By 2011, visitors to Cairo International will enjoy a free and quick train trip when roaming through the airport's three terminals and air mall, reports Amirah Ibrahim As part of the comprehensive project to upgrade Egypt's main gateway, the Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation has awarded the construction of an automated people mover APM to the French constructor POMA and Saudi constructor Al-Marasem International for Development. The 1.857 km project is the first APM in the Middle East. On Monday, a signing ceremony took place, where Cairo International head Hasan Rashed and POMA Export Manager Philip Adrian signed the construction contract. "We are excited to get construction underway," said the POMA official. "Not only will this project help relieve transferring among the three terminals, it will also serve as an example of the Egyptian Aviation Department's commitment to quality service." According to Rashed, POMA's $100 million design-build contract includes constructing the guideway and four stations as well as installing the full turnkey operating system and delivering two state-of-the-art Crystal Mover APM vehicles. The contract also includes the costs of operation, maintenance and providing spare parts and training for five years. "Many large international airports around the world feature people mover systems to transport passengers between terminals or within a terminal itself. Some people mover systems at airports connect with other public transportation systems to allow passengers to travel into the airport's city," he explained. According to Rashed, Cairo International's APM will be partially connected to public transportation, with one of its four stops stationed at the car park which currently serves both terminals TB2 and TB3. "In future, the public underground metro is expected to connect Cairo International with downtown and allow transfers to regional rail, bus, and rental car services," Rashed commented. The route begins at TB1, and then moves to the Air Mall, to the new car park area and the final stop will be at a station that serves both TB2 and TB3. One of the train's three cars is designed to move transit passengers among terminals, where passengers will not be allowed an exit during the trip from TB1 to TB2 and TB3. "This will be controlled through the stations which would consider that transit passengers' cars will face a secured area so as not to allow passengers to get off or to be in contact with non-passengers at the Mall or the Park stations." Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq addressed the ceremony as saying that the signing was the last step towards making a dream come true. "We could have brought any number of shuttle busses to operate among the three terminals, but we were determined to achieve what we had started years ago as perfect as this country deserves," commented Shafiq. "We really look forward to introduce Cairo International with the best image all over Africa and at the same time fulfill our needs," he added. The ceremony marked one of the most significant milestones in the comprehensive project to upgrade and modernise the country's old airport. The 1.857- km-long mover, expected to carry an average of 2,000 passengers per hour when it opens in 2011, will help turn Cairo International into a regional hub. According to Ibrahim Mana, head of the Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation, the project has been the subject of study over the past two years where traffic consultant Arup prepared a study on reducing the moving time among the airport's three terminals with regard to the increasing traffic movement to the airport. "The first study recommended constructing the mover rather than using shuttle busses. Thus we hired a specialised consultant Egis Rail to prepare an inspection study guided with the experience of nine international airports all over the world that included APM within their facilities. The consultant also took over design, selecting the best technology and the guideway through the terminals," explained Mana. Two international constructors applied for the bid, France's POMA and Austria's DCC, each with two different offers. "Out of the four offers, three have met the technical parametres. The financial offer then favoured POMA's optimised solution offer," he added. The CAC APM system is scheduled for completion in March 2011. The old airport has been the subject of an extensive development process over the past seven years where its infrastructure had been renovated, providing it with the most hi-tech systems and facilities at both its two old terminals. In addition, the World Bank has funded a $350 millions project to construct a new terminal which has been completed and opened three months ago. The new state-of-the-art terminal took the airport's capacity from 9 million passengers per annum to 20 million passengers. The actual operation of the new terminal is scheduled within two weeks when the national carrier is due to move its daily flight to New York to TB3. EgyptAir is the cornerstone in the ambitious project to turn Cairo International into a hub. The carrier will move all its domestic and international flights together with the flights of thee other 10 Star Alliance member airlines which operate to Egypt.
