MARK PILLING / LONDON
Alternate airfields in the event of an emergency are crucial for aircraft flying ETOPS routes, but do these little-used outposts have viable futures?
For all but a few intrepid tourists, ecologists or hardy locals, airfields such as Johnston Atoll or Midway Island in the North Pacific, and Yakutsk or Magadan in Russia, are supposed to be avoided. Yet despite their lack of traffic, these airfields play a crucial role in supporting long-range operations by offering airlines alternate or diversion strips in times of trouble.
The North Pacific island airfields, and the Russian airports along the country's northern Pacific coast, have long been nominated by airlines flying between Asia and the US West Coast as alternates. In an age of widespread extended-range twin engine operations (ETOPS), the ability to designate such airfields enables airlines to pick the most efficient and direct routes across the Pacific.
But no matter how important their roles, these remote landing strips are increasingly struggling to make ends meet. As David Behrens, the International Air Transport Association's operations director of infrastructure for Asia-Pacific says: "They are airports you hope never go away, but you hope you never have to use."
Demand downturn
For airlines that regularly operate across the Pacific, it is precisely this paradox that is worrying them as they seek to assure the future of their ETOPS operations. "Across the Pacific islands there are a bunch of very important airports that were established during the days of the Second World War and in the days of international air travel where it took two or three technical stops to cross the Pacific Ocean," says Behrens.
Now, jetliners overfly these islands - in particular the US-controlled Midway, Wake and Johnston Atoll. In some cases the military is pulling out too. "All of a sudden the daily commerce that sustained these airports has gone away," says Behrens.
For carriers flying to the north of the Pacific on tracks between the USA and Asian destinations such as Hong Kong or Taipei, the availability of these islands, and Midway in particular, is only a minor issue, says Chet Ekstrand, Boeing's vice-president of regulatory affairs. Carriers can avoid Midway, at the north-western tip of the Hawaiian island chain, because Sapporo on the Japanese coast, and Anchorage in Alaska, are close enough, as are eight airfields in between the two in Russia, to be within ETOPS limits.
"Virtually all of the US carriers have 207min [ETOPS] approval, so even if the worst-case scenario comes true they can operate with none of the far north alternates available, as Sapporo and Anchorage are sufficient," says Ekstrand. "The reality is that most airlines with 207min approval have eliminated some of the less desirable North Pacific alternates, principally the Russian ones like Petropavlovsk, Anadyr and Magadan."
But Midway, Wake and Johnston Atoll are important for traffic between Asia and Hawaii, and between Australasia and the South Pacific islands to North America. Of these three, only the future of Wake appears assured. Although the airstrip will be closed for six months from the end of July for runway resurfacing, the US Air Force has no plans to pull out.
Such stability is not the case at Midway, the scene of a famous Second World War sea battle between the Japanese and US navies. When the US Navy pulled out in 1997, responsibility for Midway and its aviation infrastructure was handed over to another US government agency, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). It in turn signed a 20-year deal with private US firm Midway Phoenix to maintain and operate the airfield and other equipment that kept the island functioning.
It was an experiment that was supposed to be mostly self-funding, with eco-tourists coming to see the multitude of seabirds that live there and experience life on this remote Pacific outpost. But by early 2002, Midway Phoenix had gone, citing increasing losses. It had been unable to make the project work, even though it had been subsidised to a large extent by Boeing since the 1990s. The manufacturer's interest came about because it wanted to keep Midway open to support airlines introducing the Boeing 777 on North Pacific routes.
Despite good intentions, the commercial world and that of the conservationists could not get along. "The idea of tourism supporting the operation was a great formula, but it didn't materialise," says Behrens.
The operation of the airfield was then put in jeopardy. The US Federal Aviation Administration closed it in April 2002, as the FWS had not found anyone to take over from Midway Phoenix. It took until August for the airfield to reopen, when the FWS signed a temporary deal with Geo Engineers and American Airports, companies that provide engineering and airport management services, respectively.
Funding issues remain
However, handing responsibility back to the FWS does not solve the funding question. In the past this agency - which is responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants across 540 US wildlife refuges - has obtained no federal money to operate airfields, nor is this one of its missions, says Barbara Maxfield of the FWS Pacific Islands Office in Honolulu.
But a stop/start operation at Midway is far from ideal for airlines, and all eyes have turned back to the government. "Boeing and a number of others are working hard to convince Congress to put in place a long-term solution for continued funding," says Ekstrand. This group has included the Air Transport Association, which represents the major US carriers, and the Air Line Pilots Association, which is interested in Midway from an operational and a safety viewpoint.
