Newcastle International Airport (NIA) was opened in 1935 and is the UK’s 9th largest airport, serving over 5 million passengers a year to 85 countries around the world. Most major airlines fly from Newcastle making it the UK’s fastest growing airport. To accommodate a record breaking number of passengers, in 1998, NIA embarked on a £7 million terminal development creating an additional 3,000 square metres of space in the departure lounge and bringing an enhanced travel experience to passengers.
NIA’s goal of achieving 10 million passengers per year meant that significant investment was required to bring the IT infrastructure up to a standard that would provide a platform for future growth. Croft were commissioned to undertake the design and implementation of the infrastructure to facilitate the major changes needed during the remodelling of the terminal. This work was to be the basis for the consolidation of critical business systems such as the flight information display system across the airport.
Before the upgrade, the Arrivals and Departures boards operated on separate networks. The need to consolidate the airport’s disparate systems into one cohesive environment to provide access to IT facilities at any location. Due to the round-the-clock nature of the business, great emphasis was placed on providing continuity throughout the process of implementation. The successful installation and ongoing support provided a dependable platform which assisted the airport in achieving its passenger targets. Time moved on…
The challenge we addressed
In parallel with the increased growth a new initiative was developed to provide increased care and communication to NIA’s passengers. In addition, the explosion in the demand for new routes was growing as a result of the low-cost airline boom. The airport had great ambition to attract these carriers, which as a result of their vision and actions, it succeeded. This has seen the airport grow to offer extensive customer service features, including a significant retail area in the departure lounge.
This challenge placed great emphasis on being able to adapt to evolving needs while being mindful of the requirement to improve the customer experience. Therefore the Airport looked to embrace new multimedia systems to provide improved customer service and information delivery, while incorporating the latest security measures. The Airport also sought improved operational efficiencies with reduced costs through the consolidation of disparate systems such as telephony and CCTV.
The approach we took
Croft and Newcastle Airport have enjoyed a long-term partnership which has enabled this ongoing journey to evolve. We have worked with them openly and honestly to deliver technology and services that support the dynamic needs of the business. This approach has served us both well and this has been enhanced through careful consideration of technologies and manufacturers.
The priority has always been to provide a high performance and secure infrastructure. The decision to adopt networking technology from Enterasys proved to be appropriate. The initial deployment of Cabletron’s Smartswitch platform enabled the evolution of the system which is deployed today. The latest incarnation of these design principals, allows the infrastructure to reach all areas of the terminal buildings and the airfield via the fibre optic cabling deployed during the 1998 upgrade.
The deployment of this infrastructure is ongoing as NIA continues to grow and develop. In order to ensure that the business critical applications receive the priority they need on the network, a "layer 3 quality of service" has been implemented, ensuring the critical applications a are not competing with lesser applications such as email. In order to ensure that network bandwidth is not an issue for more demanding applications such as multimedia, high capacity Gigabit ports and VLAN technology is widely used to provide these applications with their own virtual network to operate in.
This combination of bandwidth and application specific networking ensures that these traditionally greedy applications are given the infrastructure needed for successful deployment. In doing this IP network based Television and the Flight Information Display System runs smoothly and uninterrupted. It is this same format that will allow technologies such as IP CCTV to be embraced.
While all of these applications are essential to the business, the most important facet of any modern infrastructure has not been overlooked, that of a secure network. Enterasys N series switches proved through natural evolution from legacy Cabletron stability to be the switch of choice for this element of the design.
Inherent within these switches is the technology to enable the core of a network to be protected from accidental and malicious attack, effectively making each port of the network an internal firewall. This is ideal when the network needs to be opened up for partnering purposes and for flexible staff working, but needs to remain inherently secure.
The customer's view
The success of this partnership has evolved into other areas where Croft has been able to assist in other strategic initiatives.
IT Manager Darren Kelly commented:
"Croft offer us an exceptional level of service, they understand our business needs and as a result of the close relationship, provide us with rapid on-site support and advice"
