Vasco Reis

Critical Factors for Development of Airport Cities

Recent trends in airport-centered real estate development are addressed, with emphasis on the concept of the airport city. Airport cities are major economic hubs that have exhibited substantial growth and profits. However, evolution toward an airport city is difficult; several airports worldwide have failed in the attempt. The emergence of this type of development is related to major trends in the aviation sector during the past decades. Globalization and liberalization processes have led to a strong reliance of airport operators on nonaeronautical revenues. Real estate development centered on airports arises as a strategy to maximize nonaeronautical revenues and as a response to a need for revenue diversification. The purpose of this research was to identify the critical, underlying factors in the emergence of an airport city. A framework was designed to illustrate the agents that shape airport city development and the relationships between them. A key informant survey was then conducted with 30 respondents and complemented with personal interviews of eight of them. The results suggest the existence of four critical factors for the development of an airport city: the connectivity of the airport and its surroundings, the economic potential of the surrounding area, a sustainable development context, and a commercial attitude by the airport operator.

Competitiveness of High-Speed Rail: Analysis for Corridor Between Lisbon, Portugal, and Madrid, Spain, Based on Discrete Choice Models

This research study had two main objectives: (a) to examine the potential of high-speed rail (HSR) to compete against other transport modes currently operating between Lisbon, Portugal, and Madrid, Spain, and (b) to analyze the capacity of intermodal solutions that incorporate HSR to compete with other transport modes when included in air transport systems. Thus, more than an evaluation of the competition capacity of HSR in point-to-point trips, this study assessed how attractive intermodal solutions were in trips to medium- and long-haul destinations. The analysis was based on discrete choice models calibrated with data collected through a web stated-preference survey. Furthermore, scenarios were used to explore the results obtained by the models. The results obtained suggest that high-speed trains will not only be able to compete with other modes in a point-to-point trip from Lisbon to Madrid but will also be part of an intermodal chain to destinations beyond. Within the business segment, the medium-haul market was found to set the limit of the attractiveness of intermodal transport solutions. Within the leisure segment, however, this limit might be extended to the long-haul market, depending on the pricing strategy. These conclusions were supported by the attractiveness of each transport mode.

Competences Gap in European Railways Education

This paper addresses the gap between the competences offered by educational institutions and those required by railway firms. The competences gap has long been recognized as contributing to low job satisfaction and productivity. The term refers to the mismatch between the competences required for accomplishing a task and the actual competences of the employee. The research had two purposes: to develop a framework for analysis of the competences gap between firms and educational institutions and to assess the gap between competences required by the European Union railway market and those offered by higher education. The key competences of a railway employee were identified as the following: rolling stock and traction; systems engineering; civil engineering; control systems; operations; economics, business, and regulation; and environment. Railway firms were surveyed to identify the current demand for competences. The curricula of railway courses were reviewed to assess the competences being offered by educational institutions. Comparison of the competences demanded with those being offered indicated the existence of gaps with regard to several competences.

A literature review of flexible development of airport terminals

ABSTRACT The Master Plan has long been the traditional go-to approach to airport development. It was originally conceived for a scenario of stable growth. In recent decades, however, the airport industry has undergone substantial structural changes, with the traditional Master Plan progressively revealing limitations with regard to airports coping with the market’s unpredictability. There have since been increased calls for flexibility in the approach as an alternative or as a complement to the traditional Master Plan. A flexible development plan helps to accommodate changes within terminals. This paper presents a review of the current literature on airport terminal flexibility, covering a total of 19 reference works. The works were analysed in terms of the concepts, definitions and deployment frameworks, or similar. The review reveals that research in airport terminal flexibility is still in its early stages. A consensual definition has yet to be defined and no robust framework for deploying flexibility has been defined. We propose a new definition of flexible development. Furthermore, flexibility has been studied essentially in the context of expansion. However, in certain regions where land availability is scarce, other forms of airport development may be more important. We conclude the paper with suggestions for future research areas.

