As part of the development plan for Gatwick Airport, Firstco is involved in the project to build six new aircraft stands in the north-west zone of the airport. The company have been brought in to act as a single point of contact for the stands’ communications and control (C&C) systems. The brief is to co-ordinate the requirements of the various C&C stakeholders and suppliers, and make sure that these are captured in the overall project design.
The stands are due to go into operation in 2010 after a twelve-month construction programme. All six stands are multi-use allowing them to accommodate either one larger aircraft or two smaller ones. Two of the stands can accommodate the new Airbus A380, with the other four being capable of being upgraded for this purpose in the future.
All stands have aircraft wash facilities, including a diversion chamber for discharge treatment.
8MW high voltage substation and communications room
There is also a new 8MW high voltage substation being constructed to serve the stands. Within the substation there will be a dedicated communications room. It is envisaged that this communications room will be a central distribution point for all the C&C equipment on the stands.