The travel industry is at the very forefront of utilising new technologies and processes designed to improve customer experience. Nowhere is this need, this commercial imperative, more apparent than at the airport – the beginning and end of so many business and leisure journeys for people across the world.
For too many travellers, the airport is approached with a feeling of dread, rather than one of pleasant anticipation. Airports are often associated with delayed flights, lost baggage, misplaced travel documents or one of a hundred travel inconveniencies. In short, airports are all too frequently viewed as a necessary obstacle that needs to be overcome in order to enjoy the trip, rather than an enjoyable experience in of itself.
Multiple facets of the travel and hospitality industry have a vested interest in changing this rather bleak outlook. Not only do airport and airline operators stand to gain from improving the airport experience but also taxi operators, hotel chains and restaurants all benefit from tourists and travellers enjoying the airport experience more than they currently do. A traveller who starts their journey with a happy mindset is likely to be more receptive to good service, spend more, tip better and rate their experience more highly online.
With this in mind, more Middle Eastern airport operators have been putting customer service at the forefront of their operational improvements in order to create the Smart Airport, or the “airport of tomorrow”. The following innovations and technological implementations are just the beginning of the process:
Biometrics
One of airport visitors’ top complaints is the lengthy process of checking in bags, followed by passing through security and finally boarding. Biometric-based technologies are poised to significantly reduce the time taken to process passengers by cutting out the most time-consuming element: human interaction.
Facial recognition, iris and fingerprint scans represent “unfakeable” security identification measures that can be implemented in an entirely automated fashion. Detractors of biometric technologies claim that removing airports’ human agents from the equation harms security but in fact there’s a stronger case that the opposite is true. Removing human agents also removes the very real possibility of human error as well as improving efficiency.
The UAE’s Dubai International Airport is leading the biometrics charge with a system capable of conducting facial, fingerprint and iris scans with ease. The system is also capable of detecting passport forgeries or inconsistencies, making it a further boon to security.[1] With an estimated 80 million passengers expected to have transited through the airport in 2015, more efficient passenger processing is a must. Fortunately, biometrics can improve the speed of passenger processing without compromising on their security, enhancing it instead.
Greater Self-Service options
Self-service technology represents another key area of passenger/airport interactions with the potential to make passenger processing quicker and easier.
Online check-in is already a well established practice for modern airlines and airports but the self-service route is now being explored in much greater depth. Document checks, flight rebooking, self-service bag drop and home printed bag tagging, these are just some of the more recent innovations.
Qatar Airways has been working closely with Hamad International Airport operators to ensure that their passengers have access to a widening range of self-service options to improve the speed and convenience of their travels. In early March 2016 the airline achieve Fast Travel Platinum Status from the International Air Transport Association.[2]
IATA’s Senior Vice President for Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security, Nick Careen, recently highlighted the importance of airlines’ investments in self-service technology:
“According to industry surveys, over 50% of passengers want to speed up their air travel experience and around 75% of passengers worldwide want more self-service options. Ultimately, by providing more choice and more control for passengers, airlines can achieve lower costs and billions of dollars in annual savings for the industry.”
Dynamic Resource Allocation
“The Middle East represents another promising regional market for smart airports, where a number of airports are pursuing projects that target provision of seamless operations to passengers whereby smart technology adoption at airports continues to gain prominence.” – Global Industry Analysts: Smart Airports, A Global Strategic Business Report
The complex and often turbulent nature of airport operations means that delays and rerouting are frequent, with knock-on effects delays and inefficiencies affecting the less resilient airports. Dynamic resource allocation means that airports can utilise vacant check-in desks and even airport gates more effectively when they are not scheduled to be in use.
Smart technology platforms allow for common-use facilities in this manner. For example, Check-in kiosk software can be customised so that agents only need to touch a specific airline icon and the screen will reflect their own airline system. Similarly, gates signage and branding can be changed automatically to accommodate any particular airline needed to utilise it at any given time.
Sources:
http://www.thenational.ae/uae/new-biometrics-system-to-speed-up-travel-through-uae
http://aviationweek.com/information-management-solutions/airports-airport-tomorrow
http://www.strategyr.com/pressMCP-7079.asp
[1] The International, New biometrics system to speed up travel through UAE, 12/03/2015
[2] Future Travel Experience, Qatar Airways’ self-service efforts recognised with IATA Fast Travel Platinum Status, 03/03/2016
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