Route profitability will remain the key driving force. However, that is not to say that IT systems are not a contributing factor. The resilience, flexibility, and reliability of airport IT systems can be important parameters, as they can determine an airport’s ability to meet KPIs and to satisfy passenger expectations.

Using IT systems to enhance operational efficiency

Operational efficiency is an important consideration for carriers, as they look to minimize waste and costs while maximizing revenues. Better technology at the airport can reduce resource consumption, turnaround times, communication (network) and messaging costs, all of which can have a considerable impact on an airline’s bottom-line. Therefore, technology that allows airlines to reduce this impact will always be attractive as it helps them to lower expenditure.

Evidence of this is found in a recent article for tnooz.com, where Thomas Woldbye, CEO of Copenhagen Airport remarks that enhancing airport desirability by using technology to reduce costs for airlines is a priority.

Technology is essential to improving the customer experience

Passenger experience remains a high priority as airlines look to differentiate themselves and demonstrate greater value for money. Operational efficiency will also always be invariably linked to customer experience.

For example, biometric technologies, which streamline processes for greater efficiency, also make the airport experience simpler and more effortless for customers. A single biometric token can remove the need for multiple forms of documentation, allowing customers to pass through check-in/bag-drop, immigration and boarding with one token (for example their face, fingerprint or iris). Thereby, simplifying and increasing the speed of their journey.

Full Service Carriers (FSC), in particular, can use the streamlined experience to bolster their premium brands. Low Cost Carriers (LCC) can use this as a way to show customers additional value while enhancing their own operational efficiency.

In these ways and others, airlines may look to airport technology to enhance the customer experience.

Airports tapping into airlines’ digital strategies

Another way airports are meeting the changing needs of airlines is by integrating new and evolving media into their service offerings. For example social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

One example of this is Sydney Airport’s introduction of a range of new innovations for airlines and passengers, including allowing passengers to get flight information from Facebook Messenger and Twitter as well as rolling out in-terminal Google Maps and the Chinese Baidu Maps.

This progress mirrors the efforts airlines have made to connect and serve their customers on social media. In future, it is not inconceivable that airlines will expect to be able leverage airport social media channels to resolve complaints and situations, before they escalate.

The conclusion is that those airports which align their digital strategy with that of airlines may get a competitive edge.

Shifting views when it comes to Airlines and Airport IT

As Airport IT providers offer more passenger processing technology and shared technology, the capacity for Airport IT to enhance operational efficiency and the customer experience will only continue to increase. And, so too will the desirability of airports which offer these technologies. In this way IT systems can play a part in enticing airlines to choose selected airports.

For more information on how airports can demonstrate value to airlines download the recent Frost and Sullivan whitepaper entitled: Strengthening the Airport Value Proposition.

source : https://tinyurl.com/y8hlqvoo

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.

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

The new Open Sky flight-mapping feature at Stockholm Arlanda. (Photo: Victoria Ström)

n an effort to visualize the growing number of destinations that can be reached directly from the airport, Stockholm Arlanda Airport has unveiled Open Sky, an installation where data from the world’s air traffic is projected onto a two-meter diameter globe. The data is delivered from Flightradar24 and is projected using three-dimensional projection mapping technique.
Flightradar24 is an Internet-based flight tracking service that collects signals from aircraft to receive data regarding position, altitude, heading and speed from more than 150 000 flights everyday. The application has been downloaded by more than 30 million people and is available in 150 countries. Through data from Flightradar24 travellers can track every aircraft departing and arriving at Stockholm Arlanda or are en-route to any of the destinations you can reach directly from the airport.
Projection mapping is used to project images or videos onto irregularly shaped objects, in this case a miniature globe. This is the first time that projection-mapping technique is used in a public airport. Open Sky is located inside the departure hall at Terminal 5 and will be a permanent installation at Stockholm Arlanda.
Kjell-Åke Westin, Airport Director at Stockholm Arlanda Airport commented: “Open Sky makes our 160 direct destinations worldwide visible and it’s a way for us to display our goal of becoming the leading airport in Scandinavia by 2020. The installation clearly shows how Stockholm Arlanda brings the world closer.”

source : https://tinyurl.com/mm8yn6d

Gabriele Ruggieri Head of Aviation at software and hardware specialists, Custom, offers his view on the role of IT in the aviation and airport industry…

1. I understand Custom is making waves in the airport world with both software and hardware solutions. Could you describe how this process began and the choice to enter into the airport industry?

GR: It has been a natural / easy choice since Custom was and still is leader in railway transportation ticket vending machines (TVM) and highways tolls payment machine printers; Custom designs and produces 600,000 printers per year and the cross-synergy between other transportation divisions and the retail division has facilitated Custom to enter into the ATI sector; Custom software development is limited to supporting the integrators (CUTE / DCS providers) through supplying them API’s, tools, and suite of software for seamlessly integrate / use / remote monitor Custom printers, in such sense they are the “solution providers”, not Custom.

