Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (ISG) has selected Vanderlande to provide lifecycle services for its baggage handling system.
As Istanbul’s second-largest airport, ISG is having to meet the demands of fast-growing airlines, such as Turkish Airlines and Pegasus. In addition, the city’s main hub, Istanbul Atatürk Airport, has reached capacity in recent times, which means more flights are being transferred to ISG.
As a result, ISG has seen impressive year-on-year growth figures with passenger volumes doubling from 12 to 24 million between 2010 and 2014. This trend is set to continue. However, terminal capacity is now nearing its limit only five years after opening.
ISG’s management team consulted with Vanderlande on how best to deal with the risks relating to its baggage handling systems, and also growth mitigation. Vanderlande proposed and executed a multi-disciplinary life-cycle study in April 2015, considering the following topics:
- equipment health check
- IT and controls
- baggage process performance.
A roadmap was established outlining ways for ISG to keep its baggage handling system at an optimum level. Bottlenecks and technical risks were identified and prioritised, providing the airport with an overview on which parts of its system needed immediate attention. During this process, parts that should be taken into account at a later stage were also identified.
The top priorities were to extend check-in facilities and update the IT and controls infrastructure (SAC and SCADA). As of October 2015, these are currently in execution and due for delivery by the end of this year. Additional modifications are also being discussed.
ISG aviation systems manager Alp Becerik said: "The consultancy study by Vanderlande helped us create awareness and convinced our stakeholders that modifications should be implemented immediately before daily operations were disrupted."
Through mutual understanding, focus and dedication, Vanderlande’s relationship with ISG has grown from ‘supplier-customer’ into a trusted partnership, enabling ISG to realise its ambitious growth strategy.