JOURNEY PAGE 9 AIR TRANSPORT THE INTERNET OF THINGS 2016/17 #SITAREVIEW BUSINESS AS USUAL IS NO LONGER AN OPTION INTELLIGENT AIRPORT DECISION-MAKING

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1 AIR TRANSPORT 2016/17 THE JOINED UP JOURNEY PAGE 9 THE INTERNET OF THINGS BUSINESS AS USUAL IS NO LONGER AN OPTION PAGE 6 DECISIONS, DECISIONS... INTELLIGENT AIRPORT DECISION-MAKING PAGE 14 #SITAREVIEW

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3 CONTENTS INTERVIEW P 24 COBUS MCQUIRK, SAA, ON DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES: THE ADVENT OF THE TOKEN P 33 THE PROMISE OF NEXT GENERATION SINGLE TOKEN TRAVEL TECHNOLOGIES Internet of Things. Orange s Jérôme Poulain, Intel s Charlie Sheridan 6 TRENDS Decisions, decisions intelligent airport decision-making 14 TRENDS Airport tech keeps rising Airport IT Trends Survey TRENDS Embrace the revolution. Justin Powell and Jim Robinson, Arup 19 TECHNOLOGIES Kiosks keep rising, as passengers want more control 22 TRENDS Bags on the move the latest and greatest in baggage 26 INNOVATIONS Back on the agenda RFID for baggage 31 INTERVIEW P 12 MIAMI AIRPORT'S MAURICE JENKINS ON DAY OF TRAVEL SERVICES TRENDS Authorize in advance border processes 35 TECHNOLOGIES Lifeblood of modern day travel low-cost connectivity 37 OPINION IoT connectivity solutions needed. Stuart Lodge, SIGFOX 38 OPINION Future of networks. Pierre-Louis Biaggi, Orange 39 INNOVATIONS Seize the potential of nose-to-tail aircraft connectivity 41 OPINION Proactive and creative digital airlines. Boeing s Dr Jens Schiefele 44 OPINION Inflight connectivity and personalization. Joe Leader, CEO, APEX 45 MEMBERS Innovation for the community: SITA programs 46 Air Transport IT Review Issue /2017 Air Transport IT Review online and breaking news: SITA Blyth Road, Hayes, Middlesex UB3 1HA, UK Telephone +44 (0) Enquiries to info@sita.aero Follow us on w w w.sita.aero/socialhub Publishers: Arthur Calderwood, Susan Brown Managing Editor: Terence Tucker Editorial: Gerald Oliver, Julius Baumann, Paul Brock, Michelle Moreland, Mary Rose Everan, Sara Jimenez Production Editor: Amarat Raval Online Production Editors: Marion Craen, Chris Bagley Information is subject to change without notice. All trademarks acknowledged. SITA 2016 Printed by Technique Print Group using their environmental print technology. Printed on Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC ) accredited paper stock. ISSUE 3: 2016/2017 3

4 NEWS WORLD S AIRPORTS PRIORITIZE SECURITY Airports are placing a greater emphasis on IT investments for passenger and airport security with 50% rating it a high priority, up from 37% last year. So says the recently launched 2016 Airport IT Trends Survey, by SITA and Airports Council International, 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. CHANGING WORLD While investment in passenger processing technology still ranks the number one priority for airports, it has dropped from 73% in 2015 to 59% this year as security rises in priority. The technology trends at airports reflect the changing world, says Matthys Serfontein, SITA Vice President, Airport Solutions. As airports focus on digital transformation, the 2016 survey says they re exploring areas such as wearables, biometrics, robotics and context-aware services. Airports are also shifting attentions towards technology to generate non-aeronautical revenue, as well as the provision of hybrid public Wi-Fi services. See Airport tech keeps rising, page 17. Find out more: INDUSTRY FACTS IN AN INSTANT GET YOUR MEDIA ON DEMAND Every year airlines load on to their aircraft more than 36,500 tons of newspapers and magazines as a service for passengers that s equivalent to the weight of 100 Airbus A380s. Now there's an alternative. SITA has introduced DigitalMedia as a response a self-service entertainment platform to deliver content to a smart device, enhancing the passenger experience before, during and after the flight. Available at five possible touchpoints on the move, kiosk, app, lounge and tablets it is provided through a partnership with Adaptive Channel, offering over 6,500 newspaper and magazine titles. Proof-of-concepts have been underway by SITA, SWISS and Geneva Airport, as well as London Heathrow. Having access to a range of media that they can continue to enjoy at the gate and inflight on their mobile device meets a genuine need for customers, says SWISS Marketing Distribution Manager Arnaud Delaloye. For full story: AIR TR ANSPORT IT TRENDS HUB Commended by the Marketing on Mobile Awards (MOMA ) Visit the Air Transport IT Trends Hub on SITA s website for the full range of air transport industry trends, charts, facts and figures from our 2016 surveys, and more. See the latest charts and videos for SITA s surveys and reports, including: Airline IT Trends Sur vey A ir por t IT Trends Sur vey Baggage Repor t Passenger IT Trends Sur vey You can freely download material for your own use. 4 FAST TRAVEL IN MANILA The Manila International Airport Authority has selected SITA technology to transform Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to be among the leading airports supporting IATA's Fast Travel program. The airport is the main international gateway to the Philippines with more than 37 million passengers and serves as a hub for the country s major carriers. The agreement includes the implementation of the most up-to-date airport commonuse technologies at Terminals 1 and 2 for fast check-in and bag drop, along with new bag tracking. In this first stage of NAIA s transformation, SITA will overhaul passenger processing systems in Terminal 1 and 2 with the next-generation technology SITA AirportConnect Open, a platform for common-use self-service kiosks, self-bag drop and self-boarding gates. AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