2. Do you feel that airports in general are using antiquated and out-of-date software? Do we need an IT revolution in the sector?

GR: We think that airport environment, as well as the banking one, due to the intrinsic security, is necessarily conservative. Nevertheless we support players that are very innovative and we are confident that Custom can contribute through providing  the ATI industry with cutting edge technologies; just as an example, we replaced older printers that were printing at 140 mm/sec with ARM CPU based ones printing at 220 mm/sec and the new TK862 is studied to reach 300 mm/sec printing speed: it means faster check-in operations and overall better customer experience. Furthermore,  Custom has anticipated the IATA Resolution 753, having ready off-the-shelf RFID enabled printers for those airlines which selected the RFID technology to get IATA compliance.

We think that rather than a revolution we will go through a natural evolution where Custom will play a key role because it can source experience and technologies from 6 different vertical markets where the Company is involved.

source : https://tinyurl.com/mvsta7w

Following the acquisition in April 2015, and after great collaboration over the past two years, the time is now right to unify AirIT under the Amadeus brand. We share a common vision for the airport industry, and move forward as one unique team of approximately 400 airport and ground handling IT experts.

With our combined expertise and solution set, Amadeus is able to cover all needs for airport operations and we’re excited about the current opportunities we have in this landscape. Currently, our solutions for airport operations are used by 30 airlines, 110 airport operators and 100 ground handlers across the world – our experts are truly global with 9 offices in United States, Spain, France, Germany, UK, Dubai, India, Singapore and Australia.

Reflecting on some of the highlights of late last year and early this year, 2 US airports selected our solutions: Tampa International Airport looked to us to deliver the technology required for their terminal modernization to dramatically transform facilities and improve operational efficiency, increase capacity, and enhance the passenger experience; most recently, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport announced a partnership with us to upgrade its terminal IT with our technology.

Stay tuned for more updates on our product portfolio for our North American customers and prospects.

International Airport Review explores further with Deolan’s Arnold Aumasson, CMO and Head of Business Development…

1. For the purpose of our readership, what is Clip Mobile and how might it revolutionise operations?

Clip Mobile is our latest addition in Deolan’s Clip solution, a cloud-based data platform providing storage capabilities, collaboration tools, real-time dashboards and automated reports to all stakeholders involved in airport operations and turnaround performance. The revolution comes from the capacity we now provide to access from everywhere all your data related to your flights: digitalised, secured and centralised.

2. Do you believe the airport industry is behind other in embracing new technologies?

Overall I do not think so, but the situation is certainly not equal among the players, you have large airports with significant resources to invest in IT and smaller airports struggling to drive their digital transformation. You have LCCs with strong costs controls and no IT legacy and FSCs with dominant controlling positions in their own bases.

The poor parents of digital implementation are all the ground handlers, many are still operating like we were decades ago,  the problem is traffic has dramatically increased and turnaround time reduced. The situation is no more sustainable, from a human and financial perspective. New technology like our data platform (low set up fees, plug & play, scalable) is a solution to bridge the gaps so that the industry as a whole can provide a better customer experience!

3. What role might beacon technology have to play in future?

In my opinion, it s going to be huge. Beacons, sensors and machine to machine communications, with data capture will bring a lot of value, I believe data is the base layer of tomorrow’s world. When you look at the potential of machine learning, AI and what can algorithms do in other industries, you can imagine any answers or ideas for airport operations. Still, as of now, our focus is to provide data security and reliability to our clients so they can move forward with no fear.

4. What is the single greatest challenged facing our industry?

If only one, most probably the urgency for finding new ways of collaboration between airports, airlines and ground handlers beyond a simple customer – supplier relationship. The more handlers will struggle, the more the full value chain will be at risk.

5. Imagine we’re having this conversation in a year’s time… what will have changed in the industry?

Honestly, one year is long but also very short. From a technology perspective, we could be really advanced with enhanced operations thanks to better information and collaboration. From a mindset change point if view, I fear our industry is still reluctant to implement digital transformation at scale. You see initiatives happening but not really comprehensive transformational programs addressing the root causes, leveraging the right tools…

6. What does the future hold for Deolan?

Good question, if I look at our traction in the last months and the satisfaction of our clients, the future looks really very good. Everyday, we have more flights accessible on the platform and can provide new value-added services to our clients. In the short term, we are looking at expanding our operations in the Middle East and Asian markets, I really wish we can be instrumental in defining the best for our industry.

source : https://tinyurl.com/hsvodge

‘Wearables’ have existed forever (remember the calculator watch or even digital hearing aids?), but when we talk about wearables today, we first think of the Apple Watch, which in just a year and a half has made us all want to own a piece of wearable technology.

