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Why did you create the APOC?

Siem Reap International Airport was experiencing a growth that triggered management to think of ways to adjust to it – now and for the coming years – to ensure a consistent level of quality and delivery of services. It required reorganizing the way the airport was working to cope with the changing environment and to strengthen the work coordination between all the main actors and stakeholders at the airport.

The reason for creating the APOC was to equip Siem Reap International Airport with the relevant infrastructure, facilities, equipment and IT tools to:

• Track the on time performance related to aviation activities and take necessary remediation actions, if needed.

• Real-time monitoring of the airport operational status, especially concerning quality of services (operational readiness of facilities, passenger satisfaction, etc.).

• To detect and treat events, irregularities, incidents and accidents to minimize their impact on airport activities.

• To analyze major events in order to identify risky situations, in order to be able to anticipate and mitigate them.

Did you model the design or operation of the APOC on one that already exists?

The concept of APOC was defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and the European Civil Aviation. Based on this, we took advantage of our VINCI Airports Network to exchange ideas about the design, technical and operational specifications and requirements. Using the benchmarks that have already been implemented within the VINCI Airports Network, we worked with all of the internal teams (Technical Department, Maintenance Department, Safety and Security, Terminal, Airport Resources, Information Technology…), through a project management team, to define the local requirements and the ways and the means to do it ourselves. Counting on our own resources, it was a great project in the sense that it draws on all Siem Reap airport team members to achieve a state-of-the-art APOC, in which everyone is proud of having participated – rewarding the best efforts that were poured into the project by observing its full efficiency and effectiveness in relation to our daily operations.

What does it take to train members of the control center?

To train the members of the APOC, it took time, effort and pedagogical ways to ensure a good understanding of the tools provided and the best use of them. However, all the members were enthusiastic about this challenge and with everyone's positive mindset, all of the training sessions were successful, and the members could adapt quickly with the new operational procedures. But of course, training is a virtuous and continuous cycle, in which everyone is discovering, over time, the best way to maximize the APOC.

Are the members of the APOC team specially trained in crisis situations?

As part of the base training, crisis situation management is part of APOC members’ skills and mandatory knowledge. Therefore, it is essential that they are trained to manage and work altogether to manage a crisis situation.

 It seems that the APOC team can handle any situations that arise, big or small, that are called in from various teams in the airport operations – from security to sanitation. 

Is there any aspect of airport services that the APOC team is not involved in?

The APOC is an essential asset of the airport operational activities. It is very important for the APOC to be well aware of what is going on at the airport for all the reasons mentioned above. Therefore, it is reasonable to say that the APOC is, indeed, involved in everything and every aspect of the airport activities!

Click here for more details about APOC.