Unique Zurich Airport (Switzerland)
 | |
 |
Ultra has performed as Systems Integrator and supplied UltraDB, Ultra FIDS and UltraTrak BRS
Ultra has provided and supported UltraFIDS for Zurich Airport for more than 20 years. In that time, Ultra has performed two wholesale technology refresh upgrades in a live airport operational environment.
The most recent contract replaced the previous upgrade, performed in 1996.
Phase1 began in May 2003, and completed on schedule and within budget with live cut-over in February 2004.
Phases 2 & 3 of this rolling replacement of integrated airport systems have now been completed, with the latest major upgrade, a General Aviation Slot Management system going live in March 2006.
Under a separate contract, Ultra installed a Baggage Reconciliation and Tracking System which was handed over to live use at the end of 2006. The system was the subject of a major upgrade in 2007 when Ultra re-launched its UltraTrak BRS with new functionality.
Airport Overview
Zurich is a large airport, with over 1000 FIDS displays of various types providing in excess of 3000 pages for use by both public and staff. The latest Airport Information Management system interfaces with 23 external systems and has more than 120 operational users. The airport has a capacity for approximately 22 million passengers per year.
Scope of Supply
Initial migration to Ultra's latest generation of airport operational systems and replacement with latest generation hardware began with a seamless cutover to the new Airport Information Management System (AIMS+) in February 2004. This carefully-planned and rehearsed activity took place during operational hours, and was achieved on schedule with zero disruption to users and public - a very significant achievement given the scale of integration with external systems.
Training provided by Ultra has ranged from new product familiarization for key users at project start-up, through to "train the trainers" prior to go-live. On-site engineering support has been provided for the initial post-implementation periods, followed by on-going remote support via telephone and VPN link.
System Overview
The Ultra systems for Zurich provide an operational database, airport systems integration and flight information displays for both staff and public. This central system, which has been migrated to the latest hardware platform, Oracle RDBMS and Ultra product software during Phase 1, is integrated with other airport systems via a large number of legacy interfaces. The interfaces include those to Swiss Information Systems, Swiss Traffic System, Baggage Handling Systems, Stand Planning System and Air Traffic Control system.
The system also provides a data feed and update notifications via an open standards XML-based interface with Zurich's webMethods Integration Broker. The operational data sourced from the legacy data feeds and user input to Ultra's database is used via the IB to drive a powerful management information portal known as Zeus.
Function-rich Windows-based clients are widely used for operational data update, alarm notification and FIDS administration. Web-based clients are also increasingly used to provide browser-based thin-client access to the integrated operations data provided by the Ultra systems.
The initial movement of the system to Ultra's latest product line opened up possibilities for further functionality to be effectively incorporated in the later phases of the contract:
- Managing and recording all ground movements
- Incorporation of Business Flight and General Aviation operational functions
- Provision of an integrated billing capability to the Airport's billing system.
- Recording and reporting of historical data, including an existing 10 years' worth of archive data
- Integration with the SCORE scheduling system to provide a Seasonal Schedule Management System
- General Aviation Slot Management
Hardware
Hardware was recommended by Ultra and supplied by Unique. The system is installed on IBM P520 using the latest p5+ processors. The system is distributed across several nodes, performing different functions such as FIDS display, schedule planning etc.
Flight Information Displays
The system drives in excess of 1000 displays of various types across the terminals. Legacy CRT monitors, as are newer TFT LCD displays, are driven by the Ultra system. Public FIDS displays include monitors, split flap boards (Omega), plasmas and AEG LCDs.
Installation & Support
Installation and go-live for each phase of the Zurich implementation was planned and scheduled well in advance by the Ultra and Unique teams working jointly to produce the least-risk approach. The February 2004 go-live was achieved by an on-site team of Ultra engineers, directed by the Ultra Project Manager (who was also on-site for the whole cut-over period). The Ultra PM was the primary management interface between Ultra and Unique throughout the installation and implementation period.
After the go-live, an Ultra team provided on-site support for 4 weeks. Thereafter, remote telephone support has been provided by Ultra, with management responsibility moving to the Ultra Support Manager once systems developments are complete.
These established processes were repeated for all subsequent phases, although the risks have been different for each phase, and have ensured that each upgrade has gone as smoothly as possible.