An Original Simulation Model to Improve the Order Picking Performance: Case Study of an Automated Warehouse

Order picking is a labour-intensive operation and so it represents significant expenditures, with any underperformance leading to high operational costs for the entire supply chain. Hence, this manuscript reports a research aimed to enhance the order picking process at an automated warehouse. The research included an assessment and restructuring of the storage assignment in the picking area and the picking process, namely the routing method.

A disaggregated freight transport market model based on agents and fuzzy logic

Disaggregated modelling approaches, such as agent-based, have been successfully used to model freight transport markets. However, the maturity of published models is still relatively low. This paper proposes a novel agent-based model of a freight transport market. The model contains several new features. The decision-making process of individual agents is simulated through a normative stepwise approach using fuzzy set theory and accumulated market knowledge. Agents interact through simulated auctions of transport contracts. A dynamic price calculation mechanism has been devised to simulate agents’ specific pricing strategies. A distinguishing feature is that it can be used to assess the influence of agents’ market-related measures and behaviour on their competitiveness and on the respective transport chain. A synthetic market was calibrated to demonstrate its capabilities and limitations. The paper concludes with a set of directions for future research work.

Micro-simulation of airport taxiing procedures to improve operation sustainability: Application of semi-robotic towing tractor

Carbon footprint assessment due to airport operations is often required by environmental regulations. Aircraft contribute to local air pollution during the Landing and Take Off cycle. A big portion of the time aircraft spend on the ground is taken by taxi operations. Taxi times also increase at higher rates than traffic demand because of congestion at airports. Several measures are explored in the literature regarding the mitigation of taxi related emissions. These measures are often assessed by means of analytical approaches. In this article, the authors introduce a new micro simulation approach to assess aircraft ground movements with the aim of providing a more realistic estimation of taxi times. The approach is based on the definition of a discrete event model using a generic simulation software, AnyLogic 7. The new model is then used to assess the potential benefits and impacts deriving from the introduction of an environmental friendly taxi procedure at Lisbon International Airport. The simulated procedure envisages the utilization of TaxiBot, a semi-robotic towbarless tractor suitable for dispatch towing at medium to large airports. Results prove the alternative measure would potentially lead to environmental benefits in terms of fuel saved and emissions reduction. Considering an average day, both airports and airlines would gain in terms of, respectively, emitted pollutants and operational costs. Starting from these observations, possibilities for further research are explored.

Assessing the Person–Job Fit in the European Union Aviation Industries Using a Competency Gap Assessment Framework

Over the past few decades, the European Unions (EUs) aviation industries have experienced a dwindling of their long-standing capacity to attract and retain the most promising students. A misalignment or gap between the competencies needed at work and those earned at school is just one of the several potential causes already identified. Such a gap may be eroding the person–job fit, namely, the difference between the perceived applicant–job fit and the actual employee–job fit, and thus contributing to making these industries less attractive. The purpose of the research was to evaluate the person–job fit along two dimensions: perceived applicant–job and actual employee–job fit in the EU aviation sector. Competency was the component used to operationalize the measurement of the person–job fit. A competency gap assessment framework estimated the gaps between the competencies for adequately performing the job tasks and those acquired by higher education students. A total of 88 competencies, divided into four domains of activity (airlines, airports, air navigation service providers, and manufacturers), were taken into consideration. The methodological approach included two large-scale surveys. The results evidenced a high actual person–job fit but a low perceived person–job fit in the aeronautical or aerospace engineering programs and a low actual person–job fit and perceived person–job fit in the remaining ones. Results suggested that students’ attraction to pursuing a career in aviation might be negatively affected but, if starting out in a manufacturing industry, students were likely to perform above their initial expectations.

Proposals for mitigation of pollutant emissions from aircraft: application to Lisbon airport

Proposals for mitigation of pollutant emissions from aircraft: application to Lisbon airport

Architecture of an information system for an intermodal transport service

This paper presents the result of a research project aiming to identify the information requirements of an intermodal transport chain and to design an architecture for an information system. The main results and findings are presented, as well as, the discussion on the potentials benefits of information system for fostering intermodal transportationpsilas performance.