Possible Solution for Long Airport Lines

Karima Kouidri

Possible Solution for Long Airport Lines

Balancing line speed and security at the airport is essential to ensuring safe, reliable travel. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is working with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to evaluate new identity verification technology that will reduce the time it takes for travelers to pass through security.

In June, TSA began conducting a series of proof-of-concept tests for new biometric fingerprint technology with assistance from S&T’s Biometrics Technology Engine and Apex Screening at Speed program.

According to newswise.com, the touch-free scanners, developed by Advanced Optical Systems, Inc., allow a traveler’s fingerprints to serve as their boarding pass and identity document.  “A biometric process can actually be faster than scanning tickets and can identify travelers automatically with few errors,” S&T Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency Program Manager, Arun Vemury, explained. “However, performance depends dramatically on the choice of technology and process.”

 

Proof-of-concept testing is taking place at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and Denver International Airport. These locations were chosen based on the expertise of local TSA teams, diverse passenger demographics, and the ability to integrate the technology without negatively impacting airport operations.

Vemury and his team are evaluating the biometric fingerprint technology’s usability, looking at whether the non-contact scanner is intuitive for the average traveler. The team then compares data with observations of traditional contact sensors and notes any discrepancies.

As with many types of technology, use errors are often the biggest source of failure, so getting the design right is critical. “Failure to acquire biometrics can be a major source of error for biometric systems, especially those serving hurried travelers who may not understand how to present their biometrics properly,” Vemury noted.

The new non-contact fingerprint scanners are one of the latest innovations to come from TSA’s Innovation Task Force, which is responsible for identifying new technologies to improve screening operations. S&T’s new Biometric Technology Engine is charged with establishing an enduring core biometric capability and ensuring the re-use of biometric tools, methods.

source : https://tinyurl.com/ybs2ocq8

Changi Airport Terminal 4 to open in October 2017

Karima Kouidri

 

 

Changi Airport Group (CAG)

has announced that the new Terminal 4 (T4) facility at Changi Airport in Singapore is scheduled to commence operations on October 31, 2017. This follows the recent successful conclusion of major trials, with a small number of checks and reviews to be completed in the final phase of the preparations.

To ensure a smooth transition of flight operations from the existing terminals, the operations of the nine T4 airlines – the AirAsia Group (four airlines), Cathay Pacific Airways, Cebu Pacific Air, Korean Air, Spring Airlines and Vietnam Airlines – will all be shifted to T4 in the space of a week.

The first arrival and departing flights at T4 will be operated by Cathay Pacific, flying to and from Hong Kong. Since October 2016, CAG has collaborated with its airport partners to prepare T4 for flight operations. This began with table-top exercises to develop the standard operating procedures, and later progressed to ground deployment exercises to familiarize staff with the new terminal and processes.

Volunteers from the airport community and members of the public were invited to role-play as passengers to test the critical airport systems and processes. These included the Fast And Seamless Travel (FAST) self-service options at check-in, bag drop, immigration and boarding, as well as security screening, baggage handling, flight information, ground transport, wayfinding, and transfer processes.

In recent weeks, CAG conducted trials involving selected commercial flights with airline partners at T4, which were essential to validate the interoperability and process integration of the airport and airline systems. Altogether, more than 100 trials have been conducted, involving over 1,500 volunteer participants and 2,500 airport staff.

Tan Lye Teck, executive vice president (airport management), CAG, said, “The past months have been a very crucial period for us as we conducted intensive tests and trials, not only to ensure that the systems work well, but also to understand how passengers navigate the new terminal, including interacting with initiatives such as FAST which may be less familiar to them.

“We have identified areas of improvement following those trials. Feedback gathered from trial participants has also been very useful to CAG and our partners in finetuning our systems and processes. We will take the next few weeks to complete the last set of trials as we prepare for the commencement of operations at T4.”

T4 will add a capacity of 16 million passengers per annum to Changi Airport, bringing the airport’s total annual handling capacity to 82 million passenger movements.

Written by Daniel Symonds

September 6, 2017

source : https://tinyurl.com/y7wvo9v9

Airports and airlines may invest $33bn in IT this year, says SITA

Karima Kouidri

A new report published by global information technology (IT) provider SITA has revealed that airports and airlines intend to invest approximately $33bn in IT this year.

Titled ‘SITA 2017 Air Transport IT Trends Insights’, the new report states the industries are focusing their technology investments on similar priorities, such as cyber-security, cloud technologies, and passenger self-services.