5 NEW ANALYSIS OF PASSENGER TRENDS BY REGION Passengers prefer technology to people and interact with technology in different ways. That s clear from the 2016 Passenger IT Trends Survey, by SITA and Air Transport World. But thanks to further analysis of the survey s results, we re now able to look at which passenger profiles are dominant in various regions of the world, as well as which technology passengers would use the most. REGIONAL DIFFERENCES Through several analyses including China, Europe, Russia, South Korea, UAE and the US the air transport industry can now gain insights into Passenger IT Trends on a country and regional basis. Download country/regional fact sheets at: DISCOVER YOUR TR AVELER PROFILE Are you a do-it-yourself tourist or someone who likes to travel in style? Do you plan carefully or leave things to chance? Answer a few questions in the Travel Technology Discovery Quiz to find out your profile, and share on a world map to see how you compare. Go to to define your passenger profile. ORLANDO REDEFINES THE PASSENGER EXPERIENCE Passengers at Orlando International Airport in the US are benefiting from a series of innovations introduced in recent months. First, they have been enjoying shorter wait times, with 53% fewer passengers spending more than 15 minutes in line. This is in large part the result of the introduction of sophisticated queue management technology. SITA QueueAnalyzer provides the airport with a real-time view of the TSA checkpoints, enabling rapid response to unexpected conditions. It also provides historical wait-time data to establish wait-time profiles for different times of the day, days of the week and seasons. At the same time, the airport recently unveiled a new standard in airport display with a video wall the length of five football fields to create a fun and interactive check-in experience for the 42 million passengers who travel to and from Orlando International Airport every year. SITA partnered with Synect to design and install the ultrahigh definition video wall, which fully integrates with airport operational systems. See also Decisions, decisions on page14. WEBINAR An on-demand is now available. Called Defining passengers, targeting technology, it covers key findings from the 2016 SITA Passenger IT Trends Survey, with extra analysis only available on the webinar. To register: STOP PRESS! SITA named Asia Pacific Airport IT Solutions Company of the Year by Frost and Sullivan. JetBlue chooses SITA to support hundreds of kiosks in 50+ locations. SITA completes ISO certification for information security at Changi Airport. MEA TARGETS FASTER CONNECTIVITY Middle East Airlines-Air Liban (MEA) has signed a new agreement with SITA to introduce new, faster connectivity across the airline s network. The agreement includes SITA Connect which provides the airline with unrivalled network coverage. This will ensure MEA maintains fast, effective links with its 26 outstations across the globe, providing a headquarters-like experience across its vast network. LONG PARTNERSHIP The contract marks a continuation of the strong relationship between the two organizations, which dates back more than 60 years. ISSUE 1: 3: JANUARY 2016/

6 THE MARCH OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS IT S HERE AND NOW BUSINESS AS USUAL IS NO LONGER AN OPTION, THANKS TO THE INTERNET OF THINGS. Talk to anyone in the tech industry about the Internet of Things (IoT) and inevitably words like potential or opportunities litter the conversation. As Jim Peters, SITA CTO notes, the Internet of Things sits on the Gartner Hype Cycle at the very top. So is IoT getting a bad rap as another flavor of the month story? Peters believes the perception comes down to the IoT being used as a general term for a collection of technologies and doesn t factor into mainstream business conversations. When the CIO has a budget meeting there s no IoT discussion, so to speak. The budget discussion is about the use cases, whether it s proximity services in an airport or real-time monitoring of aircraft parts. It means IoT doesn t get the credit for some of what it s already delivering. ALL AROUND US Jérôme Poulain, VP International Development at Orange Business Services, agrees. He s been working on large scale IoT initiatives for years including a number of Smart City projects in places like Marseilles and Doha. He says the IoT is already all around us, but is not perceived in that way. Today there are already many everyday objects participating in the Internet of Things. Even ones we don t even think about. The passport it has a chip. Also with shopping, there are tiny RFID tags in clothing that retailers use to manage their inventory and of course there is the king of these objects, the smartphone. It has also changed business models worldwide. The Uberization of our economy, as Poulain calls it. "Some companies not owning any assets are more valuable than ones owning millions. What we see with these businesses is that IoT technologies allows them to manage a value chain without the capex and they are very successful, he says. This is a wake-up call for us all. It means business as usual is not an option anymore." DRAMATIC EVOLUTION One company that s done more than most to drive the IoT is Intel. They ve pushed Moore s Law to where you can get minute computers and sensors onto tiny chips. Charlie Sheridan, Director of IoT Systems Research for Intel Labs Europe, agrees the IoT is here and now, but believes it s just at the start of a revolution. TODAY THERE ARE ALREADY MANY EVERYDAY OBJECTS PARTICIPATING IN THE INTERNET OF THINGS. EVEN ONES WE DON T EVEN THINK ABOUT. THE PASSPORT HAS A CHIP. ALSO, WITH SHOPPING, THERE ARE TINY RFID TAGS IN CLOTHING THAT RETAILERS USE TO MANAGE THEIR INVENTORY AND OF COURSE THERE IS THE KING OF THESE OBJECTS, THE SMARTPHONE. JÉRÔME POULAIN VP INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, ORANGE BUSINESS SERVICES 6 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

