Leveraging core values to drive asset management certification in a UK airport

Southampton International Airport Ltd (here on in referred to as `Southampton Airport´) is a confident and essential part of the regional transport infrastructure linking well with road, rail and sea in and around the Southampton hub area. The airport serves a range of customers but is focussed on business passengers who demand a straightforward and efficient transit experience. The airport is host to 12 airlines and tour operators who provide the opportunity to travel to more than 40 destinations. With passenger numbers approaching 2 million and more than 45,000 commercial flights a year this single runway airport has a significant part to play in the future of the region; even more so now as codesharing opportunities between Flybe and KLM open up access to a global market routed through Amsterdam. Investment in the airport is significant with more than £80 million invested since 2004 including an additional £7 million in 2010. The economic contribution this makes to the local is approaching £90 million a year. Commercial drivers and a significant asset investment programme have led to Southampton Airport´s corporate drive to understand and manage the life cycle of assets, the interfaces between the service providers at an airport (many services the public associate with the airport are not necessarily operated by Southampton Airport) and to derive business benefits provided the airport with an opportunity to be amongst the first in the UK to gain independent external certification to PAS 55. The growing emphasis placed on asset management had started to deliver changes in business systems and accountabilities within the airport. Stakeholder awareness, and significantly the engagement of the workforce at large were improving but concern remained about benchmarking against other sectors and how le