Face-to-Face – Ilya Gutlin, SITA
Travel Daily chats with Ilya Gutlin, President of Asia Pacific for airport technology company SITA…
Q) What technologies will have the biggest impact on the airport experience in the coming years?
In the short-term, the rise of mobile devices will have a big impact. The 2012 SITA Passenger Self-Service survey shows that over 70% of travellers are already carrying a smartphone when they travel, so technology providers are working on providing passengers with the most up-to-date information.
Self-service is also increasing. In airports, over 80% of transactions are simple – easily automated. But because more and more passengers check in outside of the airport, the biggest challenge for airport operators becomes how to monitor passenger flows. If you reduce check-in queues, will they build up in other areas? We’re currently using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to monitor queues at airports. Once operators get enough data, they can start to analyse and plan ahead, knowing where and when queues occur. I don’t think we’ll ever eliminate queuing completely, but we can use data and technology to minimise it.
Q) One issue holding back the automation of airports is baggage drops. Are these still a problem and what is the solution?
I wouldn’t say that self-service bag drops are a problem. The main issue however is that a bag drop station is still an investment for an airport, and IATA is still finalising its standards for common-use bag drops – those used by multiple airlines. In addition to these two points, an unassisted bag drop represents a process change for the airport and airlines at the airport. So there is still further analysis and proof of concept that needs to be made by a number of our clients before they move ahead with the investment. In an ideal world, an unassisted bag drop is the best solution. Brisbane airport is a great example; it has two bag drop stations, which process each bag in less than 25 seconds.
Q) Do you believe check-in desk staff will be phased out by the end of the decade? And what other areas of the airport experience can become fully automated?
To have a 100% automated check-in hall with no staff is unlikely. There will always be passengers in need of human assistance, whether it’s those flying for the first time or people with incorrectly issued tickets. But I believe we can reduce the number of staff in the check-in process.
At SITA we talk about “end-to-end self-service” – trying to standardise the way passengers go through airports, and reducing human inefficiencies. Right now we have self-service boarding gates in Vienna and several airports in Germany, although this is made easier by Europe’s Schengen agreement, where document checks are not required at the gate. Rolling out similar schemes in Asian countries would encounter greater challenges, and in addition to self-boarding, SITA is working with governments to introduce automated gates at borders using sophisticated biometrics.
Q) To what extent are airports in Asia Pacific leading the airport technology revolution?
I would say there is a bigger push towards new technologies in Asia than in, say, Europe. Passenger traffic at major airports in Asia is growing at 10-15% per year, so airports need to adopt new technologies to cope with this growth.
Q) Are there new airport solutions we can expect to see rolled-out in the coming years?
Yes, but much of it will go unnoticed to the passenger. We are about to launch a new system that allows airports to visualize and manage the baggage portfolio (incoming and outgoing baggage) and vastly reduce the number of bags that are delayed in transfer. This all goes on behind the scenes but it will contribute to a more pleasant and efficient travel experience for the passengers.
Near field communications (NFC) is another innovative solution that holds promise. It takes full advantage of the secure element on the SIM card and allows smartphones to communicate with each other using radio frequencies by either tapping or bringing them within a range of a few centimetres. NFC-enabled smartphones can hold secure information such as credit card data, or passenger data including boarding passes and identities. They can be used for simple and convenient contactless transactions such as payment or airline boarding. This technology makes the passengers’ journeys through the airport become much smoother as they use their NFC-enabled phone to simply “tap and check-in” or “tap and board” their flight. With major phone producers adding NFC-enabled devices to their ranges, it is set to become an important new way for passengers to use smartphones at the airport.
Comments are closed.