Together with the RAeS Headquarters in London, the Hamburg Branch recently held a Regional Conference with the title "AIRPORTS FOR THE 21st CENTURY -
PREPARING FOR THE NEW GENERATION OF COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT". Airports around the world are preparing for the introduction of the new generation commercial aircraft, such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing B787. Both aircraft are challenges for existing airports: the A380 because of its size and weight, the B787 because of its fully composite fuselage. This was the subject for a RAeS Regional Conference held on 19/20th September in Hamburg. It was the first such Conference outside of the UK and was held in the excellent conference facilities of Hamburg Airport. 52 people from around the world attended this two day event and were treated to 17 lectures from representatives of airports, airlines, servicing and ground handling, security and manufacturers. Some of the main messages from the speakers were,· - The impact of introducing the A380 is less than that for the 747 compared to previous aircraft,
- B787 was not expected to be an issue for airports and operators as far as composites are concerned,
- A380 is a prestige aircraft and is used by airport infrastructure developments as a catalyst to attract consumers and customers for non-aviation related businesses located at the airports,
- Increase of wing span driven by the replacement of older aircraft with e.g. B787, A350 and the B737/A320 successor could be a future issue at smaller airports.
The conference proceedings will be published by the RAeS. |