7 We're really already in that era of smart and connected everything, he says. And it's going to grow. I think over the next 10 years there s going to be a dramatic evolution of computing. We're going to take all the data that we're generating with our smart and connected devices and merge it with very, very intelligent machine learning and artificial intelligence, he predicts. Nevertheless, it s not going to be all plain sailing and both Sheridan and Poulain see challenges ahead. SECURITY Security is paramount, so we need to think about it upfront and really build it in from the beginning, says Sheridan. Poulain concurs. Cybersecurity is really key. When you interconnect objects using LoRa (the networking standard enabling the IoT) or using Wi-Fi or anything, you really have to make sure that the identity of the objects is secured, and the communication that you have with them is also encrypted, managed and secure, he says. INTEGRATION Another challenge comes in assembling the various pieces of technology into an IoT solution. The most important thing is the integration, says Poulain. At Orange, we have an approach we call Datavenue with the steps select, connect, manage, control. With proper integration using the proper devices, the proper connection, the proper platform for managing them, it can really bring lots of value. Businesses are often constrained by legacy technology and Sheridan sees this as an issue. How do you retrofit all of these smart and connected devices into your existing enterprise and operational systems? It's easy to do greenfield, but retrofits are challenging. If you can get it working, feeding that virtual cycle of pushing data into the cloud, there are some really interesting opportunities and benefits. STANDARDS A related issue is standards, which would help with interoperability between components. Standards are going to be absolutely critical and key to rapid deployment of IoT, says Sheridan. One of the things that Intel is doing is working with the Industrial Internet Consortia (IIC). It's got GE; it's got Siemens; all of the large players. Both from a computing technology side and also from an industry side, coming together to define standards. DATA VOLUMES There s also the huge volume of data to deal with. It s going to put unprecedented pressure on networks, says Sheridan. How do you actually manage that data? Where is the best place, the most optimized place, to do the data analytics? With IoT, a large percentage of the data, some 40%, will be processed much closer to the edge. So we're starting to see new paradigms in how we manage the data from edge analytics all the way through to the cloud, he continues. CONNECTIVITY Another question that needs answering is connectivity. How do we actually take all the different objects and get them on the grid? As Peters explains, If, as some estimates put it, we re going to have 50 billion connected sensors, you can t have 50 billion more cables going into the wall somewhere. ISSUE 3: 2016/2017 7

8 THE MARCH OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS THE INTERNET OF THINGS SITS ON THE GARTNER HYPE CYCLE AT THE VERY TOP. THE BUDGET DISCUSSION IS ABOUT THE USE CASES, WHETHER IT S PROXIMITY SERVICES IN AN AIRPORT OR REAL-TIME MONITORING OF AIRCRAFT PARTS. IT MEANS IOT DOESN T GET THE CREDIT FOR SOME OF WHAT IT S ALREADY DELIVERING. JIM PETERS CTO, SITA Fortunately, wireless options are in abundance. For close proximity there is Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the newer wireless protocol, Zigbee. For longer range connectivity, GSM is omnipresent, but its power and cost characteristics make it unattractive for many IoT deployments. LOW COST To counter this, new dedicated IoT networks are starting to evolve under the banner LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network). Two competing networks are SIGFOX and LoRa. See The lifeblood of modern day travel, page 37. The benefit of these networks is that they offer lower cost connectivity for objects that produce only small amounts of data and need long battery life. As Poulain explains, For example, LoRa is a radio connection technology that can work with a public or private base station over a few tens of meters right up to a few kilometers. It allows objects to work for say 10 years without changing the battery, because they just send a few data bits per day to the base station. So when you have your LoRa base station connected to your AirportHub for example, you would have the possibility to connect a lot of objects and they will last forever. However, as Poulain points out, with all the connectivity options there will be a tradeoff between data rate, range, power, and cost. You have to choose which technology matches what you want to do. If you want flexibility with the possibility of building your own private network and bi-directionality, LoRa is right. Or if you want a wider coverage that is operated one way, there is for example, SIGFOX. You also have the telecom operators with cellular GSM, he says. AFFORDABLE 5G On top of that, cellular networks will eventually offer the full range of IoT connection: LTE-M or NB-IOT on 4G networks and even GSM- IOT are all expected to become public before the end of Today cellular networks, which are available worldwide, remain relatively expensive. As the IoT world ramps up, this too will evolve and cost will converge at an affordable level. With 5G becoming common from 2020, IoT will be fully supported with wide coverage, volumes, as well as long battery life, says Poulain. Sheridan agrees. 5G technology will come. The driver for that is really going to be areas like autonomous systems, robotics, and potentially drone control. Autonomous systems and robotics are going to need much, much denser connectivity than available today. SIMPLIFYING IOT DEPLOYMENTS By Charlie Sheridan, Director of IoT Systems Research for Intel Labs Europe It can be incredibly complex to put together all the different components that make up a good IoT solution. So we decided there's a great opportunity to build a unified solution - an IoT platform. The Intel IoT Platform identifies the key components of an IoT solution, how they work together, and where essential capabilities such as security and analytics happen. In terms of real life industry examples, we have this platform deployed in our own facilities and factories looking at the assembly and equipment. The measured benefits are around US$9m per year. When I think about airline industry examples, you have what Boeing or Rolls Royce are already doing around the connected engines and their servicing models. See full online article at: THE FUTURE IS NOW What s clear is that overcoming the challenges is by no means easy, but the smart thinking seems to be don t hold back as there are already benefits to be had. As Sheridan advises, basically you've got to pick a problem and just go after it. There are many, many opportunities. Smart buildings, Smart homes, Smart grid; these are all areas that are going through transformation. The good news is there s a lot of expertise already out there, adds Poulain. SITA and Orange, with their transportation and industrial knowledge are a natural partnership for integrating IoT into their customers businesses. And is IoT still a flavor of the month story? Absolutely not, he says. The future is now and we are actually getting real savings from IoT projects, so the Internet of Things, it s real, it s here and it s happening. 8 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

9 DAY OF TRAVEL SERVICES THE JOINED UP JOURNEY PASSENGERS WANT RELIABLE, REAL-TIME INFORMATION TO GUIDE THEM THROUGH THEIR JOURNEYS. DAY OF TRAVEL SERVICES FROM SITA BRING JOINED UP THINKING TO THE TASK OF HELPING PASSENGERS THROUGH THE TRAVEL PROCESS. ISSUE 3: 2016/2017 9

