"Piloting Airport Into The Future"
Newsletter - 24th February 2004
Direct flights from Belfast to Paris and Brussels, longer operational hours and more airport retail facilites - these are just some of the hopes of Belfast City Airport's new chief executive.
In his first major interview since taking up the post, Brian Ambrose outlines the developments he hopes to land in the future. ADRIENNE McGILL reports.
THERE aren't too many airport chiefs who can roll up their sleeves at a moment's notice and get to grips with the technical complications of an aircraft engine.
However, for Brian Ambrose, 44, the newly-appointed chief executive at Belfast City Airport, it doesn't pose a problem.
A qualified aeronautical engineer, who joined Belfast planemakers Shorts as an apprentice more than 20 years ago, Mr Ambrose is now at the controls of one of the UK's fastest-growing airports.
Previously operations director at the airport, a role which he held for seven years, he is well used to dealing with a variety of complex issues across vital services, including air traffic control, security, fire crew, baggage handling and engineering.
Mr Ambrose, a native of Portavogie, admits that he's followed quite an " illogical career path" to date, moving from the technical side to management.
His appointment as BCA chief follows a period of rapid growth and change at the facility, but there's more on the horizon.
Between 1991 and 2001, BCA experienced an 8.2 per cent average annual growth in passenger traffic.
Three main airlines use the airport - bmi British Midland, British Airways CitiExpress and flybe - serving 12 destinations in the UK.
A new twice-daily service from BCA to Cork starts next month, operated by Irish airline Aer Arann. It is stepping in to fill the gap left by Jetmagic, which previously served the route.
Around 800 people work at the airport - 360 employed directly and 450 by airlines and other concerns.
There are ambitious plans to capitalise on the as-yet untapped opportunities at the airport which spans 300 acres, and Ferrovial - the Spanish construction company which bought BCA last year from Bombardier for £35m - is keen to continue development at the facility.
The Spanish have made it clear that BCA is a good fit for their business and they are keen to develop the airport's commercial activities.
Services under management where Ferrovial see scope for expansion includes the retail and service concession business, which takes in gift shops and restaurants.
However, the company also sees scope for increasing revenues from aeronautics and non- aeronautic sources.
"Part of the Spanish influence is to develop more retail opportunities," says Mr Ambrose.
"We already have two shops at the airport, but by Easter hope to open a third.
"On the property side, there is plenty of development potential with the land that we have beside the old, and also the new terminal.
"The property development could be airport-related in terms of using it for engineering, aircraft, or cargo, but perhaps even office space."
Expanding services has been key to development in a short period, with passenger numbers rising to a new record of 2m, from 1.2m in 2000.
In 2002, just a year after the new £21m terminal opened, the airport was faced with a massive 60 per cent growth in passenger numbers following bmi's decision to move its services from Belfast International to BCA.
As a result, passenger levels at BCA rose from 1.2m to 1.8m.
"The business is successful, profitable and we have put a plan together for this year to deliver good results.
"At the moment, we have a 2m passenger base and I see that going forward in a measured four-to-five per cent growth year-on-year.
"Our biggest challenge to date was the massive growth in passenger numbers.
"We spent nine months planning for bmi to come here and, when they did, passenger numbers went up 60 per cent practically overnight.
"That was a big challenge, but the change went remarkably well," says Mr Ambrose.
However, perhaps the most controversial of the developments planned is the major review of the current planning restrictions at the airport, which may be the subject of a Government inquiry.
The airport recently asked the Department of the Environment to review the current planning agreement, but residents living close to the airport have voiced concerns about any such development.
"I think there is a measured way to grow the airport," says Mr Ambrose.
"We are not asking for something which is fundamentally going to change how we have operated in the past.
"Residents living near the airport are looking for less flying - the public is looking for more flying. We are trying to strike a balance."
BCA is currently restricted by a planning agreement dating back to 1997, but with its roots in the 1980s, on the number of passengers using the airport and the number of flights operating in and out of the facility.
Under the agreement, the number of seats for sale into and out of BCA is capped at a total of three million - or 1.5 million each way.
The airport is also prohibited from operating flights between 9.30pm and 6.30am, and a significant proportion of departures and arrivals must be routed over Belfast Lough, instead of over east and south Belfast, which are densely populated.
