Heathrow gets go-ahead to become world’s biggest airport

Karima Kouidri

(CNN) — A century after it opened as a simple grass runway in a village west of London, Heathrow could be transformed into the world’s biggest airport following a controversial decision by British lawmakers.
Construction of a third runway — one which would extend over the country’s busiest freeway — was approved in a parliamentary vote that followed decades of debate over how to expand the UK’s capacity for air traffic.
Under the proposal, passenger capacity at Heathrow could jump from nearly 80 million passengers per year to 110 million by 2030, making it, by current statistics, the world’s biggest in terms of traffic.
As well as boosting Heathrow’s status as an aviation hub and making it easier for visitors to explore the UK, it’s hoped the move will counter any economic fallout from the country’s “Brexit” from the European Union.
But the strong resistance to Heathrow’s expansion is likely to continue beyond the vote.
Pressure groups have long claimed that increasing the airport’s size and bringing in more air traffic over a heavily populated area will adversely impact those living nearby and irreparably hurt the environment. Hundreds of homes would be destroyed to facilitate the expansion.
source : edition.cnn

Air Travel is Changing with the Rise of Tech

Karima Kouidri

Talking Your Way onto the Flight

Amazon developed a revolutionary technology where we can bark our questions to a speaker that responds to the name Alexa and answers all of your questions. Google and Apple have also been developing products in the voice command industry. This voice-enabled technology might now help you with airline reservations for travels. Some of the giants like Kayak and Expedia have already begun to enable screen-free searches that will be a valuable alternative to what used to be a clunky and frustrating web search comparison experience. With the voice command industry growing the ability to search and compare airlines, flights, and rates will only get easier, all without you lifting a finger.

Checking in is a Problem of the Past

Whether you choose to do it online through a kiosk or in person, most people have always thought that they had to check in with the airline before getting started. However, this simply isn’t true anymore. Airlines have now figured out a way that they can eliminate this obnoxious drill. Ed Bastian, the CEO from Delta Airlines said that after you have booked and paid for it, they know who are you. You don’t need to check in. The only prerequisite to making this happen is that you download the app from Delta. After you have done this the airline will automatically check you in 24 hours before the departure date and the boarding pass will show up on your mobile device. It’s more convenient than what it ever used to be. Passengers of Southwest Airlines also have this option as the “Early Bird” customer.

Speeding Things up Through Biometric Identification

Some airlines are beginning to implement and take full advantage of biometric technology including JetBlue, Delta and several others. This system will conduct a few scans like iris and fingerprints as a way of speeding up the security screening for the passengers. This starts with the people who have already gone through the TSA PreCheck status. Lufthansa and KLM have recently begun experimenting with facial biometric boarding procedures. They will scan the passengers’ faces as a way of speeding up the boarding time. Basically, the fliers interested will register at the airport by scanning their documents and scanning their face right at the kiosk. Once it’s their turn to board, they can stroll through a separate gate for self-service boarding hassle free.

Waiting Grows More Pleasant

Most people talk about how frustrated they feel at the airports with the long waiting lines. You can now use the Wayfinder beacons found around the airport terminal as a way of predicting how long you will have to wait and to help you to find your gate. You will also receive an estimate for the length of time that it takes to walk from the airport lounge over to your gate. Airports have also begun to offer some excellent distractions in the process and have introduced apps such as AtYourGate and Airport Sherpa. These companies will deliver food to the gate from a variety of different eateries on site. In fact, a number of hubs like Houston and Newark Airport have taken to installing iPads that will allow for you to order food.

In-Flight Wi-Fi is Only Getting Better

If you’ve ever used the wifi on a plane—or not used it because of technical problems—things could soon change for the better. The wifi available on airplanes will get much better similar to at-home speeds and bandwidth. Some of the insiders have talked about how 2018 will be the year for this new technology. They will however, charge for this kind of wi-fi, but reports say that it will be anywhere in the $10 to $30 range. It largely depends on how long the flight is. Some of the other in-flight internet providers have also been upping their game in this field. Delta is working with a company called Gogo to provide satellite-based wifi to passengers during all flights with speeds as high as 70 megabits per second. You can also expect free texting to take off.