10 DAY OF TRAVEL SERVICES NEARLY HALF OF AIRPORTS (48%) ARE IMPLEMENTING MAJOR PROXIMITY TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS, ACCORDING TO THE 2016 AIRPORT IT TRENDS SURVEY. IT S A CRITICAL STEP IN THE EVOLUTION TO THE INTERNET OF THINGS. Passengers, airports and airlines alike want to see a seamless journey to and through the airport. For passengers, it means being able to take control of journeys, easing anxiety. This explains why more than 90% want to be able to use their mobile phones to search for flights, plus receive flight updates and boarding passes, according to SITA s Passenger IT Trends Survey. For airports and airlines, the end game is continuous reductions and operational costs delivered by ceding real-time control to passengers. It s a virtuous circle. That s why 82% of airlines are investing in programs over the next couple of years to improve personalization, 96% are planning to provide flight status updates, 78% expect to assist self-bag drop, and about 50% plan to have roving agents for check-in, bag drop and boarding. SENSORS But none of that is helpful unless the way is clear from curb to airside, with passengers able to pass through the terminal without bottlenecks. To manage the flow through the terminals more efficiently, many airports are deploying sensor technologies, such as beacons, to gauge the movement of people at critical points in their journey to the gate (see Decisions, decisions page 14) as well as environmental monitoring. Nearly half of airports (48%) are implementing major programs over the next three years, according to the 2016 Airport IT Trends Survey, up from 30% in the 2015 survey. It s a critical step in the evolution to the Internet of Things. According to the survey, the most common place for sensors is at the security checkpoint, with 17% of airports having already deployed them and another 44% planning to by the end of Only 6% of airports have deployed sensor technology at check-in, but data from the survey indicates that check-in areas will see the largest number of sensor deployments over the next three years; 55% of airports plan to install them. The deployment of sensors to monitor the arrival processes, in areas such as baggage reclaim, is almost non-existent today and while just over one-third of airports expect to install them by the end of 2018, the majority are focusing investments on outbound passengers. DAY OF TRAVEL But while the use of sensor technologies will enable better queue and passenger movement management through retail areas and gates, airports are now starting to use beacons, in conjunction with mobile apps, to deliver real-time day of travel information services directly to passengers at the appropriate point in their journey. Flight status notifications are already standard airport app features, but in the next three years a range of new services will become a common part of the mobile experience. BEACON PIONEERS "SITA s beacon technology allows us to offer a highly tailored experience to our passengers including access to Fast Track Security for Airport Premier Gold members, allowing them to use their frequent flyer card automatically." So says Jean-Pierre Torres, Head of IT at Nice Côte d Azur Airport, which in 2016 launched its own multifunctional app to coincide with the opening of refurbished terminal areas. Many other airports and airlines are pioneering in the field of beacons, working with SITA. They include the international airports of Hong Kong and Miami, as well as American Airlines, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines. Go to 'Beacon pioneers light up the way' for more. See also: 'Our digital and physical worlds collide - beacons'. In particular, wayfinding within the airport will be introduced by 61% of airports by 2018, while notifications, such as security queue times or parking availability, are planned by 58% of airports. Many airports are also looking to monetize their mobile investments by developing revenue streams. For example, 57% of airports plan to offer retail promotions through their app, while 41% will introduce purchasing of airports services, such as car parking and lounge access. Over 40% of airports will support these efforts by making cashless payments available with their app. DATA VALUE Individually, these are all good developments that will help. But they re dependent on a joined up approach, in particular the marriage of two elements. First, airports are sitting on rich, valuable data. But airport data has typically tended to be fragmented, inaccurate or non-existent and distributed across multiple sources. Second, passengers increasingly expect access to data at any time, anywhere and across a range of devices. SITA s Day of Travel Services provides a set of capabilities, including the world s first location-aware airport app. Announced in 2015, Day of Travel Services is based around these critical elements: an Airport App; detailed, high-resolution digital maps; Bluetoothpowered beacons and a suite of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). 10 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

11 API FUTURE EASY AS 1,2,3 It s impossible to exaggerate the importance of APIs to the future development of technology for the air transport industry, says Ashish Kapoor, SITA s Senior Product Manager, Day of Travel Services. APIs provide the pathways and interfaces between multiple applications. And they are already helping improve our own industry s passenger and customer experience. People want to access data, but with the fragmentation of air transport industry data we need joined up thinking. Direct interfaces into airport and airline systems would be cumbersome, costly, slow and create a technical maelstrom. APIs give us a joined up approach, while making the process seamless, cost effective and simple. The range of Day of Travel Services powered by APIs includes airport navigation, real-time flight status, flight follower, and wait-time for areas like security and customs. SITA s APIs are available through aero enabling software developers to tap into a rich store of aviation data for use with potentially game-changing innovations across the industry, targeted at passenger experience, airport management, flight operations, or the connected aircraft. Their great advantage is that they are flexible and costeffective. They can be deployed quickly with no significant IT investment. And, in a technology world that continues to depend on immediacy, they accelerate the delivery of applications. It s as simple as: register, get access, use. The amount of data an airport generates is massive, concludes Kapoor, and using it productively, in a joined up way, can add significant value for passengers and operations. FOR MORE dayoftravel.sita.aero "It can also be used to commercial benefit, which is why we believe Day of Travel Services have such a key role to play in the evolution of industry services as a whole. ALL IN A DAY OF TRAVEL Day of Travel Services include a number of cloud-based APIs for developers. Among them are the following APIs: FlightFollower provides information on particular flights, such as departure and arrival times. Information can be searched by departure airport, arrival airport, airline and flight number. Beacon Services, from the design of a beacon deployment strategy, to implementation and support. Together with the Common Use Beacon Registry and geo-location, these services enable the triggering of information updates, and contextual promotions based on the passenger s location in the terminal building, taking personalization to the next level. Flight information, a source of information about flights, obtained directly from airport systems. It s generally more accurate and complete than information available from other sources, and includes information such as gate status for departing flights and bag reclaim numbers for arriving flights. Weather, a source of information about the weather at a particular airport location. It delivers a five or seven day forecast that can be integrated into a mobile, kiosk or web application to provide travelers with advance information on the weather they can expect at their destination. The results of the query are displayed as icons, together with the temperature either in degrees Centigrade or Fahrenheit. Airport maps, a centralized solution for creation, management, and delivery of detailed, high-fidelity airport maps, providing a source that can be used across passenger-facing digital touch points. These digital maps automatically generate the fastest route. Other APIs include BoardingPass enabling the creation of mobile boarding passes and giving airlines control over branding, configuration and information management as well as WaitTime, part of SITA s Day of Operations services and providing projected information about how long travelers will have to wait at airport queues. Data is obtained from queue monitoring systems deployed at airports, enabling the creation of compelling applications that enhance the passenger s day of travel experience. For more: ISSUE 2: 3: JUNE 2016/

