s early strategy of developing world-class information systems through a separate business unit has also paid off. the focus was on developing systems that would keep pace with technology and deliver consistency across the airport compound, and to this end, systems that were used in other industries were customised to fit the needs of the airport business. “the know how that we developed through building our own systems to do things like gather traffic information and monitor revenues from non-aeronautical activities is really quite advanced in the industry,” notes Karamanos, “and other airports from around the world came to us to learn how we do it. As a result, we now export our know how, and as part of our consultancy we try to coach people so that they will understand how this works and be able to do it for themselves.”

A green and profitable future“the airport of the future will become a more important part of the passenger experience,” predicts Karamanos. “check-in processes will become more streamlined, and the airport itself will become a part of the travel experience. holiday passengers will expect to be able to use their time at the airport to

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get into the mood of travel, so we will need to provide more leisure areas and activities. for the business traveller, the airport will become a second office, with more services like wi-fi internet connectivity, and meeting and conference facilities available.”

AIA has an ambitious long term growth strategy that calls for passenger numbers to increase steadily from the current 16 million per annum to 50 million by the end of its six phase development. however, many people see air travel as a dangerous contributor to greenhouse gases and environmental concerns. here, too, AIA is taking the lead by making its operations as green as possible. It has already been shown that aviation contributes only 2 to 3 percent of global co2 emissions, but, says Karamanos, there are a lot of things airports can do to minimize the impact of their ground operations. A dedicated environmental department at the airport is developing plans to meet the challenge of climate change, setting tough but realistic targets for recycling (43 percent of waste generated from airport operations is recycled), energy utilisation and promoting awareness on environmental issues. In 2008, the european commission presented the AIA with its greenBuilding Award in recognition of the energy efficiency savings made in its buildings, and the airport was one of only a handful to participate in earth hour on 28 march 2009 by switching off the lights on one of its two runways.

Although its growth targets are ambitious, AIA is not losing focus. “Aiming at growing profitably, we believe we are on the right track” says Karamanos. “our objective is to become an airport known for delivering quality services to both passengers and airlines.” from the results of the Business destinations award, it looks like they are already there.

AIA’s long term strategy calls for passenger numbers to increase from 16 million per annum to 50 million by the end of its six phase development