The airport hopes that developers will use API access to improve the passenger experience in creative ways, including wayfinding support, and up-to-date seamless travel information like journey times from the car park to the gate.

Chief Digital Officer Albert van Veen, who has paved the way for digital innovation at the airport, tells Emerce (link in Dutch):

“We want to support the traveler as well as possible with personal and relevant information about the airport. Our API platform and data sharing with APIs is a key element in our best airport digital strategy.”

Developers interested in creating apps for services at the airport can sign up at Schiphol APIs Developer Portal. Developers will be granted access to data on current and scheduled flights for more than 90 airlines operating from the airport, including flight destinations, aircraft types, and flight status.

Video Schiphol by the numbers:

Schiphol’s API initiative conforms to Airport Council International’s (ACI) ACRIS data exchange standards, which adheres to existing messaging and other information exchange standards.

ACI Members, industry organizations like IATA, and several world business partners currently participate in the ACRIS programme.

It offers standardized Web Service interfaces to support B2B scenarios using SOAP and REST technology, including passenger and baggage conformance services, web Services to support Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) implementations, and RESTful WebService for flight information from the Seamless Travel Project.

ACI grants access to the ACI ACRIS documents to ACI Members and Working Group participants.

Developers which have expressed an interest in Schiphol’s published API so far include airlines and travel agents as well as Navigation service TomTom, automakers and Dutch public transport information service 9292.

source : https://tinyurl.com/loc9tgx

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is set to use new ultraviolet scanners that will eliminate the need for passengers to remove their shoes for security checks.

The Delta R shoe scanner was developed by Dutch startup Stage Gate 11 (SG11), a specialist in technological product development for the security industry. The scanner is a detection unit that uses UV light, meaning airport security staff can more easily pick out passengers who have hidden unsafe substances, such as drugs or explosives, in their shoes.

The need for such technology follows the attempted bombing of an American Airlines flight in 2001 with an explosive concealed in a hollowed-out shoe heel.

The shoe scanner detects traces of substances using UV reflection, comparing the emitted beam of light with the reflected one that has bounced off a surface. As all substances have their own unique patterns, the technology quickly and accurately recognizes traces of illegal or threatening substances.

SG11 worked with interior specialists INTOS in the design of the product.

Michiel Poppink, co-owner of SG11, commented, “We have the technology and application possibilities, but we really needed INTOS as a knowledge partner to design the show scanner.

“Their years of experience at Schiphol and other international airports meant that INTOS knew exactly which requirements a product had to meet for optimum performance in an airport. All of this led to the perfect transformation of our ideas into an aesthetic concept and ultimately a functional product.”

Jan-Williem Spanjaart, INTOS business development manager, added, “Starting with the idea, INTOS advised SG11 about the design, material, sustainability and possibilities for maintenance.

“The resulting standalone column that now is the shoe scanner is manufactured entirely in-house. The technology is suitable for many different applications, like parcel scanning.”

Written by Kirstie

source : https://tinyurl.com/zr3g474

Schiphol Airport has started a test with KLM involving “biometric boarding”,

one-off boarding without showing your boarding pass or passport.

Passengers board the aircraft quickly and easily using a special door that recognizes passengers by their faces.

With the help of this test, Schiphol and KLM want to study the technology of facial recognition – the system’s speed, reliability, and user-friendliness. They will also examine the boarding process and the passenger experience. The ultimate aim is to make the boarding process as quick and easy as possible for our passengers. The test period will last a minimum of three months.

It will take place at a specially selected gate at the airport. Boarding with facial recognition will require passengers to register first. In the waiting area near the gate, there will be a special registration kiosk. KLM staff will assist the passengers.

Registration involves scanning the passport, the boarding pass, and the passenger’s face. In the interest of privacy, the data will be used only for the test. Following boarding, all personal data will be erased. All data storage in the registration kiosk is erased after ten hours.

Schiphol and its partners are constantly working to develop innovations and create smart ways of improving ease of travel, speed, and airport processes. The airport aims to become “Leading Digital Airport” in 2018. This test is just one step in that direction.

Over the past two years, the airport’s collaboration with KLM and governmental authorities has resulted in the introduction of the very first security scan for passengers, crew and staff, and the new Security Lane in 2015. Right now, there is a test involving carry-on baggage scanning which allows passengers to leave their laptops and liquids in their bags. In the time to come, innovative technologies will be tested on a regular basis and, when proven successful, will be put to use.

source : https://tinyurl.com/hnfdxxj

2. Schiphol switches to central security

3.  Iberia, Aena and Siemens partner on new check-in and bag drop solution

4.  Abu Dhabi Airport implements automated document authentication

5. Aéroports de Paris promotes passenger networking at Orly

6. Helsinki Airport is first in Europe to install sleeping pods for tired travellers

7. AirAsia and Type22 launch Malaysia’s first fully automated self-service bag drop system

8. Tigerair Australia rolls out iPads to empower agents and reduce queues

9. Helsinki Airport’s naturally beautiful baggage hall

10. Cork Airport introduces real-time flight tracking

Read more: http://www.airport-business.com/2015/06/top-10-airport-innovations-2015-far/