12 THE MARCH OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS MIAMI DAY OF TRAVEL PIONEERS MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT S DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS, MAURICE JENKINS, SHARES SOME OF HIS THOUGHTS ON MOBILITY AND THE INTERNET OF THINGS. WITH MIAMI S APP MIA AIRPORT OFFICIAL WE ALREADY HAVE THE ABILITY TO LOOK AT FLIGHT INFORMATION, WAIT TIMES, YOUR BAG S JOURNEY, THE WEATHER AND BOARDING PASS INFORMATION. LOOK AT HOW WE RE USING APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACES AT MIAMI. FOR MORE Go to for a video of SITA Day of Travel Services at Miami International Airport. You re pioneering with mobility: can you give us a flavor of your approach? Our clients across the airport, and our passengers, are telling us they have a need and it s in the palm of their hands. We should remember that when we talk about mobility and the Internet of Things (IoT), it s all about being connected. Less than a decade ago, the average use per mobile device was 2.6 hours a day. We thought that was a lot. Today it s 5.6 hours a day. We look at our mobile devices about 50 times a day, even though sometimes there s nothing there. It s like opening your refrigerator: you know what s in there, but you just have to open it again to see what you ve missed. Our mobile strategy has to deliver on that eagerness for mobile connectivity, so we evaluate our approach all the time, because if passengers have a level of comfort in using their mobile devices to help move and act within the airport, it keeps them happy and reduces anxieties. But it also adds to a potential level of spend. There s a direct correlation between the two. That explains why 68% of airports will add airport services for purchase to their mobile app by How far can this go? With Miami s app MIA Airport Official we already have the ability to look at flight information, wait times, your bag s journey, the weather and boarding pass information. Look at how we re using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) at Miami. We decided to introduce maps into the airport. Mapping is hard in the airport environment, particularly if you want to add geolocation. We developed an indoor map, made it cloud-enabled and tied it to a mobile app and our website. It helps you travel through the airport step-bystep, to get from point A to B and on to C, with everything in between. 12 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

13 We also looked at geolocation services. As you arrive at the airport, before stepping into the airport premises, the app is triggered and sends a welcome, asking how can we help and providing options. If you open the app while at home or leaving your hotel, Google Maps displays. It ll show you the easiest way to get from where you are to the airport, avoiding traffic and any other snarl-ups. So the feeling of comfort starts right there. Do you see beacons as a tool for further development? Most certainly. There are many things we can do by using beacons. Proximity campaigns is one example, as a potential revenue earner. We can use beacons to encourage passengers to take advantage of special retail offers or any non-aeronautical purchases. But at Miami we also use beacons to produce heat maps of the airport. We spend US$29 million a year on air conditioning. If we can reduce our carbon footprint by 3%, 4%, 5%, we ll have achieved something. Beacons enable us to do a multitude of things simply by adding an app on top. It s important to establish governance on top of that: the platform and direction of choice, for instance. Otherwise, addressing multiple systems will demand additional resources and the cost factor increases. Might there be too many apps? I ve had discussions on this with carriers and with SITA. The point is that airports want passengers particularly regular flyers to feel comfortable with and loyal to their app. But of course we need to explore how we can leverage that across all platforms. There have been discussions about approaches that, if you re using say an airline s app as you fly into an airport, enable that airport s API to come up, or vice versa. Perhaps there could be a sharing of the revenue stream. So there s a lot of thought going into it, in particular through the work of ACI with its ACRIS initiative (see What is ACRIS? ). What other IoT use cases do you see? There are many. We know that airlines have been looking at using the IoT to check life jackets or to speed turnaround, for example. We plan to use the IoT and beacons to address all kinds of day-to-day operations such as keeping track of luggage carts or even checking if a restroom door needs some maintenance. Think also about the aircraft turnarounds. The more they make, the better for them and for the airport, so we ll do everything we can to help with turnaround. For that reason, we ve increased the level of wireless capability in the airport itself as well as in the airfield. We can t impact what airlines do in their own aircraft, but we can leverage the infrastructure to support that faster turnaround. We ve even looked at putting sensors in trash cans so we know when they need emptying. But we re also looking at how we can introduce an audio element to support passengers with restrictive mobility. So there s a lot to consider and evaluate. Can we grow it? Yes. Do we plan on growing it? The answer is definitely yes and we ll respond to the feedback we get from passengers and other users. SENSING THE THINGS AROUND US The Internet of Things is about physical things having the ability to talk to the Internet and say something about their status. That has colossal implications in the air transport industry. So says Jim Peters, SITA CTO, citing a piece of baggage as one example. If you say Well what does it want to talk about? What is its status? What does status mean for it? then you can actually start thinking about its attributes and what might be usefully monitored and communicated. BAGS AND GATES Its size and weight, for instance. Whether it's either moving or sitting still. Its origin and destination. Its owner and the party currently responsible for taking care of it. "All of this and more could be discerned by putting intelligent sensors on bags. Another example is, say, Gate 18 at the airport. Gate 18 is a thing and it's either in use or not. A flight is either arriving or departing. It has a flight number. There are passengers and staff either present or not. There may be passengers who are supposed to be on that flight who aren t present. The gate area has a temperature. It has some kind of health: either working or possibly broken. There's a density of passengers around it. There's a security status, either there's some kind of incident or not. There's a set of devices that are included around the gate. It has a location, it's got restrooms, ATM, shops, and so forth." SEISMIC CHANGES All of this information can be sensed and it all keeps changing. These simple examples underline exactly why, through sensing the things around us, the IoT is poised to bring seismic changes to the air transport industry." WHAT IS ACRIS? The definition and implementation of standardized business processes and interoperable IT solutions is a vital issue for the global aviation industry, especially as a way to increase revenues and reduce costs. This is not only valid within one stakeholder group but also between different groups such as airlines and airports. These cross-company processes require Business-to- Business (B2B) integration of the partners varying IT solutions, and the ACI Airport Community Recommended Information Services (ACRIS) Working Group is focused on providing these solutions. ACRIS is based on a Recommended Practice describing the benefits of a service-oriented approach. It is supported by further documents, the production of which is the responsibility of the ACRIS Working Group. Go to for more information. ISSUE 3: 2016/