There has been initial success, with Congress appropriating $3.5 million to the FWS specifically to operate Midway's infrastructure until 1 October. This enabled the FWS to sign a five-month $3.3 million contract in May with Chugach McKinley, with the option to extend on an annual basis, depending on whether future funding is in place. Chugach, which has experience of providing similar services at places such as Wake, will operate the Midway airport at Henderson Field, the fuel farm and all other equipment and buildings on the island.
There is a bill pending in Congress that, if passed, will provide funding for Midway for the next government fiscal year from October to September 2004. "As long as the funding is available, FWS is committed to keeping Midway open," says Maxwell.
IATA's Behrens believes there is sufficient US government interest from a combination of the FWS, the armed forces and the coastguard to justify keeping it open. "I am cautiously optimistic for the future of Midway. The government will want to keep it operational even if it is at a cost." Boeing estimates that it will require $2 million of funding a year to keep the airfield operating continually.
Lobbying Congress
Boeing has lobbied hard in Congress for Midway funding, says Ekstrand. In addition to the interests of government agencies, continued access to the War Memorial on Midway is another reason why some in government want to keep the airfield open. Boeing also believes that tourism on Midway can provide a contribution to making the operation there self-sustaining, coupled with the restoration of the island's refuelling business, which can cater for aircraft and ships, says Ekstrand.
Such a move would enable Boeing to pull back from its obligations at Midway. Over the years it has spent several million dollars on keeping the airfield available. As part of its support for the airfield, the company owns the navigation aids and weather reporting system and other equipment on the island, and pays for a full-time firefighter. Boeing will make the equipment available to the new contractor.
"Boeing has made a rather substantial contribution to Midway over the past several years, but we don't want to do it anymore," says Ekstrand. "It is not up to the goodwill of Boeing to keep it open. Everybody in the aviation world wants a responsible long-term solution. The ideal one is that the island is self-supporting, but you want the government in place to ensure the availability."
With Wake out of service for the second half of the year, the sustained operation of Midway will be vital. But a reprieve for Johnston Atoll is much more doubtful. The USAF is pulling out of the island - south-west of Hawaii - on 31 December. It will be handed over to the FWS and restored to its natural state, says Don Palawski, FWS refuge manager for Pacific remote islands.
Johnston is critically important for routes from Australasia and Fiji to Hawaii, for example AirPacific's Fiji-Honolulu 737-800 operation. "The impact of closure of Johnston without another alternative being available would be quite catastrophic for the narrowbodied operators," says Air Pacific chief executive John Campbell. Without Johnston, the extra fuel needed for the longer routing would make the operation non viable for 737s. "It puts a big black spot out there that carriers will have to fly around," says IATA's Behrens.
Of its widebody 767 operations, Air New Zealand (ANZ) says: "The loss of Johnston will degrade the reliability of services between the South Pacific and Honolulu. Depressurisation fuel requirements [in a critical fuel scenario] result in the carriage of additional fuel. In cases when Apia [the capital of Western Samoa] is below ETOPS alternate minima, there is a slight increase in track miles and time involved. However, our main concern is the degraded reliability of services. We estimate that one in 200 flights could be cancelled due to insufficient ETOPS alternates being available."
One of the alternatives to Johnston is the airfield at Christmas Island in Kiribati. At present, the runway handles a weekly Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 operation. But it would need upgrading to handle widebody twinjets, and require $400,000 to buy and install other necessary equipment.
Payment up front
But again the issue is who pays. Although airlines recognise that, at the end of the day, they will "whichever way you look at it", they are reluctant to pay for the work up front, says Behrens. "Nobody wants to set a precedent that will come back to haunt them."
The Kiribati government alone lacks the funds to upgrade Christmas Island. One possibility is for the airport to be placed in the International Civil Aviation Organisation's Air Navigation Plan, allowing Kiribati to charge air navigation fees for its use, says Behrens. Various options are being explored to find donors that traditionally aid South Pacific countries.
"The New Zealand government and the South Pacific Forum [consisting of governments across the region] are considering the matter in terms of how they can assist the Kiribati government to obtain funding via aid or a development bank," says ANZ.
An evaluation team of Boeing, Air Pacific, the Kiribati government and ANZ visited the island in April. But with Johnston closing in six months, time is short. One possibility, says Behrens, is to go forward with the Kiribati plan and keep Johnston open until the Christmas Island facility is ready.
"If Christmas Island is not funded and upgraded it is sadly inevitable that narrowbodied operators will be forced to suspend operations," says Air Pacific's Campbell.
As Johnston and Midway demonstrate, the funding of such remote airfields is a complex issue. In general, according to ANZ, "airlines are willing to consider any proposals that seek recovery of direct operating costs related to provision of incremental services necessary to allow nomination as an ETOPS alternate".
Source: Flight International