TAM took a ‘holistic’ view of airport operations, including all of the key processes as well as, importantly, the interaction between them, as it is the degree of synchronisation between these different processes which constitutes a significant contributory factor to punctual and predictable operations and ultimately, therefore, passenger satisfaction. The evolution towards the TAM approach within PJ04 was assured through closer integration of landside and airside performance monitoring, as well as through the development and validation of monitoring and decision support tools, optimised in accordance with the information requirements of the various stakeholder groups, in particular airlines, airport operators, ANSPs and ground handlers. Further work will be carried out in the specific context of environmental impact planning and monitoring, in order to ensure that environmental performance is fully integrated into the airport operations management process.
An additional area for development concerns 'what-if' decision support tools, business intelligence predictive tools and performance dashboards. The ability to analyse the trade-off among numerous performance indicators will become an integral part of the collaborative decision-making process.
This project favoured the evolution toward a 'performance-driven' airport through holistic monitoring of demand and capacity. Decision making will be based on more reliable information with enhanced decision impact assessment. As a result, there should be an improvement in the predictability, flexibility and efficiency of airport operations as well as increased resilience through shorter recovery to normal operations.
As clients of airport services, airlines benefit from enhanced operational efficiency. For passengers, benefits are tangible. The available information is of high quality and the more efficient use of airport resources lead to enhanced service quality.
Optimising the collaborative performance management process via the TAM approach is most beneficial at complex, busy hub airports, where measures such as improved communication between the airport and the Network Manager can bring both local and network benefits.
However, the project is not only about the major hub airports. In fact, the TAM concept was designed also to take into account the specific needs of smaller or regional airports, by ensuring scalability as a function of traffic and the potential network impact. Such 'regional' airports are often key drivers of the local economy, and it is important that there is not a 'one size fits all' approach. We have to ensure that only those elements which bring the most benefit at an affordable level are implemented locally.
The project performed a number of different concept development activities with increasing levels of maturity over time, and at each stage provided evidence of the performance benefits to be expected as well as more transverse elements covering safety, security and associated costs and benefits. The aim is to ensure that the final operational concept delivered by the project is safe and cost-effective and provides performance benefits.