14 DAY OF OPERATIONS BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE IS THE MUST HAVE TOOLSET TO BOOST AIRPORT DECISION-MAKING, EFFICIENCY AND SMOOTH PASSENGER-FOCUSED DELIVERY OF SERVICES. DECISIONS, DECISIONS 14 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

15 THE TECHNOLOGY HAS HELPED US TO BETTER INFORM CHECKPOINT RESOURCES AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT, REDUCING WAIT TIMES; AS WELL AS BETTER INFORM OUR PASSENGERS, REDUCING THE STRESS OF UNCERTAIN WAIT TIMES. JOHN NEWSOME IT DIRECTOR, GREATER ORLANDO AIRPORT AUTHORITY As passenger volumes increase faster than new airports or terminals can be built, greater demand is placed on airport management for more complex and timely decisions. Costs must be controlled as productivity must be improved and security enhanced all while satisfying increased expectations from passengers. Business Intelligence (BI) tools such as SITA s Day of Operations BI are becoming central to delivery. They enable extensive data sourcing, understanding of the relationships between data sets, and the analyzing and establishing of context before identifying areas for change and improvement, and providing the reasoning to underpin decisions. VALUE OF ANALYSIS Consider how analysis of passenger movement can help improve airport revenues: a busy airport in the US found that 94% of passengers passing through the retail and security areas of the main terminal went directly to the main security checkpoint without engaging with the retail area. It means that retail locations within the checkpoint area were fighting for just 6% of passenger traffic. However, deeper analysis of the figures showed that of the 6%, half went to the TSA-Pre registration area, and 30% went directly to the airport baggage office. So just 2% of passenger traffic visited the retail area. Result? The airport is redesigning its whole retail offer to maximize the retail and therefore, rental revenue opportunities. CDM BI depends on the collaboration and co-operation of all stakeholders within the airport, for their mutual benefit. It leverages the widest range of data sources including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, video/biometric, airport operational database, common-use systems, baggage systems and customer satisfaction monitoring systems. And it requires reporting that is wholly device agnostic accessible as needed, in real time, on smartphone, tablet or laptop. Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) will receive strong attention over the next three years, according to SITA s Airport IT Trends Survey. Its goal is to improve overall efficiency of operations by working with different stakeholders to integrate processes and systems to reduce delays and better manage airport resources. The priority of CDM programs is to keep to the flight schedule with on-time departures. Just over three-quarters (76%) of airports rate departure management as a high priority for their CDM program. Closely associated is aircraft turnaround and 53% of airports see this as a high priority function for CDM. A-CDM LEADERSHIP Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) is a joint program between ACI EUROPE, EUROCONTROL, IATA and CANSO that aims to improve the overall efficiency of airport operations by optimizing the use of resources and improving the predictability of events. Benefits include: For airport operators improved use of stands/gates, more stable traffic flows and reduced taxi times. For airlines enhanced awareness of the status and location of their aircraft, improved departure sequence information, reduced fuel burn due to runway queues. For ATC improved runway and capacity planning, enhanced flow and capacity management providing better air traffic flow management slot allocation. For ground handlers more accurate in-block times for arrivals, allowing more accurate planning and a more efficient use of resources. In 2015, SITA acquired delair Air Traffic Systems GmbH, a leading provider of A-CDM solutions, based in Braunschweig, Germany. The acquisition strengthened SITA s position as the leader in airport management systems by offering an A-CDM product that expands the range of functionalities, such as departure sequencing, de-icing and performance management. A-CDM A more enhanced version of CDM Airport-CDM (A-CDM) connects the airport into regional air traffic management, airline and other systems. Today, one-third of airports have some form of local CDM, but only just over one in ten airports have implemented it to include air traffic management (ATM) systems. Within three years 71% of airports will have localized CDM, according to the Airport IT Trends Survey, while 55% will have fully integrated it with ATM systems. Although BI has been around for a while, it was focused initially on issues such as revenue optimization, explains Ron Reed, Director, Business Intelligence Portfolio at SITA. ISSUE 3: 2016/

