Munich Airport is one of Europe’s busiest air traffic hubs, with 31.6 million passengers in 2022 and 210 destinations in 63 countries, just won Skytrax’s award for “Best Airport in Central Europe”. Bosch Building Technologies has been an established project partner since the airport opened in 1992, and has provided on-site support for fire detection, intruder detection, video cameras, and door control systems. The latest development in this partnership is the replacement of the analogue public address and voice alarm system in Terminal 1 to a wholly IP-based Praesensa system.
Munich Airport is one of Europe’s busiest air traffic hubs, with 31.6 million passengers in 2022 and 210 destinations in 63 countries, just won Skytrax’s award for “Best Airport in Central Europe”. Bosch Building Technologies has been an established project partner since the airport opened in 1992, and has provided on-site support for fire detection, intruder detection, video cameras, and door control systems. The latest development in this partnership is the replacement of the analogue public address and voice alarm system in Terminal 1 to a wholly IP-based Praesensa system.The installation is based on a large-scale and powerful networking concept with multiple subnets – the biggest Praesensa multi-subnet system worldwide to date. The maximum configuration level enables up to 3,000 Praesensa system components and 10,000 audio zones to be managed centrally.
The new solution is, ideally equipped for future expansions. The Praesensa multi-subnet system includes a redundancy concept that ensures uninterrupted operation in the event of an equipment failure. “We wanted reliable connectivity with good redundancy and a flexible, future-proof solution for Munich Airport. Another ideal feature was the problem-free integration of our 14,000 existing speakers into the new solution. The overall package won us over,” says Michael Huck, project engineer for safety and security systems at Flughafen München GmbH.
The DIN EN 54-certified solution is used for passenger announcements, locating people, emergency alerts and general announcements in Terminal 1. The integration into the airport’s existing management system means the terminal service team and the fire department can pass on information to passengers and staff quickly, targeted with improved audio quality. Pre-recorded announcements in 18 languages will be possible in the future. If an alarm is activated, the fire department can use an additional display panel on a 40-inch touchscreen monitor to easily control individual sections of the building and take measures such as a phased evacuation.
Besides undertaking the planning work, the Bosch experts also installed the new solution. The Praesensa systems for the terminal’s 23 tech rooms and its parking garages are installed in over 80 19-inch racks and connected to the existing speakers. Unlike traditional multichannel power amplifiers with a fixed maximum output per channel, the amplifiers in the Praesensa systems offer intelligent, flexible load distribution to all amplifier channels, along with reduced power consumption in standby mode. This often results in fewer amplifiers being required in many installations, and savings of up to 50 per cent can be achieved when it comes to space, power, and emergency power supply capacity. The system operation is quick and flexible via a web interface.
The full IP connectivity of all components means the new solution in Terminal 1, which is also maintained by the Bosch team on site, can easily be scaled and adapted to future requirements. “When you make an investment, it’s important for the technology to grow along with it, without previous investments going to waste. That is particularly true of an airport because it’s in constant flux,” concludes Huck.