Private Charters More Affordable

That’s right private travel is now more affordable than ever before. We’re seeing a variety of new technologies disrupt long-standing industries and they are beginning to do the same here. International travelers now have more choices than ever before with charter flight routes expanding. What’s great is the rise of new competition in the private airline field has helped to lower the prices to charter a private jet. Everyone has heard of Uber, similar companies have emerged to perform flight-sharing on charters to lower the cost per passenger to compete with commercial airlines.

Decreasing Flight Times

One of the latest technologies that could soon hit the market is what’s known as a supersonic jetliner. It will have the ability to fly nonstop from New York City to London in three hours and fifteen minutes. It can even fly from San Francisco to Tokyo in under six hours. Known as the XB-1, the aircraft will likely enter the commercial scene in the mid-2020s. In fact, 76 of these aircraft have already been pre-ordered. Boom has already received $51 million toward funding this aircraft, and it will have a lightweight and a composite design. In addition, this aircraft is luxurious like flying private more so than business class.

Think the above technology is cool? Just wait until cryptocurrencies and smart contracts enter the industry to eliminate overbooking, create easy transactions and flight transfers. Add in VR to see what your seat and plane looks like ahead of time and most if not all of your stressors would be handled. If you’re worried about losing your luggage, they already have trackers you can use on your bags to track its transit. Technology is on the way to make your travels easy, comfortable and a truly unique experience.

source : Irish Tech news

Automated VALET parking

Karima Kouidri

The VTT’s robot car Marilyn is taking automated parking

based on UWB positioning and parking commands given by the application of HERE. The parking place is given with tablet and then, the robot car parks itself fully automatically (also changing gear from forward to reverse mode). Data exchange between vehicles and tablet is done with using wireless communication channel and utilising Data Distribution Server (DDS).

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland’s robot car Marilyn is parking autonomously – 100m away from its driver. The trial in Tampere uses the Internet of Things (IoT) and is expected to allow vehicles to park closer together without fear of collisions at airports and shopping centres.

Johan Scholliers, project manager at VTT, says the technology will also help reduce congestion in parking areas.

Marilyn utilises Here Technologies’ ultra-wideband (UWB)-based technology which allows it to be positioned indoors without satellite assistance. UWB is a radio technology that transmits data in short and low-power pulses over a wide frequency band.

The driver parks the car through an app that reserves a parking space. A parking guidance system confirms whether the space is free and detects potential problems using traffic cameras connected to an open IoT platform – which in turn transmits route information to the vehicle.

VTT’s trial is part of the Autopilot project’s investigation of the potential for IoT-automated driving. The initiative is funded by the European Commission and is also operational in Italy, the Netherlands, France, Spain and South Korea.

Incheon Airport to pilot non-contact fingerprint recognition system for airport staff security

Karima Kouidri

The new system accurately captures biometric information from a person’s fingers by means of a 3D image via motion detection.

As part of ongoing efforts to improve airport security hardware,  Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) has announced, in a press release dated last month, upgrades to the existing biometric security systems for employees. The recent upgrade features a “non-contact fingerprint recognition” system, and is intended to enhance airport security and efficiency.

The new system employs a technique known as “non-contact fingerprint recognition”; excluding the thumb, this system accurately captures biometric information from a person’s fingers by means of a “3D image (generated) via motion detection”, according to the press release. Compared to existing biometric security systems which require physical contact, the new “non-contact fingerprint recognition” systems record a higher recognition rate. The lack of physical contact also makes the new systems more hygienic.

Additionally, unlike existing biometric security systems, the new “non-contact fingerprint recognition” system is able to collect biometric data without having the person “remain stationary”, and “fingerprint recognition is automatically performed just once”.

The deployment of the new system is not intended to replace existing biometric security systems, but complement them. By using both systems simultaneously, IIAC hopes to boost employee gate security via a two-step authentication process — once via the new non-contact recognition, and a second time via physical scans by current biometric security systems.

A trial run of the new system is currently underway at the east staff exit of Incheon Airport’s Terminal 1. The scale of future deployment of the new system will be determined by the pilot test results.

