Lelystad Airport: Safe and accessible
We still have to wait for the political decision-making, but Lelystad Airport is almost ready to open in 2020.
Lelystad Airport will take over flights from Schiphol as an overflow airport.
With the extension of the runway, the raising of the current control tower and the construction of the new terminal under the LEED Gold Certificate, Lelystad Airport is able to handle holiday flights with a European or Mediterranean destination.
The final preparations are being made so that there will soon be a safe and accessible airport. Remco Slijkhuis, Security Manager, tells us enthusiastically that Lelystad Airport is the nicest and the largest Dutch airport after Schiphol.
At least when it comes to the number of flight movements.
In that respect, Lelystad Airport is even larger than Eindhoven and Rotterdam combined.
Lelystad Airport is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Schiphol Group.
So far, the airport is only for General Aviation; That’s the international term for private and business flights with planes for up to 20 passengers.
“Because of the new function that Lelystad Airport will have, expansion was necessary,” says Remco Slijkhuis.
“You don’t just build a new airport. We have therefore been preparing for several years, such as designing and building a new terminal, extending the runway, raising the control tower and setting up the safety facilities. In that context, we asked Mactwin Security’s consultants to help us think about the security plan and package of measures for granting access.”
Safe & secure, hospitable and efficient
The granting of access to Lelystad Airport must be in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations (see box) and with Schiphol’s access policy.
Remco Slijkhuis: “But at the same time, we also want to be open and hospitable. We have therefore defined three principles for granting access: Safe & Secure, Hospitable and Efficient. This is reflected in the measures (technical and structural), but also in the design of the new terminal. It is transparent and logically laid out. At least as important in this context is the security awareness of airport staff. The people who will soon be working for us will be intensively trained in security awareness. We think it is very important that employees can identify deviant behavior and that they also know how to act in suspicious situations.”
Security Octagon as a Master Plan
Mactwin has made a Security Octagon for Lelystad Airport.
It shows how the airport site and the buildings that are part of it are divided into risk areas and security zones.
In the case of an airport, a distinction is made between the areas ‘airside’ and ‘landside’.
Airside is the area where all flight movements take place and where a stricter regime applies than on landside.
Both areas are divided into security zones.
Think of zones that are publicly accessible, zones where someone is only allowed to enter with a valid ticket or zones that are only accessible to a limited category of employees and contractors.
Part of the Security Octagon is a representation and description of security measures per transition (from one security zone to another).
Remco Slijkhuis: “Important transitions are those from landside to airside. Only passengers and employees who have been checked are allowed on airside. As soon as there is a breach between these two areas, this has far-reaching consequences. Unchecked persons on airside can potentially cause very dangerous situations (internationally). Thanks to the Security Octagon, all transitions and measures between landside and airside are clearly displayed, creating consistency, coherence and balance between the measures. Thanks to this balanced package of measures, a breach is detected as quickly as possible, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee can immediately see when the breach occurred and from that moment on track all movements of the offender in order to be able to intercept him quickly. This prevents you from having to re-check the entire Airside, including people present. An example of measures described by the Security Octagon is the two-factor authentication for the transition to the area where only government services (Royal Netherlands Marechaussee and Customs) are allowed. For these kinds of ‘high secure’ transitions, you always have to present your access card first, followed by a biometric check with an iris scan to determine that the card provider is actually the card owner.”
Practical tool for all stakeholders
“The Security Octagon is of great value to us,” says Remco Slijkhuis.
“It’s a very practical tool for the entire project team. It provided a lot of guidance in the discussions with suppliers and functioned, among other things, as a Schedule of Requirements for the construction of the new terminal. Many external parties, including the architectural consultant, the contractor and the security installer, use the Security Octagon. Octagon gives us clear guidelines on a daily basis and it helps us to avoid mistakes. We have insight very quickly if changes need to be made.”
Final phase before opening
Lelystad Airport is almost ready for the opening.
Parking lots, signage, an extended runway, and elevated control tower.
It’s all there.
In the brand new terminal, the finishing touches are being made to the interior.
We are now waiting for the final political decisions.
“Once the decision has been made, we will enter the final phase: setting up the service organisation,” says Remco Slijkhuis.
“This part has been outsourced to Viggo, a renowned and experienced aviation service provider. We hope that they will be able to start recruiting and training staff after the summer. For the security part, Viggo works closely with G4S.”