2014-09-02

FIMA installs a functional fire station at Vilnius Airport

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Vilnius Airport (VNO) has undergone extensive renovation with its fire fighting facilities recently upgraded and re-equipped. FIMA has installed advanced engineering solutions and equipped a modern data centre at the new fire station. This will ensure better operation of the airport’s information systems, improve the safety of staff and passengers and open up new development opportunities.

Built more than twenty years ago, the airport’s old fire station was inefficient in terms of energy use and no longer met international standards. “The decision to build a new station was based on the need to modernise and develop the airport and particularly on lengthening the taxiway to ensure faster and safer access of aircraft to the parking zones and to shorten their path to the runway. For this reason, rebuilding the existing fire station was not considered as an option,” the director of Vilnius Airport which is part of the Lithuanian airport chain, Artūras Stankevičius, said.

The new fire station was built based on an assessment of the airport’s long-term needs. Special emphasis was put on the building’s functionality, information systems, security and development opportunities for the future. The bulk of the project’s investment was in advanced engineering solutions. In the new building, the company’s specialists equipped a modern data centre, expanded the internal communication system and installed video surveillance and access control systems, a computer network and the building’s automation system.
 
Until recently, VNO was using a number of small server rooms to store key IT hardware and software, including flight registration and control, passenger registration and information, video surveillance and security and passenger flow control systems and other information systems that are vital for the airport’s activities. All of them will soon be moved to the new data centre which was designed and installed by FIMA engineers to the highest data security, energy efficiency and flexibility standards. The centre is complete with state-of-the-art cooling, electricity supply and monitoring systems.
“Once the entire IT infrastructure is moved to a single site, its supervision will become easier and more efficient. Access to the hardware will be strictly controlled to ensure maximum data security at the airport. It was decided to build the data centre based on a modular structure because it reduces the times and costs of fault repair and keeps  operating expenses to a minimum. On top of all that, the modular solution will provide expansion opportunities in view of the airport’s growing actual needs for IT resources,” FIMA’s project manager Sigitas Truncė said.

As part of the project, FIMA specialists expanded and upgraded VNO’s internal dispatcher communication system which is designed for internal communication between emergency services staff including security, customs, fire brigade, etc. “It is a highly reliable communication system that can be integrated with all types of communication including radio and telephone communications. It will help the staff at the fire station to respond rapidly to emergencies and to distribute work evenly,” Mr Truncė said.

FIMA completed the construction of VNO’s new fire station in under a year and the continued operation of the airport was unaffected by the work. The project was co-financed by the European Union Structural Funds.