Case Studies

BAA Airports

BAA is a leading airport operator whose work touches on almost every area of airport life, from day-to-day security and retail, to strategy and investment in some of the UK’s busiest airports, including Heathrow.

MVIS – provider of the first five-colour VMS signs in the UK – was chosen to support the master traffic management plan surrounding Heathrow Airport’s £800m Terminal 2 replacement construction programme.

The solution

With a fully autonomous solar charging system, the innovative five colour VMS signs operated continually under normal operating conditions. A single plug and play controller housed the sign’s unsurpassed technology, with a range of features and functions not available in any other VMS.

The VMS signs, which have Highways Agency approval for replicating Chapter 8 signage, offer customers the choice to create more ‘stand out’ messaging by replicating brand logos and using multiple colours on roads where TSRDG (Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions) regulations are not in force.

BAA now has the ability to project often fast-changing passenger information using individual airlines’ brand colours and logos. Martin Draper BAA Landside Senior Operations Manager at Heathrow said:

“The visual impact of colour on these signs has had an immediate positive effect on traffic flow. Terminal 2 is currently an extremely busy part of the airport roads network due to the volume of construction traffic, traffic management restrictions and the need for our customers to access Terminals 1 and 3, and the signs have proved invaluable in minimising disruption.

“The signs are performing well 24/7 and we’re particularly pleased with the longevity of battery life and Web Studio™, the sign management system, which provides flexibility to change messages instantly from any internet-enabled PC. We can produce and schedule our own messages and graphics and see the exact location and real-time message of each sign simply by logging into the system.”