Mumbai: CISF to conduct survey at 8 airports to assess performance

Karima Kouidri

Mumbai: The CISF will conduct a survey across eight major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai,

to assess the performance of its personnel and service quality in its efforts to deliver more efficient services.

The suggestions/observations received from the passengers during the month-long feedback survey, to be carried out at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Cochin and Guwahati airports from Saturday, will be analysed and worked upon to improve the services. The passengers will be asked to respond to a few questions relating to services rendered by the force at these airports.

Apart from four parameters – feeling of being safe and secure, waiting time at security inspection, thoroughness of security inspection and courtesy and attitude to help, response of various passenger-centric initiative, such as removal of baggage tag stamping at the airports has also been included in the questionnaire, it said.

This is the first time in last four years that the CISF is conducting such a survey. In the survey carried out in 2013 across the 59 airports under CISF security cover, the overall rating had stood at 4.49 out of 5 points on four parameters. In the recent past, CISF has taken a host of initiatives such as doing away with baggage tag stamping at 17 airports, a seamless handling of the rapidly increasing passengers, less waiting time at screening points manned by the force, thoroughness in security screening of passengers and hand baggage, among others.

During the survey, the passengers will also be asked as to how they want the security personnel to behave, besides their expectations at the airports. The CISF has set up at all the eight airports to evaluate the survey, it said adding these survey reports will then be scrutinised by airport sector headquarters for taking further action.

The feedback samples collected will help the CISF to identify the strength and the weaknesses, if any, in service deliverance and to grade its services as a whole, the release said. It will also identify problems faced by travellers and possible solutions to them, it added. Last year, in a survey conducted by the Airport Service Quality (ASQ), the security of Delhi Airport was adjudged best than the other international airports, such as Dallas, Heathrow, Paris and Dubai.

source : — By Suresh Golani | Sep 30, 2017 09:44 am

https://tinyurl.com/ycgmp3u3

ICLP research highlights benefit of loyalty programs for airports

Karima Kouidri

The latest research from global loyalty experts ICLP

has demonstrated how a better understanding of passenger motives will lead to increased dwell time and spending in the terminal.
While it’s widely accepted that elements such as fear of longer queues or unfamiliarity with the airport are detrimental to dwell time, ICLP’s research has revealed that there are things that airports can do to persuade passengers to spend longer at the terminal.
For example, 42% of passengers said they would arrive at the airport earlier if they were offered shopping discounts and 46% said they would arrive sooner if they had food and drink vouchers. Nearly a third (32%) said they would arrive earlier if the airport offered engaging entertainment or exhibitions.
In addition, while nearly one in five (19%) said that going to the airport is something they do simply because they have to, over half (53%) said they actively enjoy visiting the airport. This suggests that there is plenty of scope for airports to invest in strategies that will encourage passengers to build in extra time in the terminal before their flights.

Passengers can also be tempted to spend more while in the terminal. Nearly half (45%) of those surveyed said that if they received offers in advance of travel it would persuade them to up their spending. Over a third (35%) said they would feel encouraged to purchase more at the airport if they received air miles, and nearly a quarter (24%) said they would spend more if they could compare the price of goods between inbound and outbound airports. Discounts are also a key incentive, with both infrequent (43%) and frequent (46%) travelers saying they could be encouraged to spend more by these initiatives.
A significant 40% of passengers said they would choose an airport based on its loyalty or reward program, with 18% saying they would spend more if they had access to a program that was linked to spending at the airport. However, only 7% of airports surveyed rated a loyalty program among their top priorities, indicating a lack of synergy with passenger desires.

Mignon Buckingham, managing director of ICLP, said, “Truly meaningful customer relationships are based on identifying and understanding the airport passenger as an individual, and then finding ways to engage that customer. As in any other business, airports need to look at efficiency and profitability, but as competition increases and market trends evolve, many struggle to retain this profitability.

“Since around 40% of airports’ revenues are non-aeronautical, often delivering higher profitability than aeronautical revenues, it’s not surprising that more airports are turning to this industry to maximize commercial success. Our survey shows that by engaging intelligently with customers there is potential to increase non-aeronautical revenue at a time when it has never been a more important source of income for airports.”

All data has been taken from the 2017 ICLP airport and passenger surveys, where 35 airports and 2,589 passengers were surveyed.

source : https://tinyurl.com/ydcuc6dp

 

Malaysia airports to offer Alipay service for Chinese tourists

Karima Kouidri

Through the Alipay in-store payment platform,

customers can pay for their transactions in the Chinese yuan without having concerns on the exchange rate, and with all transactions performed in a highly secure manner. — Picture by Choo Choy MayKUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 — Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has partnered China’s Ant Financial Services Group to offer the Alipay service for Chinese tourists travelling in the country.

Managing Director, Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, said Malaysia airports hoped to created awareness, boost interest and also strengthen its brand positioning among Chinese travellers through the partnership.

