Inter airport Europe 2015 opens with exhibitor record Four companies awarded with prize for innovative products

The 20th anniversary edition of inter airport Europe, International Exhibition for Airport Equipment, Technology, Design & Services, was officially opened today at the Munich Trade Fair Centre. Until Friday, 9th October 2015, a total of 676 exhibitors from 44 countries will present a unique variety of the latest airport equipment on a total net exhibition space of 30,000 square metres. This represents a 5.5% increase in exhibitors and floor space compared with the previous event. The outdoor area of the show has further grown and for the first time the indoor area stretches across three exhibition halls.

Stephen Brooks, Chairman of the organisers, Mack Brooks Exhibitions, opened the exhibition and greeted the speakers at the ceremony: Dr. Michael Kerkloh, President & CEO Munich Airport and President ADV (German Airport Association), Dieter A. Heinz, President GATE - German Airport Technology & Equipment and Ralph Beisel, CEO ADV (German Airport Association).

Stephen Brooks gave an overview of the history of inter airport Europe which was first held in 1977 at Frankfurt Airport. In its first years, the event was a ground support equipment show, a small get-together for GSE providers and buyers, designed to give them a specialised platform outside the general aircraft exhibitions. Over the years the event evolved into the world’s leading International Exhibition for Airport Equipment, Technology, Design and Services. In 1999, after eleven shows at Frankfurt Airport, inter airport Europe moved to Munich, where it was held in and around a hangar at Munich Airport, until in 2009 the show found its home at the Munich Trade Fair Centre.

In his speech Dr. Kerkloh, CEO of Munich Airport, gave an outlook of the aviation industry: “Aviation is very much a growth sector with an excellent outlook. Global passenger demand is increasing dramatically. Last year, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), airlines worldwide carried 3.2 billion passengers. This demand shows no signs of slowing down, and highly respected organizations such as the IATA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are forecasting annual growth rates in global air travel ranging from 4.7% to 5.3%. The aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing expect the current global fleet to double in size over the next 20 years.”

Dieter Heinz who has been participating at inter airport since the first show in Frankfurt emphasized the longstanding partnership between Mack Brooks Exhibitions and GATE for inter airport in his speech: “The cooperation with Mack Brooks in all these years proved to be
well accepted by all exhibitors and is honoured by all our visitors from around the world - who we welcome with appreciation. We promise to proceed with this spirit and shall present fresh ideas to our customers, the latest technology, high quality in all aspects, not only for GATE, but here in particular, I think, also on behalf of all exhibitors.”

Ralph Beisel focussed on some of the major challenges airports are facing today. Green airports with a neutral carbon footprint as well as noise reduction were key elements if airports wanted to be largely accepted by the population in its surroundings. A further key point for airport operators would be to know more about the passenger’s requirements and the intelligent use of such data for additional revenue of airports.

The Award Winners of this year’s inter airport Europe Innovation Awards
After the opening ceremony, the inter airport Europe Innovation Awards were announced and handed over to the winning companies. This time, the award winners were selected via an online voting system on the inter airport Europe show website. Exhibitors submitted their entries in the four categories of the exhibition – interTERMINAL, interDATA, interRAMP and interDESIGN. A total of 57 innovations were posted by exhibiting companies on the show website and the international airport community was invited to vote for their favourite innovation in each of the categories. A total of 2,116 airport professionals cast their votes and selected the winning companies.

Award winner 2015 for the interTERMINAL category is DSG BagDrop from Denmark. The company was awarded for ‘Air.Go 2.0’, an innovative self-service bag drop solution that is characterised by its user-friendly design, customisable functionality and elegant appearance. The modularity of the system allows the airport to customise the bag drop experience to suit their particular needs, and integrate it seamlessly with the rest of the check-in process.

Award winner 2015 for the interDATA category is 3D Interaction Technologies GmbH from Germany. Their innovation is an interactive 3D Airport Visualization solution to create complete, photorealistic 3D models of airports or airport facilities containing all relevant machines and working units. 3D:it brings together all necessary data from different planning programs. With the help of these visualizations, new airports can be viewed and evaluated in a virtual audit (e.g. flight and hygiene concepts or airport interior), even before they are actually build. This saves time, reduces mistakes and allows a faster commissioning.

Award winner 2015 for the interRAMP category is Midstream Lighting, from the United Kingdom. They received the award for the ‘Titan LED Apron Projector’ – an innovative LED projector which has been designed specifically for apron illumination purposes. The product is used to replace high mast lighting by reducing the energy demand of the system by over 50% and increasing the light levels and colour rendering index. The system also requires little or no maintenance for a period of 10 years or more. The LED system was successfully installed at Glasgow Airport in 2014 which gave over 60% energy savings and doubled the light levels.

Award winner 2015 for the interDESIGN category is SMV Sitz- & Objektmöbel GmbH, from Germany. The exhibitor was awarded for ‘MANHATTAN HighBack’, an innovative lounge furniture that combines safety aspects like fire prevention with stability and privacy. The
furniture protects you against ambient disturbing noises and provides a visual privacy. You have the possibility to combine a single, two and three seater individually. This enables you to create innovative and different combinations in all areas. 

Stephen Brooks closed the opening and awards ceremony by congratulating the winning companies and wishing the exhibitors and visitors a valuable anniversary show: “The exhibitors here at inter airport Europe offer the world’s most comprehensive choice of innovative equipment. I would like to thank the award winners for their participation and their fantastic new products and services. All of these exciting new developments in the four exhibition categories of inter airport Europe demonstrate that the airport sector is a high performance industry driven by expertise and innovation.”