16 DAY OF OPERATIONS But the focus has been shifting as more BI tools are developed and as the pressure on airports increases. Airports want to use BI tools to monitor passenger flow, and deploy staff and assets more effectively, including the ability to exploit aircraft movement data. CDM and A-CDM are critical parts of that process. Through to 2018, 55% of airports plan BI initiatives using passenger flow data and 43% plan to monitor airport resources and assets, according to the Airport IT Trends Survey. This fits to where airports see the big wins from investing in BI. The survey reported that a majority (68%) of airports expect the most business value to come from more effective tracking of assets and staff, while 49% of airports see high value from using BI to increase dwell time to help maximize retail revenues. DAY OF OPERATIONS SITA s Day of Operations BI solution is made accessible via AirportPulse. As an intuitive, airport-wide, BI portal that delivers a dynamic central view of the complete airport ecosystem, AirportPulse enables airport management to keep its finger on the pulse of operations. It provides real-time visibility of performance against targets, allows airport staff to drill down to analyze and understand the underlying data, analyze the effect of changes and apply lessons learned to boost improvements. MONITOR, ANALYZE A growing roster of enhancements provides ample evidence of the power of data to drive improvements. They include the introduction of real-time flow prediction (FlowPredictor), which has helped a leading European 16 airport s terminal operations team gain an accurate view of predicted passenger flows. As a result, the airport experienced a 20% decrease in waiting time at process points and a 10% increase in passenger satisfaction. There s also the ability to analyze queues (QueueAnalyzer) for monitoring, measuring and projecting queue wait times at another airport, which resulted in a 3% increase in retail sales. Added to that is passenger flow monitoring (FlowAnalyzer). Knowing how people moved through the terminal enabled one airport to identify high traffic and dwell locations resulting in a 4% increase in advertising revenue. ORLANDO S BENEFIT Orlando International Airport provides another example of how BI linked with a tool such as SITA s QueueAnalyzer can help reduce traveler stress and deliver more accurate resource planning. Passengers have enjoyed shorter wait times in recent months with 53% fewer passengers spending more than 15 minutes in line. The system has resulted in the double benefit of reducing stress for travelers while enabling more accurate resource planning by the airport. John Newsome, IT Director for the Greater Orlando Airport Authority, says: This is a great example of how measuring performance improves performance. DAY OF OPERATIONS Available through a dynamic portal AirportPulse and giving a central view of the complete airport ecosystem, SITA's Day of Operations BI comprises: QueueAnalyzer: to monitor and display queue wait times. FlowAnalyzer: to understand where passengers wait, walk, dwell and engage. FlowPredictor: to forecast passenger flow 24 hours in advance. OperationsAnalyzer: to gain complete, end-to-end situational awareness for enhanced airport operations. DataExplorer: to rapidly explore, display and analyze data. CommonUseAnalyzer: to collect and analyze data from common-use platforms. The technology has helped us to better inform checkpoint resources and process management, reducing wait times; as well as better inform our passengers, reducing the stress of uncertain wait times. BIG DIFFERENCE In a nutshell," says Reed, SITA s Day of Operations BI helps an airport improve passenger flow through a better understanding of passenger behavior. By proactively addressing potential bottlenecks, it can minimize disruption and improve throughput. And it can save time and improve real-time decisionmaking through simplified access to relevant insights. FOR MORE dayofoperations.sita.aero The principles behind our BI solutions and the Day of Operations BI portal can be used for every aspect of airport operations. So we re working on analytics relating to environmental, vehicle flow, baggage, service quality and advanced flows of passengers, staff and mobile assets. It s a rich opportunity that promises to make a strong difference to the effectiveness of airport operations to the benefit of airports, airlines and, of course, passengers, he concludes. BY PROACTIVELY ADDRESSING POTENTIAL BOTTLENECKS, WE CAN MINIMIZE DISRUPTION AND IMPROVE THROUGHPUT. AND WE CAN SAVE TIME AND IMPROVE REAL-TIME DECISION-MAKING THROUGH SIMPLIFIED ACCESS TO RELEVANT INSIGHTS AND UNDERSTANDING. RON REED DIRECTOR, BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE PORTFOLIO, SITA AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

17 AIRPORT & AIRLINE IT TRENDS AIRPORT TECH KEEPS RISING TECH SAVVY PASSENGER? IT S TIME TO START GETTING EXCITED AS AIRPORTS PLAN TO MAKE RECORD INVESTMENTS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. With more travelers crowding into the world s airports on a daily basis, it s welcome news that airport operators are expecting to spend a record US$9 billion on IT investments this year, according to the 2016 Airport IT Trends Survey. A good chunk of that money is likely to go on improving the processing steps of the journey with 59% of airports rating passenger processing as a high priority for IT investment. So what changes can travelers look forward to? Mobile investment will see its fair share. Nearly every airport worldwide (90%) is undertaking either a major program or a trial project related to mobile apps for passengers over the next few years. SOPHISTICATED APPS SITA research expert, Christelle Laverriere believes it signals a new wave of more sophisticated airport apps for travelers. Airport mobile apps are going to act more like a personal concierge, placing useful and relevant information at your fingertips when you need it, while also keeping an eye on the clock to make sure you get to the right gate in good time, she says. GRIDS OF BEACONS To build in these contextaware capabilities, as they re known in tech circles, airport operators are planning to lay out grids of beacons and other ISSUE 3: 2016/2017 sensors around public spaces to act as a trigger on the mobile device of the passenger as they pass by. Over the next three years, the majority of airports will deploy sensors in security (66%), bag drop (61%), retail areas (60%), boarding (54%) and bag reclaim (52%). BAGGAGE Most people check-in luggage when they travel. In fact, SITA s Passenger IT Trends Survey indicates only one in five passengers travels light with just hand luggage. For the vast majority that don t, the ease and simplicity of passenger check-in is not always replicated for bags, often requiring a long wait at an airport counter. SPECIAL REPORT: NEW TECH CUTTING CONGESTION AT AIRPORTS IN CHINA With over 4 billion domestic trips in 2015, China's travel boom shows no signs of waning. To cope, Chinese airports are directing IT investment at technologies that can help alleviate passenger congestion. For example, self-service bag drop has grown rapidly over the last year with 84% of major Chinese airports having implemented the assisted version, up from 45% 12 months ago. And new infrastructure technologies, including sensors and cloud, are drawing strong interest from Chinese airports. See full online article at: 17

