Technology associated with airport lighting is changing quickly and gateway operators have not been slow to catch on to the benefits available. There is money and energy to be saved
According to Christian Onselaere, president and CEO of airport lighting specialist ADB: “We have had some significant changes of late. Our company was acquired by French-based private equity fund, PAI Partners – owners of Swissport and Nuance, two key companies with a strong hold in the airport services business.”
However, ADB has remained focused on delivering “end-to-end solutions on the airside for our airport customers”, he adds. Its priorities have included implementation of the complete airport ground lighting (AGL) solution at Hamad International Airport, Doha, finalising the first phase at Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan and new LED (light-emitting diode) implementations at both London Heathrow and Columbus (Ohio) airports.
The company is building on past success. It has now installed more than half a million LED lights across more than 450 airports – “this is a huge achievement,” Onselaere celebrates. “Our success is the result of more than ten years of experience, (having) leading airports as our customers, a great deal of innovation effort and close collaboration with leading regulatory bodies and national civil aviation authorities.”
ADB is by no means the only major AGL supplier, however; nor is it the only one that sees innovation as vital to long-term success. UK-based atg airports, for example, has just launched IRIS, a new LED-based AGL offering which has a mere 6mm profile above ground, interchangeable components, LED arrays across the range and no negative slope in front of the lens to compromise the photometrics of the fittings.
Recently showcased at the inter airport Europe 2013 exhibition in Munich, atg airports has – according to sales & business development director Kevin Armstrong – targeted the concept of an IRIS family which has both 8 inch and 12 inch in-pavement fittings, with similar design principles sharing interchangeable parts. It was also envisaged that some of these components could be used in other products that also now feature in the IRIS product family, including the E-IRIS Elevated range of high-intensity LED lights and the HERMES range of LED signs.
A changing industry sector
Onselaere believes that the industry in which he is engaged is evolving, and for the better. “Now, more than ever – at a time of economic uncertainty – efficiency improvement, better management of air traffic flows and greater airfield safety will be imperative as airports look to improve their bottom line, reduce costs and enhance travellers’ experience.
“Our end-to-end approach is designed to address these priorities. The acquisition by PAI represents an opportunity to strengthen our customer focus and better support an airport’s airfield technology needs.” And at the core of ADB’s development efforts is its LED technology. “The 500,000 LED AGL milestone is unsurpassed in the industry, and makes us an undisputed leader in this segment,” he says. The achievement also reflects the universal acceptance of LED airfield lighting as the new standard in AGL, as more and more airports switch to this energy-efficient technology to meet their sustainability goals.
“Our list of references is growing – in the UK, our LED lighting is already installed at airports in Manchester, Birmingham, Guernsey, Gatwick and others, as well as at Heathrow (of which, more later).”
Furthermore: “Across the world, we count Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Denver International Airport in the US, Charles De Gaulle Airport in France, Frankfurt Airport in Germany and Treviso Airport, Italy, as our customers.
“We continue to invest in our LED portfolio to extend our offerings across the airfield. Earlier this year, we launched the industry’s first LED elevated turn pad lights as well as Inset Runway Edge Lights (IREL) lights. With these, airports can almost fully convert to energy-efficient LED lighting on the runway,” Onselaere enthuses.
At inter airport Europe 2013, ADB showcased its latest generation of LED lights – second-generation low protrusion lights which have been sold to Oslo Gardermoen Airport in Norway and Calgary International Airport in Canada, besides London Heathrow – with many more sales said to be in the pipeline. Onselaere explains that ADB’s low protrusion lights have been significantly improved to overcome the drawbacks of traditional versions by ensuring that no part of the prism is located below the surface of the ground, thereby avoiding loss of photometry.
LED: the way forward?
The case for airports using LED technology is well proven, Onselaere considers. “The long-term experience, feedback from customers, the fact that more than 80% of interviewed customers in 
recent surveys indicate their willingness to switch to LED all make a very strong case in favour of LEDs.
“The cost issue is quite easily addressed, as LEDs are more cost-efficient in the long run,” he goes on. “Moreover, the payback time for LED AGL from ADB can be as little as two years or even less. Resilient in all weather conditions and low-maintenance, LED AGL lasts longer, improves airfield availability and decreases cost associated with maintenance and runway shutdowns. Furthermore, our LED-based AD-Lights portfolio is ICAO- and FAA-compliant, and offers up to 84% energy savings vis-à-vis conventional lighting, enabling airports to reduce carbon emissions.”
atg’s Armstrong agrees that LEDs are the way of the future. In particular: “Mindful of environmental considerations in this modern age and the limitations being placed by governments on the aviation industry regarding carbon emissions, airports are giving serious consideration to the use of lower energy forms of lighting.
“Airports are looking to electronic sources of light, in particular LED technology, which can provide airports with benefits which include reduction in whole lifecycle costs due to lower energy consumption, reduction in airports’ carbon emissions, an increase in lifetime of the order of 50,000 hours and an improved mechanical robustness of the LED module.”
He continues: “As such, we at atg airports are seeing the demand for LED technology on airfields increasing. The recent atg airports global LED AGL survey forecasts an increase in the number of LED AGL projects taking place in the next two to three years, as airports strive to reduce operating costs and find solutions to reductions in carbon emissions.”