“We are continuously looking to enhance the airport experience for all our customers. Thus, to embark on the Alipay cashless payment platform is a major step taken by Malaysia Airports to embrace the future of retail and food and beverages transactions at the airports,” he said in a statement today.

To date, 55.8 per cent and 56.7 per cent of outlets at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) terminals respectively, are transacting via Alipay.

“So far, we have seen a 25 per cent increase in sales from overall Alipay transactions at both terminals and during shopping campaign periods, sales can increase further by 35 per cent to 40 per cent,” Badlisham said.

He said, through the Alipay in-store payment platform, customers can pay for their transactions in the Chinese yuan without having concerns on the exchange rate, and with all transactions performed in a highly secure manner.

MAHB is introducing the Chinese Traveller Welcome Pack as part of its Total Airport Experience initiatives, included information about special promotions, transit and baggage facilities, local city tours and fast track KUL VIP Access.

Chinese tourists need to present their passports to redeem the pack at the Chinese Helpdesk and Customer Experience counters at the KLIA and KLIA2 terminal, from mid-Oct 2017 till March 2018.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Airports recorded 4.9 million passenger traffic movement from China last year.

From January to July 2017, the numbers increased further by 22 per cent to 3.3 million compared to the same period of the previous year.

Currently, 470 flights per week connect Malaysia and China. — Bernama

source: https://tinyurl.com/y8ataflz

NEW TWITTER FLIGHT INFORMATION SERVICE LANDS AT BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT

Karima Kouidri

Keen Twitter users travelling to and from Birmingham Airport can now receive real time flight updates

to their account thanks to a new service called ‘FlightSmart’, launched today (Tuesday 26th) .

Using the @FlyBHX handle, the new free service allows Tweeters to sign up to receive regular updates on their flight – from when the check-in opens to flight departure, plus immediate notifications of any cancellations or delays.

Speaking at the World Routes conference in Barcelona, David Winstanley, the Airport’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “Customer Service is at the heart of everything we do, alongside safety and security, so we’re proud to be able to offer our customers this new innovative service that gives them the information they want in the way they want to receive it.

“FlightSmart allows passengers to enjoy their time at the airport, making the most of the facilities, rather than constantly looking at the flight screens. It will also allow friends and loved ones to track flight statuses and we hope to be able to roll the service out through other social media channels in the very near future.” 

Travellers will be able to sign up via the airport’s website or personal Twitter account. In addition to receiving flight information, other messages will be issued by the airport highlighting important information and commercial offers.

The service is offered by award winning Cork based technology company, TIC, and is only currently available in two other smaller UK airports as well as airports in the USA, Australia and the Middle East. 

Founder and CEO, Paul Brugger, said, “Birmingham Airport is very special to me as it was my local airport prior to moving to Cork. It’s an airport I’ve used numerous times and one I know well as a passenger. I’m delighted Birmingham, our 3rd and largest UK airport customer, has chosen BizTweet to provide passengers with real time personalised information direct to their mobile devices by social media”.

 

For more information on the FlightSmart service, visit www.birminghamairport.co.uk/important-information.

The world’s most internationally connected airports ranked in new study

Karima Kouidri

INTERNATIONAL. London Heathrow has been named as the world’s most internationally connected airport in a new report from analyst OAG.

The company ranked the top 50 ‘megahubs’ in the world by calculating the highest ratio of possible scheduled international connections to the number of destinations served by each airport.

                                                                 The Top 50 megahubs globally
Source (all charts): OAG

Heathrow topped the rankings in the ‘OAG Megahubs International Index 2017’ by a clear margin. On a single day in July, there were over 72,000 possible international connections between flights arriving at the airport and flights departing within a six-hour window.

Frankfurt and Amsterdam Schiphol were ranked second and third respectively, ensuring that the top three places are all leading European hub airports.

Chicago O’Hare and Toronto Pearson rounded out the top five. Twelve of the airports in the Top 50 are in the USA, with seven of these making it into the Top 25.

Istanbul Atatürk, ranked 15th, is second only to Frankfurt in the number of destinations served, with routes to 270 places worldwide.
Singapore Changi is Asia Pacific’s highest ranked International megahub with over 35,000 possible international connections on a single day in July, closely followed by Indonesia’s Soekarno–Hatta International.  16 airports in Asia Pacific appear in the Top 50, including China’s three biggest airports: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Dubai Airport is the highest ranked airport from Africa and the Middle East, at 20. Although it serves more destinations than Heathrow, the number of international connections was 39,700, slightly over half the number at the London hub.

In Latin America, Mexico City Airport ranked highest for international connectivity, in 21st place. For the first time an airport in the Caribbean – Puerto Rico – made it into the index, at number 46.
Kuala Lumpur Airport, home of AirAsia, came top of the rankings in a separate index of international low-cost connections (see chart below). The next three ranked airports are Soekarno–Hatta, Singapore Changi and Delhi. All are located in South Asia and Southeast Asia, “demonstrating the success of low-cost carriers in meeting international travel needs in the region”, OAG said.