While there is a ceiling on aircraft movements of 45,000 per year, in 2003 a total of 33,345 planes took to the skies or landed at BCA.
"The most controversial issue is extending the hours when we can operate nightime flights. But it is a case of tweaking the existing arrangements rather than a radical change.
"There is market demand for a later in-bound flight from Heathrow.
"Nearly anywhere you fly - if you look out of the plane's window - you will see houses. There is nothing unusual about having houses close to an airport.
"Our operating hours close at 9.30pm. If we got an hour extension to that to 10.30pm that would be sufficient.
"On the issue of seats for sale, we are restricted to a ceiling of three million seats offered for sale. But if we are looking at five per cent growth year-on-year over the next five years, we will hit that ceiling.
"There are very few airports who have these restrictions. These restrictions were linked to the old terminal. But now we have a £21m terminal which can accommodate more passengers."
Mr Ambrose said that, while the review request will open a new debate on flying hours at the airport, any attempt to change the operational hours would be subject to the full rigours of the planning legislation and would be conducted in an open way with full community consultation.
"If there is a competitor, under any guise, we will be very aggressive. We will not allow a competitor to stunt the growth of this airport for their own benefit.
"We have an open door policy - we have brought lots of groups down to see the control tower and the airfield and they have seen an airport which operates to a very high standard and where safety is not compromised.
"But we have no appetite to get into a pitched battle with anyone. Any public inquiry will allow people to make an informed view.
"We will present facts and figures, and anyone who opposes growth can present their case. Then the planners have to make a judgement," adds Mr Ambrose.
Last year, the Government published an aviation White Paper detailing plans for airports across the UK over the next three decades in order to cope with the massive expansion in air travel.
In 2000, nearly five million of the 180 million passengers passing through UK airports used the three main Northern Ireland airports: Belfast International, Belfast City and City of Derry.
People living in Northern Ireland make more journeys by air than those in many other parts of the UK, around 1.4 return trips per person. While the Government ruled that Belfast International Airport should retain and expand its position as Ulster's largest airport, it recommended that operating hours at BCA should be reviewed.
"It does not matter if the expansion is happening in Belfast, Birmingham or Glasgow.
"The fact is the industry is expanding rapidly. If you don't put the infrastructure in place to cope with that you will face gridlock.
"At present, the infrastructure can't cope with the growth that is projected - you can't bury your head in the sand - you have to address it.
"It is recognised that we are an economic gateway that provides important linkages - especially to Heathrow and the Government realises that there is a bit of tweaking required if we going to fulfil that role."
On the issue of the Ferrovial's ownership of BCA, the fact that the facility was bought by a company which had extensive airport interests, is a bonus, maintains Brian Ambrose.
Ferrovial owns 12 other airports the globe - in Australia, the UK, Mexico and Chile - with a throughput of more than 41 million passengers per year.
It also has a 50 per cent stake in Bristol Airport, which handles 3.5 million passengers a year.
At the time of the BCA purchase, the Spanish company said it hoped to reap synergies through merging some Bristol and Belfast operations.
Among its portfolio of airports is Australia's largest, Sydney airport, which handles some 24 million passengers a year: 9 airports in Mexico, including Cancun and Antofagusta in Chile.
The company, which is one of Spain's largest engineering and construction firms, employs 28,000 people. Last year, it had a turnover of £3.45bn.
It is also involved in car park management and telecommunications services.
"Ferrovial is giving us some benchmarking data - so we can learn from what the other airports in the group are doing. There are some areas where we are doing very well and other areas where some of the group is doing better. So, we can use some of their ideas.
"Ferrovial has already invested £35m in the purchase of the airport and have just spent £5m resurfacing the runway. They are a very profitable corporation and will continue to invest if there is a business case for it."
Route development is another priority for Mr Ambrose, and he admits he's disappointed that there's no direct international services from the City Airport.
He's keen to see direct services to Paris and Brussels for business and leisure passengers.
"We are talking to airlines about those sorts of opportunities. I think direct services to Europe will come, but it is a limited market."
Only a few weeks into the job, it seems that Brian Ambrose is on course to engineer a significant role for BCA within Ferrovial's portfolio.
While some of the plans
are still up in the air, the new chief executive aims to pilot the airport
to new heights.
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