“I will review the pilot operation results of the (new systems) and expand it to the entire (airport) by 2020,” said Chung Il-Young, president of IIAC. “We will also consider introducing it to passenger areas in future”. President Chung also pledged to make Incheon Airport “clean, convenient and safe with zero defects”.

 

The recent implementation of the new security systems is part of Incheon Airport’s modernisation program to maintain international competitiveness and upholds its image as a world-class airport. The IIAC has sought to achieve this via investments in enhancing and expanding airport infrastructure, participating in international research partnerships, as well as improving customer service and airport security by installing new hardware. Robots deployed by LG are currently being used at Incheon Airport to guide travellers as well as maintain airport cleanliness;  last month, “Drop&Fly” self-service bag drop units were also deployed at Incheon Airport’s Terminal 2, making baggage drop-off more convenient for travellers and baggage handling more accurate and secure.

Incheon International Airport has ranked consistently within the top 10 airports the world, according to Skytrax. The airport’s range of amenities such as a golf course, spa, and private lounges and excellence in customer service has received much international praise, and the IIAC emphasises on improving the customer experience as part of its ongoing airport modernisation initiatives.

Still, the IIAC’s emphasis on improving hardware and infrastructure does not address other pressing issues. In 2016, a Chinese couple and 25-year old Vietnamese man evaded Korean immigration and entered the country illegally; similarly in April this year, a sex offender identified as Shin managed to slip past airport security and was only by Vietnamese law enforcement personnel after his plane landed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In the dual incidents of 2016, the Chinese couple allegedly got past multiple security gates in a mere 14 minutes; an alarm had gone off when the Vietnamese man forced his way through an automated gate during peak morning hours, but it had gone unnoticed by duty personnel at the time. Experts have highlighted the lack of strong inter-agency coordination, and chronic understaffing of security personnel resulting in undermanned security systems.

source : opengovasia

Florida airport to begin scanning faces of international passengers

Karima Kouidri

Orlando International Airport will employ face scanners for passengers

on arriving and departing international flights, a move that airport authorities claim will speed up customs, while privacy advocates worry about the lack of formal rules in place for the data from the scans.

                                                                                      David J.Phillip/ ap

Florida’s busiest airport will be the first in the nation to require a face scan of passengers on all arriving and departing international flights, officials said Thursday, a move that pleases airport executives but worries privacy advocates.

Officials at Orlando International Airport said the expansion of face scans would speed up the time it takes for passengers to go through customs.

“It’s almost like Christmas in June for me,” said Phil Brown, chief executive of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. “The process of going into and out of Orlando is going to be greatly enhanced.”

But some privacy advocates say there are no formal rules in place for handling data gleaned from the scans, nor formal guidelines on what should happen if a passenger is wrongly prevented from boarding.

Airports in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, and Washington already use face scans for some departing international flights, but they don’t involve all international flights at the airports as the program’s expansion in Orlando would.

The image from the face scan is compared to a Department of Homeland Security biometric database that has passport images of people who should be on the flight in order to verify the traveler’s identity. The images are held in the database for 14 days before being deleted, said John Wagner, an official with US Customs and Border Protection.

The face scan expansion is costing the Orlando airport authority $4 million. The program should be rolled out at other airports in other US cities in the next year, Mr. Wagner said.

“We’re comparing you against a photograph you’ve given the US government for the purposes of travel,” Wagner said. “You know your picture is being taken. You’re standing in front of a camera. There’s nothing subversive about this, and we’re only comparing you against your passport photo.”

US citizens at these airports can opt out, but the agency “doesn’t seem to be doing an adequate job letting Americans know they can opt out,” said Harrison Rudolph, an associate at the Center on Privacy & Technology at the Georgetown University Law Center.

The Orlando announcement marks a step up in the scope of the face scan program, Mr. Rudolph said.

“We’re not talking about one gate,” he said. “We’re talking about every international departure gate, which is a huge expansion of the number of people who will be scanned. Errors tend to go up as uses go up.”

Orlando International Airport had about 6 million international passengers in the past year. Face scans for arrivals and departures should be fully in place by the end of the year, although passengers landing at Orlando International Airport currently undergo them upon arriving. Passengers who had their photos taken Thursday at the Orlando airport took it in stride.

