SPECIAL REPORT: IT
Get smart A
s a person who spends a considerable amount of time in airports around the world, I quite often fi nd myself imagining what if I could have all the necessary travel information I needed in the palm of my hand.
For example, it would be great if I could reduce the stress level by knowing
if my fl ight will depart on-time, or improve predictability by knowing the shortest path to my gate. Some may call this vision utopia. However, with the widespread adoption of new technology coupled with
increases in smartphone uptake, this should become commonplace in the next three to fi ve years. To make this happen, airports must be able to integrate a signifi cant
number of fragmented IT systems, provide real-time decision-making tools and implement predictive analytics. The three areas to tackle, therefore, are ineffi ciency, ineffectiveness and lack of agility. The development of the ‘Intelligent Airport’ will also help make airport operations more effi cient and cost effective.
What is an Intelligent Airport? An airport is essentially a large supply chain operation that processes goods and services. It is a time-based processing facility, which depends on all its assets. In particular aircraft, passengers, staff and support services arriving and departing on-time. The challenge is provided by the complexity of players and processes, and
the inability of multiple systems to share and analyse data. The airport eco-system must become more ‘intelligent’ to optimise its supply chain, share real-time information and track, manage and locate all of its assets. So what will the Intelligent Airport do to provide utopia for the passenger?
To give a few examples among many, an intelligent airport is one that: • Knows the location of the aircraft/fl ights to reduce delays on the tarmac, minimise fuel consumption and trim turnaround time (Effi ciency)
• Knows where its staff are in real-time, and has the ability to communicate to all stakeholders to ensure that the right people and services are on the right fl ights at the right time, while ensuring passenger security and keeping everyone informed of changes and disruptions (Effectiveness) • Knows who its customers are and when they are travelling, so that they can
SITA’s Ron Reed considers what an Intelligent Airport is, how it will help passengers, and what it means for operational effi ciencies, cost savings and revenue generation.
predict peak demands, minimise queue lengths throughout the terminal, plan staff utilisation, optimise parking spaces, and help customers navigate from parking to the plane in real-time. It will also be able to maximise retail revenues by marketing the ‘right’ products to the ‘right’ passenger at the ‘right’ time based on their location and preferences (Agility)
Improving productivity The rise in self-service is providing tremendous benefi ts to the industry in terms of cost savings and customer satisfaction. Many airlines estimate that over half their customers are using some form of self-service, including kiosks, the Internet, and mobile technology. However, airlines have lost visibility of their passengers. Airports and
airlines can’t properly manage the passenger fl ow and allocate staff because customers are arriving at different periods throughout the day having already checked-in off-site, and queues are growing at security checkpoints and other areas in the airport. As a result, airports, airlines, immigration and security agencies need a
range of collaborative business intelligence solutions related to passenger and baggage fl ow management. It is diffi cult to predict which techno-gadget will be the must-have 10 years
from now, but since almost every air traveller today carries a mobile phone, and in the future will carry smart devices, the industry is looking to utilise mobile applications to address the new passenger fl ow model and improve the overall operations and passenger service. For example, mobile technology offers an unprecedented opportunity for
geo-localised tracking, with groundbreaking implications for both the airport and the passenger, from check-in to border management to boarding. It will become commonplace for airports to track and trace the flow of passenger
movements, addressing the ineffectiveness and inefficiencies faced today. The Intelligent Airport will be one that is proactive and collaborative,
thereby capable of predicting the fl ow of passengers to make more informed decisions and communicating information in real-time to all stakeholders, including passengers. With this level of intelligence, airports and their partners will signifi cantly improve their operational performance by having a better understanding of
AIRPORT WORLD/OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010 43
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