SITA Air Travel Solutions president Ilya Gutlin said: “The air transport industry is going through digital transformation and focusing its attention on protecting the business and passengers; making it more efficient; and improving the passenger experience.

“Cyber-attacks are a very real threat in the highly interwoven air transport industry so building solid defenses is essential. Cloud services provide important efficiencies which play a key role in keeping costs down.

“Investments in self-service improve passenger satisfaction as they welcome the independence and efficiencies it delivers.”

This year, the expenditure of the airports as a percentage of revenue is set to rise to an anticipated 5.05% or $8.43bn, while that of airlines is expected to rise to an estimated 3.30% or $24.3bn.

“The air transport industry is going through digital transformation and focusing its attention on protecting the business and passengers.”

Over the next three years, the majority of airports (96%) and airlines (95%) intend to invest in major programmes or on research and development (R&D) to enhance their cyber-security.

Investment on cloud services also remains a priority for the industry, with 85% of airports and 95% of airlines planning to invest in the area over the next three years.

According to the report, 89% of airports are investing in several self-service processes at check-in, bag drop and boarding, while 80% are either investing or planning to invest in technologies, such as internet of things (IoTs), beacons and sensors.

In addition, 74% of the airports are funding the introduction of way-finding solutions, while 68% are investing in solutions focused on improving personalisation for passengers.

Image: Air travel industry focuses on investing in new technologies. Photo: courtesy of SITA.

 

source : https://tinyurl.com/ya98em2e

New insights into how airports can influence passenger spend

Karima Kouidri

Global loyalty experts ICLP have revealed new insights into better understanding passenger motivation that enables airports to encourage increased dwell time and passenger spend in terminals.

Using data taken from the 2017 ICLP airport and passenger surveys undertaken at 35 airports, surveying 2,589 passengers, the new research reveals interesting insights.

ICLP’s research concludes that airports can have a significant influence in persuading passengers to spend longer at the terminal. For example, a substantial 42% said that they would arrive earlier at the airport if offered shopping discounts and 46% said that food and drink vouchers would mean that they would behave similarly, while 32% stated they would also arrive earlier if airports offered engaging entertainment or exhibitions.

Contrary to the popular belief that people see going to the airport as something they do simply because they have to (something stated by 19% of respondents) a surprising 53% actively enjoy visiting the airport. Thus, the research draws the conclusion that there is plenty of scope for airports investing in strategies that encourage passengers to spend extra time in the terminal before departure.

It seems passengers are also open to persuasion to spend more once in the terminal. The research reports that 45% of those surveyed said that if they received offers in advance of travel it would persuade them to increase their spending. Discounts are also a key incentive: 43% of infrequent and 46% of frequent travellers said discounts might encourage them to spend more. Furthermore, 35% said they would feel encouraged to purchase more at the airport if they received air miles, and 24% said they would spend more if they could compare the price of goods between inbound and outbound airports.

46% of frequent travellers: discounts encourage them to spend more

More than a third of passengers (40%) said they would choose an airport based on its loyalty or reward programme, with 18% stating that access to a programme that was linked to spending at the airport would see them spending more. Yet, the research obvserves, only 7% of airports rate a loyalty programme among their top priorities, meaning that passengers set greater store by loyalty schemes than the airports that serve them.

Mignon Buckingham, managing director of ICLP, said that airports are becoming increasingly aware that understanding their passengers is key to driving greater commercial gain by providing experiences that genuinely appeal to them. “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,” she said.

Ms Buckingham also noted,“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.”

 

source : https://tinyurl.com/y9d7fv3y

 

Research reveals consumers’ brand trust traits

Karima Kouidri

Consumers favour established brands, local travel agents and online travel booking sites, new research reveals.