 

by Jason Holland Source: ©The Moodie Davitt Report

source: https://tinyurl.com/y94umbt6

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Technologies that Could Revolutionize the Aviation Industry in the Next Decade

Karima Kouidri

The new technologies that Could Revolutionize the Aviation and Airport Industry

1. Fostering Ultra-Efficient Low-Emitting Aviation Power

2. Compact Additively Manufactured Electric Motors

3. LION: Lithium Oxygen Batteries for NASA Electric Aircraft

4. Spanwise Adaptive Wings 5. Lightweight Conformal Antennas for Beyond Line of Sight Communications

 

 

Robotes, chatbots, augmented reality for airports

Karima Kouidri

Airport technology keeps getting increasingly advanced to make things more personalised, more automated, and hopefully more of a breeze. Here’s what’s in store.

Perhaps you’ve bumped into Mildred, Carla or Oscar on your recent travels. They’re not real people but avatars of chatbots – concocted by Lufthansa, Avianca and Air New Zealand respectively – or artificial intelligence (AI) powered computer programs accessed on your smartphone that enable you to have a simulated conversation of sorts. Now airports are getting in on the act, and it’s all part of a paradigm shift towards self-service and interactions with technologies that offer “personal” information to help us on our way through the terminal.

It’s a shift confirmed in the findings of the Passenger IT Trends Survey released by Sita, the provider of much of the digital infrastructure that underpins airport and airline communications and operations worldwide. The survey found that face-to-face check-in is now down to 46 per cent of passengers, and since last year’s survey, self-service bag-tagging has risen from 31 per cent to 47 per cent. Almost a fifth of passengers now use self-service bag drop, and when it comes to ID control, 57 per cent of passengers would definitely use biometrics instead of a passport or boarding pass across the journey. Biometrics is just one of a handful of newish technologies that have matured to the point that they’re ripe for deployment, signifying a new era in airport experience.

AI, chatbots and messenger bots

With 98 per cent of passengers now flying with digital mobile devices, there’s never been a better time for airports to “get personal”. The uptake of Messenger, Facebook’s instant messaging app, has been so dramatic – Facebook announced in April that it has 1.2 billion users – that airlines and now airports want to reach their customers using this platform. Athens International Airport claimed, last September, to be the first airport in the world to implement a bot app through Facebook Messenger.

“The ATH Messenger is an application that reflects the zeitgeist seeking convenience, interaction and direct information,” said George Demetriades, the airport’s director of information systems and telecommunications business unit. “Passengers can easily chat with the bot program, receiving updates around the clock regarding the flight of their interest, special retail offers, timetables and airport parking services.”

augmented-reality.jpg

Augmented reality has been in airports since 2011 (Getty/iStockphoto)

At Frankfurt Airport, you can converse with FRAnky, also a Messenger-based chatbot, which the airport describes as “artificial intelligence with charm”. FRAnky can search for flights, send flight status updates and, if requested, give information about restaurants, shops and service facilities. It will even explain how passengers can use the airport’s free wifi.

Augmented Reality

AR – the technology where you look at the real world through your smartphone or special glasses, and data, such as wayfinding information, is superimposed onto what you can see – has been around in the airport space since 2011. Copenhagen Airport launched the first airport app to use AR to enable passengers to find their way around the terminal and obtain information on restaurants and other facilities. But perhaps in 2011 walking around with a phone at the end of your outstretched arm wasn’t the norm and few other airports followed suit. A lack of consistent GSM or wifi signals might also explain why AR has been slow to catch on. But no such barriers seem to exist today: Gatwick Airport has installed 2,000 battery-powered beacons across the airport’s two terminals enabling AI-powered indoor navigation, integrated with Gatwick’s smartphone apps.

“We’re opening the door for a wide range of tech savvy airport providers, including our airlines and retailers, to launch new real-time services that can help passengers find their way around the airport, avoid missing flights or receive timely offers that might save them money,” said Abhi Chacko, Gatwick Airport’s head of IT, commercial and innovation.

The robots are coming

Conversing with robots, as we’ll increasingly do with airport chatbots, is not the only interaction we’ll see at terminals; robots of the more physical variety have been undergoing early stage trials in this space too. Meet Kate (yes, another personable avatar). The invention of Sita Labs, Kate is an intelligent check-in robotic kiosk that autonomously moves to busy or congested areas of the terminal as needed. It uses data related to passenger flow at the airport to reposition itself, thereby reducing passenger wait times.

robot-airport.jpg

Robots are already being used at some airports for queue management (Getty/iStockphoto)

If you’ve been to Geneva Airport recently, you might have bumped into Leo outside the terminal. Leo is a bag-drop robot that hangs around at the drop-off point as you step out of your taxi. You can place your suitcase onto Leo’s belt and scan your boarding pass with a handheld scanner – Leo prints a bag tag that you attach to the suitcase handle, a door closes with your suitcase secured inside, then the robot prints you a baggage receipt. Hey presto, Leo has removed the hassle of trekking your luggage through the terminal.

source : https://tinyurl.com/ya9on5v9