Sepura provides safety and reliability to Spanish airport

AENA (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea), the public body responsible for operating 48 Spanish airports, has chosen Sepura’s handheld and in-vehicle TETRA radios as part of its digital communication system upgrades.

Moving passengers and luggage around a busy airport quickly, efficiently and safely is a challenge. Successful management is all about continually coordinating the roles of many teams of staff, from airline personnel to security, cleaning and emergency services.

Size alone can create issues of communication between staff, including those relating to safety and security. Schedules are tight, customers and airlines are demanding and costs can easily escalate whenever problems occur.

When Terminal 4 of Spain’s largest airport, Madrid-Barajas, was opened in 2006, it became one of the world’s largest terminals, covering well over a million square metres and consisted of two buildings, parking and satellite roads. Nearly 50 million passengers passed through the airport in a year and take-offs or landings happened every 30 seconds.

To help staff coordinate all airport operations, AENA used Sepura handheld and in-vehicle radios in landside and airside teams, to keep passengers, luggage and airlines moving to schedule, while ensuring safety and security.

The radio handsets are suitable for the harsh and noisy conditions found in airports, from the runway to the concourse. The radios are easy to use and Bluetooth enables handsfree radio operation.

The supplier worked in partnership with systems integrator Telvent on the upgrade. Under the latest system, fleets of staff, carrying out daily maintenance and cleaning, can work in synchronisation with airline personnel, security and luggage handlers to keep the flow of passengers and flights moving.

For every project, or incoming flight operations, it is possible to set up a dynamic talk group, enabling ground crews to work closely together for the duration of the task, after which the group is automatically disbanded. Staff in the group can talk directly to each other without interference, improving efficiency and often reducing the number of staff required for the project.

In addition, regular status messages can be transmitted to the central computer, as tasks, when luggage loading, cleaning and refuelling are completed. Any hitches can be rapidly picked up and addressed by management, ensuring flights operate on time. Closer coordination means faster service to customers and airlines, optimum use of staff, runways and terminals and lower costs in terms of fines and compensation.

At the same time, the safety of staff working in remote and hazardous environments is greatly enhanced with effective emergency communications. Using the network, the airport staff is always on the alert for threats and unexpected events and the radios deliver a communications channel to management and the emergency services.

In case of emergency, staff members can tap the panic button on the terminal and GPS technology will rapidly locate the position of the radio so help can be sent immediately. Motion-detection technology in the radios automatically generates man-down alerts if workers are incapacitated. Any incidents can be notified promptly to emergency crews.

Sepura handheld radios’ high transmitter power (1.8 W) extends TETRA network coverage, important when considering the scale of Spanish airports. Coverage can further be expanded, enhancing lone worker safety, with the company's SRG gateway radios and repeaters, stretching the network into airport black spots and to distant workers at the fringes of network coverage.

Spanish airports that are using Sepura radios together with Rohill infrastructure, as part of the Telvent TETRA solution, include Madrid-Barajas, Ibiza, Seville, Lanzarote, Menorca, Vigo and La Coruña, while Gran Canaria and Santiago are also using Sepura terminals.