When asked to name their favourite travel brand, Thomson was most mentioned, followed by Booking.com and Thomas Cook.
However, consumers also mentioned over 70 different brands, highlighting the wide range of travel brands engaging UK consumers.
What consumers want more from travel brands is value for money (59%), convenience (58%) and good customer service (58%), according to the research, conducted by marketing industry association the DMA and Foresight Factory, with partners Emarsys, Epsilon, Feefo and Wiraya.
The top reasons consumers remained loyal to brands in the sector repeat similar themes of good service experience (53%) and good deals (40%), with the addition of a good loyalty or a rewards scheme (40%) to the top three.
Within the travel sector hotel and accommodation brands are most trusted (65%) followed by airlines (55%) and online travel booking/price comparison sites (54%).
However, this compares to 73% of consumers saying they trust supermarkets to do business fairly.
This was further highlighted, with 37% saying it is important they feel airlines are “not lying to them”, but only half that proportion (18%) say airlines actually deliver on this.
Scott Logie, chairman of the DMA customer engagement committee, said: “It’s particularly interesting to see the range of options favoured by customers.
“When people were asked to name their favourite companies to use for travel, the sheer volume of travel brands mentioned was somewhat surprising.
“From household names to local travel agents, as well as the new online intermediaries. As individuals we want choice, but we also want to ensure our holidays are hassle free, so we go with companies we trust – even if that is the small local travel agent.”
More than half of consumers (52%) are willing to use a chatbot to help with pre-travel or booking questions, such as asking an airline for flight details, the study found.
Once in the airport, 51% would also be open to sharing their data in order to receive mobile alerts about boarding directions and timings when in an airport.
Augmented and virtual reality presents also a new potential channel for travel brands to engage customers, with more than half (53%) interested in using a virtual reality headset to see a hotel room they are considering staying in.
In addition, 44% would like to use augmented reality to get information about the sites or attractions they visit.
DMA managing director Rachel Aldighieri said: “Holiday travel is both an exciting and stressful experience, with the chance for distrust and caution to arise in the customer’s mind.
“Brands that can empathise with customers’ needs at whatever stage of their holiday journey and create communications that reflect their needs will have the potential to build stronger relationships in the long run.”
Feefo chief marketing officer Matt West said: “Trust is so critical to the travel business that successful companies such as Booking.com realise they must offer a platform that verifies reviews and presents them in a readily accessible but unvarnished format. It is no longer acceptable to plaster your website with phoney reviews praising your business.
“As the industry evolves further, authenticated reviews are going to be the touchstone for trust and transparency in the minds of increasing numbers of potential customers who can smell a rat when it comes to reviews that are fake or filtered.”

 

source : https://tinyurl.com/ybz75cag

 

Robots to collect passenger’s baggage by face scan

Karima Kouidri

Passengers’ baggage is collected by robots,

they relax in a luxurious waiting area complete with an indoor garden before getting a face scan and swiftly passing through security and immigration this could be the airport of the future. It’s a vision that planners hope will become reality as new technology is rolled out, transforming the exhausting experience of getting stuck in lengthy queues in ageing, overcrowded terminals into something far more pleasant. The Asia-Pacific has been leading the way but faces fierce competition from the Middle East as major hubs compete to attract the growing number of long-haul travellers who can choose how to route their journey. In an official statement, Seth Young, Director, Center for Aviation Studies, Ohio State University has said the regions are the two leading pockets of technology growth because they are really competing to be the global hubs for air transportation. Facial scanning in particular is generating a lot of buzz. Changi in the affluent city-state of Singapore, regarded as among the world’s best airports, is set to roll out this biometric technology at a new terminal to open later this year. Passengers will have their faces scanned when they first check in and at subsequent stages, theoretically allowing them to go through the whole boarding process quickly without encountering another human. Robots are appearing at some major hubs, including at Seoul’s Incheon airport, where they carry out tasks including cleaning and carrying luggage, while Changi’s new terminal will have robotic cleaners complete with butlers’ uniforms. Airports are also trying to overhaul their image as dreary places that must be endured in order to get from A to B, to somewhere travellers can enjoy spending time. Amsterdam’s Schiphol is aiming to become the world’s leading digital airport by 2019, and has been testing hand luggage scanners that allow passengers to keep liquids and laptops in their bags. It is also looking at biometric technology. Despite the buzz surrounding new technology, there are concerns that rapid innovation could threaten long-held ways of doing business. A report from consultancy Roland Berger warned that airport revenues from retail and parking could fall by between two and four billion dollars due to the new innovations. Still, the landscape may not transform so quickly as many airports face difficulties in introducing new technology, from resistance to change to availability of financing. While the challenges remain, the digital transformation is something that travellers are bound to look out for.

 

 

Dubai International partners with ICFLIX to offer free movie streaming

Karima Kouidri

Passengers travelling through Dubai International can now stream content for free via the ICFLIX app.