Personalised interaction ‘on-the-move’

Unlike handheld devices such as smartphones, wearables can become attuned to our bodies, sending biofeedback to the apps that control them. But their primary function at the moment is to make it easier for us to receive and react to information.

For example, you’re walking through the airport terminal, cup of coffee in one hand, your suitcase in the other, as you head to Gate 4. Your smartphone beeps; both of your hands are full, so you glance at your smart watch and head to Gate 9 as redirected by your app. When you get there, you scan your watch to display your boarding pass and the airline knows a frequent flyer is about to board and thus will have your preferred drink ready for takeoff. And there’s no need to worry about your suitcase. Thanks to the Bluetooth chip inside, you can check the weight and then lock it remotely, directly from your phone. That’s of course after it has charged your smartphone while you’re waiting in the departure lounge!

Get ready for the ride – It’s going to be fast and furious

Smart watches, luggage and jewellery are still in their infancies, but their adoption will most certainly be fast and furious, with more wearables hitting the mass market in the next two years. To keep up with this pace, travel sellers will need to be mobile-ready with every new product and service, ensuring that they are designed for or can be adapted to wearable devices. Not only that, the travel ecosystem needs to be prepared for wearables. There’s no point having your boarding card loaded to your smart watch if the airport doesn’t have compatible scanning devices.

Amadeus is certainly keeping up with the front runners. Today, our mobile apps can communicate with smart watches and we are in the process of developing dedicated apps for wearables. Amadeus is also collaborating on a pilot initiative with a major car manufacturer and group of airports in France, which will see airports connecting to cars, sharing trip and travel data to make cars smarter. This will transform your journey to the airport from: “Let’s hope we make our flight on time” to “Take this route which has less traffic,” “We have found you the closest parking space on arrival” and “You are checked in to your flight which will leave from Gate 2.” Check out our debriefs from the PhocusWright Conference for more on this exciting initiative.

What’s clear is that once retailers have succeeded in developing an effective mobile/wearable strategy, interactions with customers will be seamless, allowing for true personalisation. This will in turn create opportunities to generate up-sell and cross-sell revenues, but, more importantly, cement customer loyalty and retention.

With wearables, I’m always connected

In the coming years, we will see some outlandish wearable inventions that have no real use and some simple but effective ones that we’ll wonder how we ever lived without. I’m certainly a wearables fan and already have my smart watch (which I can use to make calls, send texts and browse the web), my smart wallet (which beeps when I can’t find it) and my smart suitcase (which weighs itself, locks itself and can be tracked from my phone). They save me precious time, give me peace of mind and ensure I’m always connected in this crazy, fast-paced world we live in. And when I need to disconnect, I just turn them all off!

source : http://tinyurl.com/h6g5ahw

Once upon a time planning a holiday meant that you had to actually leave your home and visit a travel agent. More daring travellers would rely on word of mouth recommendations or their ever trusty travel guidebooks. Technology like high-speed internet disrupted these bygone ways and now artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping up to be just as disruptive. Computers performing tasks that would usually require human intelligence is already game-changing. But computers with the ability to learn – with little to no supervision – will bring automation to a new level. Used in conjunction with predictive analytics, machine learning, which is one subset of artificial intelligence, actively helps companies anticipate the future. For the travel industry, this means serving travellers faster and better throughout their journey.

Here are a few examples of the benefits of AI in the travel industry:

Big Data, AI, and Personalisation

While big data analytics looks at past events, AI uses predictive analysis to anticipate and plan for the future. And inspiring people to travel is all about showing them relevant content and offers. The digital advertising industry has long used cookies to display relevant ads. Now, artificial intelligence and machine learning is able to predict which ad space is more likely to generate better conversions. This is making the business of buying and selling ad spaces smarter, so companies like travel audience  can empower travel players to target online travellers more effectively.

Artificial intelligence also helps travel companies create highly-tailored offers based on customers’ needs and preferences. Past behaviours can obviously feed AI computers to predict future purchase actions. But deep learning algorithms can help travel companies make the most out of their customer’s online activities. Computers are now able to understand images, videos and sounds, creating opportunities to better understand travellers. Knowing that they usually go on vacation in March and they’ve liked many pictures from Malaysia on Instagram would represent a valuable insight for any travel agency or airline.

AI-based ultra-personalised offers increase conversion rates while ultimately improving the traveller’s shopping experience. AI will also bring customised suggestions during the trip based on a traveller’s profile, location, time, and many other parameters and data that algorithms will process. What is relevant in AI, is that the output of all these technical processes must bring a more natural experience to the traveller. When consumers will interact with the travel company, AI will help create a smoother experience. AI technology dedicated to travellers will also help companies in decision making, managing predictive maintenance, and handling disruptions like weather conditions.