“It was fine, efficient, very fast,” said Katrina Poulsen, a Denmark resident who arrived in Orlando on a flight from London.

Andrea Nabarria, who arrived on the same flight, said he understands the concerns about privacy but that passengers may have to give up something in exchange for beefed up security.

“At least that’s what we’re told,” said Mr. Nabarria, an Italian who is a resident of Denmark.

Rudolph said he has concerns about the face scans’ accuracy since some research shows they are less accurate with racial minorities, women, and children. Researchers say this is because photos used to train the face-scanning software underrepresent minorities, women, and young people.

Wagner said the agency hasn’t seen discrepancies based on race or gender using face scans at the other airports.

Two US senators last month sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, which is home to the border protection agency, urging that formal rules be implemented before the program is expanded.

“It will also ensure a full vetting of this potentially sweeping program that could impact every American leaving the country by the airport,” said the letter from US Sens. Ed Markey (D) of Mass. and Mike Lee (R) of Utah.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. 

source : cs.monitor

Vistara’s ‘RADA’ robot to assist and address customers at airports

Karima Kouidri

Vistara has launched a new AI-based robot that is aimed at assisting customers at airports,

along with addressing their queries. The ‘RADA’ robot will initially be placed at the company’s Signature Lounge at Delhi Airport’s Terminal 3 from July 5, 2018, for helping customers in the lounge. The robot’s functionality is touted to be improved over time with new features, after taking user feedback.

According to the company, the robot uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and can assist customers, address their queries and even entertain them.

“During its initial stage, RADA will be placed at Vistara’s Signature Lounge at Delhi Airport’s Terminal 3 from July 5 to assist customers using the lounge before they board their flights,” the airline said in a statement.

“‘RADA’ will be further developed over a period of time in terms of functionality and features for future use cases, after gauging customer feedback.”

At present, the robot can scan boarding passes and further provide information on the terminal, departure gates, weather conditions of destination city, real time flight status as well as information about Vistara’s products and services.

“It greets customers and interacts with them using basic hand movements, and is capable of moving around in the lounge on predefined pathways,” the statement said.

“Additionally, it can engage with kids and adults alike by playing games and other multimedia content such as songs and videos.”

Face scans to be required for international travelers at Orlando airport

Karima Kouidri

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s busiest airport

is becoming the first in the nation to require a face scan of passengers on all arriving and departing international flights, including U.S. citizens, according to officials there.
The expected announcement Thursday at Orlando International Airport alarms some privacy advocates who say there are no formal rules in place for handling data gleaned from the scans, nor formal guidelines on what should happen if a passenger is wrongly prevented from boarding.
Airports in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, New York and Washington already use face scans for some departing international flights, but they don’t involve all international travelers at the airports like the program’s expansion in Orlando would. The image from the face scan is compared to a Department of Homeland Security biometric database that has images of people who should be on the flight, in order to verify the traveler’s identity.
U.S. citizens at these airports can opt out, but the agency “doesn’t seem to be doing an adequate job letting Americans know they can opt out,” said Harrison Rudolph, an associate at the Center on Privacy & Technology at the Georgetown University Law Center.
U.S. citizens at the Orlando airport will be able to opt out just like at the other airports if they don’t want to provide their photograph, Jennifer Gabris, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in an email. However, a notice about a possible rule change for the program states that “U.S. citizens may be required to provide photographs upon entering or departing the United States.”
The Orlando announcement marks a step up in the scope of the face scan program, Rudolph said.
“We’re not talking about one gate,” he said. “We’re talking about every international departure gate, which is a huge expansion of the number of people who will be scanned. Errors tend to go up as uses go up.”

Orlando International Airport had about 6 million international passengers in the past year.

Rudolph said he has concerns about the face scans’ accuracy, since some research shows they are less accurate with racial minorities, women and children. Researchers say this is because photos used to train the face-scanning software underrepresent minorities, women and young people.

Two U.S. senators last month sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, which is home to the border protection agency, urging that formal rules be implemented before the program is expanded.

“It will also ensure a full vetting of this potentially sweeping program that could impact every American leaving the country by airport,” said the letter from U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. and U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

source : nypost