 

Dubai International (DXB) has announced a partnership with ICFLIX,

a regional content streaming platform, which enables passengers to stream movies and TV shows on their own devices while waiting for their flights.

The initiative makes use of the ‘Wow-Fi’ service, which DXB says is the fastest free airport Wi-Fi service in the world. After connecting to Wow-Fi, passengers can now access ICFLIX, which includes Hollywood, Bollywood and Jazwood (Arabic) content.

Content on ICFLIX is available in three languages: Arabic, English and French. The service is complimentary to all DXB passengers for an initial trial period of two months.

“Dubai Airports is on a mission to engage more directly with our customers, and transform the airport experience for millions of travellers each month,” said Eugene Barry, Executive Vice President of Dubai Airports’ Commercial and Communications Group. “We intend to lead the practical application of available digital tools to exceed customer expectations, across multiple points of their journey at our airports, and including demands for more variety within the airport experience. Our continued investment in a superior Wi-Fi product (Wow-Fi) has ensured that our customers are connected with a free and fast service, and now we aim to enrich that platform with managed content and relevant messaging.

“Thanks to our partnership with ICFLIX, travellers at Dubai International can now enjoy a wide range of streamed entertainment before and between flights, and this is a service which is completely free of charge to users. We are delighted with this new addition to our consumer strategy, and look forward to evaluating its impact.”

‘Wow-Fi’ at DXB

Speaking to FTE following the announcement of the partnership with ICFLIX, Dubai Airports’ EVP, Technology and Infrastructure, Michael Ibbitson, revealed more about the initiative. To access the streaming content, passengers must download the ICFLIX app and they are then entitled to 24 hours of free streaming. As well as watching content while at DXB, they can continue to watch content on board Wi-Fi connected aircraft and when they arrive at their destination, which is especially useful for those who have to board their flight before they have finished watching a movie.

Ibbitson explained that as the world’s busiest international airport, “people on immense journeys across the globe come to Dubai International and we are the centre of that journey”. He continued: “For those critical few hours on the ground, passengers can have a video call with their loved ones, download their emails in seconds, and then watch some movies on ICFLIX.”

Ibbitson stressed the fact that this is possible thanks to the Wow-Fi service, which has been painstakingly tested to guarantee a consistent performance across the airport. “One of the things that Paul Griffiths (CEO of Dubai Airports) said to me before I joined 18 months or so ago was that he wanted technology to drive the customer experience, and also drive the capacity and throughput at the airport in the future,” he explained.

“We’ve been working towards those two primary goals and one of the first things we identified when I joined was, based on previous customer research, Wi-Fi had become the biggest driver of overall customer satisfaction for airports by quite a significant margin…if you’ve got great Wi-Fi, passengers are likely to rate your airport better. So we said, ‘if that’s the case we’ve got to try and make the best airport Wi-Fi that anyone has come across’.”

The default position, Ibbitson said, was “everybody in the airport should be able to stream HD movies”. With this in mind, the entire wireless network infrastructure was upgraded across the airport and during the 2016 European Championships the Wi-Fi was tested by logging on to live streams of football matches during busy periods. Also, the whole Wi-Fi infrastructure was closely monitored and staff were alerted when the level of service dropped below that required to stream full HD content. This enabled Ibbitson and his colleagues to identify weak spots and improve those areas.

Clearly, the hard work has paid off and passengers can now enjoy connection speeds of up to 100mbps; more than enough to enable HD streaming. While the partnership with ICFLIX is for an initial period of two months, it could be just the start of a much bigger trend at DXB. Customer feedback will be assessed after the trial period and Ibbitson revealed to FTE that offering passengers live sports streaming is also on Dubai Airports’ wish list for the future.

source : https://tinyurl.com/ybtqk6f4

Airports bringing in therapy dogs to calm anxious plane passengers

Karima Kouidri

Coming soon to an airport near you: therapy dogs.

Coming soon to an airport near you: therapy dogs.  (iStock)

From finding gates to checking bags to trudging through security, flight preparations get many travelers wound up before they even step on the plane. And now, man’s best friend is easing a whole lot of airport anxiety.

More and more American airports are bringing in therapy dogs to improve the passenger experience, according to a report from Travel Pulse. And many say that our four-legged friends are critical reducing stress and starting the journey off right.

These highly popular pet programs can now be found at over 30 airports across the country, according to San Diego Airport, whose own “Ready, Pet, Go” program has dogs socializing with roughly 200 passengers during two-hour shifts.

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