Next-generation
“LEDs represent the first major step change in airfield lighting design since standards were laid down,” Armstrong declares. “However, to reap the total benefits from this exciting new technology, requires modern thinking to redevelop the airfield lighting circuit in order to truly maximise the power saving benefits.” He believes that the next decade will see LED technology mature, and that we can expect to see new standards related to the use of electronic components in airfield lighting along with new and innovative ways to operate these devices.
ADB is also looking beyond LED technology for its corporate future. For example, another launch at inter airport saw the company unveil its new LED Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI), which ADB asserts delivers “new levels of performance, energy efficiency and ease of use”.
In additon, it can eliminate warm-up delays typically associated with traditional PAPI systems operating in colder climates. “Airports can lower energy and maintenance costs, while ensuring that pilots get precise visual information for safe landing,“ Onselaere informs.
Finally, inter airport saw ADB launch a brand new power solution called the CRE-M, the ‘M’ standing for modular. This product has become the latest part of the company’s family of constant current regulator power solutions.
Performance monitoring
Tailor Made Systems (TMS), based in Warwick in the UK, offers something slightly different but equally valuable when it comes to AGL. Its MALMS (Mobile Airfield Light Monitoring System) division offers a range of products that allow an airport to measure the performance of its runway lighting in relation to ICAO/FAA standards.
The company claims that MALMS photometric test systems are accurate, easy to use and reliable. Based on the results they provide, a gateway’s maintenance manager can identify which airfield lights require maintenance and what maintenance is needed, before then scheduling such work with his/her airfield engineers. Because MALMS can determine if a light is above or below the 50% serviceability level stipulated by ICAO, this method can effectively override the traditional replace-on-failure or ‘block changes’ of lights often used as a maintenance and replacement strategy by airports.
The MALMS trailer, the principal MALMS product, is a stand-alone system that can be pulled by any vehicle without the need for modifying the towing vehicle and without the need for specialised tooling and engineers.
The system – says Wayne Rolfe, TMS sales and marketing manager – is flexible, easy to use and requires minimum training and support. The MALMS trailer is used on a weekly basis by many large international airports to maintain airfield lighting to CAT III standards, he explains.
According to Rolfe, there are over 130 MALMS systems in service with airports around the world – from Sydney in Australia to Delhi and Dubai in Asia, from Lagos in Africa to San Diego in the US. The company invests heavily in product development, including new testing technology for the latest LEDs now used in airfield lighting, and TMS is presently undertaking verification testing programmes with major airfield lighting suppliers from around the world as well as third-party testing companies, he notes.
The TMS product range already extends beyond the supply of photometric testing products and services to include automated cleaning equipment (MALMS Cleaner), electronic torque checks of airfield lighting fasteners (M-Torque) and an electronic inspection and asset management system (MALMS Engineer) that utilises GPS and RFID technology for identifying airfield lighting assets. TMS now offers airport maintenance managers what Rolfe calls a “total package” for integrated airfield lighting maintenance.
UK gateways turn to LEDs
ADB is delivering what it describes as “a turnkey solution that includes energy-efficient runway LEDs and power systems” that support Birmingham International Airport’s development strategy.
Its runway extension forms an integral part of the gateway’s ambition for growth. The project, which is expected to be completed by May 2014, has seen the airport opt for energy-efficient solutions from ADB. The latter will supply and install runway LEDs including threshold lights, warning signals (wig-wags), Inset Runway Guard Lights (IGRLs) and LED signs.
ADB is also replacing the lighting at Heathrow International Airport’s southern and northern runways with its LED range of AD-lights. Heathrow will be the first to deploy ADB’s runway end light, the latest edition of its Inset Runway Lights portfolio. The supplier will also change the existing guidance signs at the gateway to ADB’s LED-based PVL signs. This will help Heathrow further reduce energy consumption and optimise maintenance, the company notes.
For London Heathrow, the opportunity to install over 130km of cabling and 1,000 new LED AGLs was taken as part of a wider programme to resurface the gateway’s runways.
The £20 million (US$31) runway resurfacing project will initially see Heathrow’s southern runway resurfaced. Because the airport cannot be closed for this sort of work, only one runway can be resurfaced at a time, and the work must take place during the night. Resurfacing of the southern runway began in April and the beginning of August saw work begin on the installation of the new cabling and lighting.
According to gateway operator London Heathrow Limited: “Heathrow replaces all its AGLs each time a runway is rehabilitated. This time it was decided to install LEDs instead of the traditional halogen lights as they are more energy-efficient and last a significantly longer time that the old lights. For example the old halogen lights would need filaments replacing about every six months, whereas the LEDs can last up to 10 or 12 years.”
Work will begin on the northern runway next year.
Schiphol opts for LED
Amsterdam Airport has become the latest major European gateway to begin replacing much or all of its existing halogen AGL with LEDs. The Dutch airport is to replace all the signs along its runways with new ones that are lit by LEDs. Operator Amsterdam Airport Schiphol estimates that replacing the halogen lamps currently used to illuminate the signs giving information about location, routes, runway numbers and airport traffic rules with LED technology will reduce the energy consumption involved by 70 percent. The halogen lights have an operational life of about a year, the LED lights about a decade.
Some of the lights in question have already been replaced but the whole programme of replacement is expected to take several years. The substitution of new for old lights will be timed to coincide with periods in which runways are out of operation due to major maintenance work.
