Ignacio Castejón is CEO at Great Hall Partners, as well as Project Director Corporate Development and M&A Ferrovial Airports.
"The airports of the future will be those that are best adapted to their environment and passenger profile, in a context where sustainability is set to become increasingly important".
Ferrovial Airports, leader of the Great Hall Partners consortium, will remodel and commercially operate the Jeppesen terminal at Denver Airport, the sixth busiest airport in the US. What kind of specific renovations will be carried out?
The project involves $650 million worth of construction and refurbishment work on an area of more than 70,000 square metres. Among other actions, we plan to develop new shopping and dining areas and a new check-in area, relocate and expand security areas and improve access to the terminal, with the aim of expanding its commercial offer, improving passenger traffic flows and, more generally, optimising its space and increasing its efficiency.
This is the Ferrovial Group subsidiary's first airport contract in the United States, where it already operates in other divisions. What does it mean for the Spanish company to enter this sector?
Having a first project of this magnitude underway in the United States positions us in a market whose airport sector is increasingly favouring public-private collaboration, based on the large investment needs of its network. Another of our main assets for bidding for projects such as Denver Airport or those planned for important hubs such as JFK or LaGuardia is the solid track record of the Ferrovial Group in the United States: a strategic market for our company, which represents 13.4% of our turnover and where we have a team of more than 3,600 professionals.
The project is known as Great Hall. How will the user experience and the airport itself improve when the planned technological improvements are implemented?
Under the premise that the user experience must be at the centre of airport management, all the interventions we plan to carry out at Denver Airport are aimed at improving it in one dimension or another. The reform of the terminal accesses, for example, will improve passenger and visitor traffic flows. The remodelling of its access controls will streamline the check-in process and make it even more secure. And the expansion of its commercial area will provide a wider and better range of shops, restaurants and leisure facilities. All this, of course, in a terminal with greater capacity, and therefore able to provide a better service to a greater number of passengers than in its previous configuration.
What is Great Hall Partners' concept of the airport of the future?
At Ferrovial Airports we believe that the airports of the future will be those that best adapt to their environment and the profile of their passengers, in a context in which sustainability is set to become increasingly important for all types of businesses and in which consumers have more alternatives than ever before and have become much more demanding.
In the case of Denver, we are committed to a greater use of renewable energies, to simplify the wayfinding inspired by the airport's own architecture, characterised by its simple lines, and by using technology not as an end in itself, but to put it at the service of a better passenger experience - both at the airport and at the airport. front-endfor example, using data analytics to optimise commercial revenues: a win-win for airports and users.
Great Hall is a public-private partnership project, a model that seems to be consolidating in the USA, especially in the airport sector. What are the advantages of this type of partnership, known by its acronym PPP (Public-Private Partnership) or P3?
In the specific context of the US airport sector, the investment needs of its network make this type of public-private partnership essential, but its advantages go beyond providing greater financial muscle. Firstly, they allow public managers to reduce their exposure to the risks inherent to airport activity (financial, labour, environmental, etc.). Secondly, they transfer the management of this type of asset to experienced private partners who are able to deploy international best practices and the latest technology at their airports.
Can we speak internationally of the existence of a "Spain Brand" in terms of design and engineering in the airport sector?
Spain undoubtedly has a long track record in the aerospace sector, and specifically in the airport sector. In our case, we perceive the strength of this brand in our direct competitors in bidding processes around the world, but also in a whole network of partners (architectural firms, engineering firms, consultants...) that combine the proximity of being based in our country with international prestige and the capacity to assist us in complex projects in any corner of the world.