Chatbots and Virtual Assistants

As we’ve discussed before, chatbots are expected to have a big impact on the way the travel industry serves its customers, e.g. asking for information, booking a trip, and requesting assistance. These solutions are partly based on Natural Language Processing (NLP), a subfield used in artificial intelligence applications. The challenge here is not only ensuring that a computer is able to understand the meaning of human language, but that it is also able to account and assess on the fly the context of the conversation to ensure relevant dialogue.

Moreover, by combining context (location, time, language) with personal information (age and interests), chatbots are able to push relevant offers to customers thanks to AI. Companies like Evature are already well established in arena.

Virtual assistants, on the other hand, perform tasks for an individual based on user information and access from many external sources such as user flight schedules, hotel availabilities, country events, weather, and traffic conditions. For example, intelligent virtual assistants like Apple’s Siri, Google Now, and Amazon’s Alexa perform tasks by combining user input with their preferences. Scheduling is handled particularly well by virtual assistants. In the not do distant future, a virtual assistant could scan its user’s calendar to identify events that require travel and offer to book flights proactively, while taking into account the traveller’s preferences and past booking behaviour. Virtual assistants will change the way people make travel plans as they increasingly become the new mediators between travel players and travellers.

Artificial intelligence is changing the rules for the travel industry and the ability to predict the behaviour of travellers will unlock new revenue opportunities for travel players. Without a doubt, exciting times are ahead within the travel industry and Amadeus will be at the forefront of this revolution.

source : http://tinyurl.com/zbfz6nc

for passenger and airport security with 50% rating it a high priority, up from 37% last year. This is according to the 2016 Airport IT Trends Survey, the extensive annual study of IT trends within the global airport industry co-sponsored by SITA and Airports Council International (ACI), in association with Airline Business.

source : http://tinyurl.com/jxe4sga

with 50 per cent rating it a high priority, up from 37 per cent last year.

This is according to the 2016 Airport IT Trends Survey, the extensive annual study of IT trends within the global airport industry co-sponsored by Sita and Airports Council International (ACI), in association with Airline Business.

For many airports, the investment focus has shifted to security in the wake of heightened regional tensions, some of which directly target air travel. While investment in passenger processing technology still ranks the number one priority for airports, it has dropped from 73 per cent in 2015 to 59 per cent this year as security rises in priority.

The survey shows that self-service and mobile dominate the airport landscape. This year for the first time Sita’s research indicates the majority of airports worldwide provide self-service check-in for both passengers and bags. Looking ahead self-service will continue to dominate with two-thirds of airports planning major IT investments in this area. The growing influence of mobile is also evident with nearly every airport worldwide (90 per cent) undertaking either a major program or a trial project related to mobile services and 74 per cent trialing or piloting context-aware and location-based technology in the next five years.

Matthys Serfontein, Sita vice president, Airport Solutions, said: “The technology trends at airports reflect the changing world. Investments to support passenger and airport security are up while the increasing demands of the connected traveler for self-service and mobile services are also being met.

“This year we see a shift where airports are also looking to technology to generate non-aeronautical revenue. By 2019, 84 per cent hope to make money by enabling the purchase of airport services through their mobile app. And there is also a clear trend to provide hybrid public wi-fi services that combine the convenience of limited free wi-fi with commercial offerings. Over the next three years the proportion of airports planning to offer unrestricted free wi-fi will drop from 74 per cent to 54 per cent. This change is mainly driven by airports in North America and the Middle East.”

Using kiosks for services beyond check-in and bag drop to generate revenue will also appear at the world’s airports. Today a very small number of airports have kiosks that allow passengers to download digital content, such as the latest films, before they board the flight but by 2019, 30 per cent plan to do so. By that time 42 per cent also expect to have kiosks that enable sales transactions.

Sita’s research takes a look further into the airport’s digital transformation exploring areas such as wearables, biometrics, robotics and context-aware services and how airports plan to use these innovative technologies over the next five to 10 years. In the light of the increased focus on security it is not surprising that interest in biometric technology, which supports fast and secure passenger processing, is high. More than one third of airports will invest in single biometric travel token projects in the next five years jumping to the majority (52 per cent) within the decade.

These findings are from the 13th annual Sita Airport IT Trends and reflect the views of more than 225 airports who together manage 36 per cent of the global traffic or 2.3 billion passengers. This year 50 per cent of survey respondents came from airports within the Top 100 in terms of revenue. – TradeArabia News Service

source : http://tinyurl.com/hqen4f8