18 AIRPORT & AIRLINE IT TRENDS TIPPING POINT Enhancements are close at hand, and today the majority of airports worldwide offer kiosks for self-printing bag tags and either an assisted or unassisted bag drop to complete check-in. This marks a key milestone, according to Laverriere. Passengers with hold baggage have largely missed out on the advantages of self-service that travelers with only hand luggage have enjoyed for years. This is changing and we have reached an important tipping point with over 50% of airports able to let passengers print their own bag tags and deposit their bags at a bag drop. This should make self-service a reality for every passenger. LESS FREE WI-FI One unwelcome trend from a passenger perspective is that it s going to be harder to find free Wi-Fi at airports. Today, 74% of airports indicate they provide unlimited free Wi-Fi to passengers, while a further 23% opt to provide timelimited free Wi-Fi with paid access for additional usage. TODAY, 74% OF AIRPORTS INDICATE THEY PROVIDE UNLIMITED FREE WI-FI TO PASSENGERS, WHILE A FURTHER 23% OPT TO PROVIDE TIME-LIMITED FREE WI-FI WITH PAID ACCESS FOR ADDITIONAL USAGE. By 2019, the number of airports offering time-limited access to Wi-Fi will jump to 37% and those offering unlimited free Wi-Fi will fall to 54% of airports. As Laverriere points out, Airport operators are increasingly looking to build a business case around their Wi-Fi access and encourage passengers to spend more time in the retail outlets rather than visiting Facebook. However, it doesn t fit the mobile strategy of airports that are trying to boost revenue through their mobile apps. Providing free public Wi-Fi would encourage passengers to download the airport app and use and purchase airport-related services, such as duty free or lounge access in the event of a flight delay, she adds. The survey results support this view. It s clear that many airports see a big opportunity to grow their retail sales through their mobile app. By 2019, 84% of airports plan to enable purchasing of airport services this way, well up on the 68% reported in the 2015 survey. FUTURE FLYING Looking ahead, there are some exciting new technologies that could make flying in the future a more enjoyable experience. One interesting trend starting to take shape is the use of kiosks loaded with the latest movies, TV shows and magazines for passengers to download directly onto the mobile devices for viewing on the flight. Today, only 4% of airports are offering this, but a further 26% have plans to do so by Adoption of contactless mobile technology Near Field Communication (NFC), which could enable passengers to pass through checkpoints without the need to take the smartphone out of the pocket, remains subdued with only 10% of airports planning a serious deployment. However, a sizeable proportion (43%) of airports are assessing the technology with small scale evaluation projects. Another change on the horizon is to replace the paper-based tags used for most check-in baggage today with electronic ones that can be more easily tracked through the baggage system. Only 12% of airports are showing serious interest in this over the next few years, but a further 48% plan trials, which could eventually lead to widespread deployments. New technologies that perhaps your children are more likely to get to use on a regular basis include single biometric travel tokens, robots or virtual reality technology. The majority of airports expect to do no more than test these technologies over the next decade. INNOVATION IS IN THE AIR Airlines are poised to make more investment in innovation. Airline tech chiefs are eyeballing more futuristic IT to get a head start on the next generation of travelers. The 2016 Airline IT Trends Survey shows IT spend on innovation is on the rise at airlines, reaching 36% of total IT budgets. A large proportion is on software development. Nigel Pickford, SITA Director of Market Insight, believes this will translate into new services for passengers that will help bring back some of the excitement to air travel. EXPERIMENTAL Consumer mobile technologies have opened the door on a completely new way for businesses to interact with people, and not surprisingly airlines are accelerating their innovation efforts to tap into this potential. They are starting to experiment with technologies that could make a difference to travelers over the next five to ten years, and beyond, he says. SMART TECH Among emerging technologies receiving attention are smart glasses and smart watches with 39% of airlines planning trials over the next five years developing new services for passenger wearables. A similar number of airlines (40%) will undertake R&D projects or trials of wearables technology for staff. Airlines are also taking a first look at single token travel. According to the survey, just over half of airlines (54%) plan to evaluate the technology over the next ten years. Widespread use of smart electronic bag tags, which would allow passengers to track their check-in bags in the way they are able to track parcels, is still some way off, but 60% of airlines are laying the groundwork for their introduction with research projects or trials over the next three years. EVERYTHING CONNECTED As Pickford points out, there s a common theme driving much of airline innovation. A lot of the R&D being done by airlines whether that s technologies like smart tags, digital tokens, or wearables will all be part of a connected ecosystem of objects and people that will eventually contribute to making frictionless travel a reality for passengers, he explains. Go to for more. See full online article at: 18 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

19 AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE EMBRACE THE REVOLUTION AIRPORTS MUST EMBRACE THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION, DEPLOYING UNIVERSAL AND OPEN SOURCE TECHNOLOGY IN THE SAME WAY AS MANY OTHER INDUSTRIES ARE DOING TODAY. SO SAY ARUP S JUSTIN POWELL (ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL) AND JIM ROBINSON (AVIATION STRATEGIC ADVISOR). ISSUE 3: 2016/

20 AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IT IS THROUGH THE PILOT PROGRAM THAT AIRPORT MANAGEMENT CAN MANAGE RISK AND GAIN THE BEST UNDERSTANDING OF THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION BEFORE MAKING MAJOR INVESTMENTS INTO THE EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE. Airport infrastructure in many busy regions is capacity-challenged, causing delays, crowding and poor service levels. Physical solutions through airport development plans will not be able to cope with expected long-term growth. Our industry cannot simply build its way out and the situation will only worsen as planned capacity is outstripped by demand. The inability to develop new runway and airspace capacity in many major markets is evidence of this. WHERE WE STAND That s a major issue if we re to transform the end-to-end air travel experience. Today s experience from the alarm clock going off on the day of travel through to opening your bag at the final destination is often a series of bottlenecks, uncertainty and dead time between journey stages: Digital technology is being incrementally mobilized but is limited by regulation and the ability of parties to collaborate across travel networks. Trusted Traveler Programs facilitating security and immigration clearance such as the APEC Business Travel Card, Global Entry, TSA Pre and Viajero Confiable are welcome examples of regulatory innovation to minimize physical constraints, using digitally-based management systems. Airlines are increasingly connecting various functions through smartphone information applications and Smart Bag initiatives. Security and regulatory constraints and uncertainty, however, are likely to continue and must be managed. As we consider these initiatives, we should quantify how they could increase passenger flow rates to increase existing capacity and reduce future capital expenditure requirements. TARGETING BIG WINS So where are the big wins in end-to-end process improvement? Arup s interactive workshop process has revealed the following critical areas: Big data and digital tools. Personalized passenger data needs to be liberated from existing silos, empowering airports to provide more information and control. Smart Bag technology and new services. These can free the bag to move independently and reduce baggage handling system demands. Surviving security and customs/immigration. New security sensor technologies and risk-based screening require regulatory and public acceptance. Smart City and Ground Access. Personal data, remote check-in and new transportation services will revolutionize the total passenger experience. PILOT PROGRAMS: KEY SUCCESS FACTORS Airports should provide the necessary digital infrastructure and engage with stakeholders to map and improve traveler processes. Pilot Programs should provide the necessary authority to improve processes, while having the flexibility to reach for creative solutions. They should aim to quantify airport development benefits in terms of: Applicable percent of traveler market using the technology Processing time reductions Passenger level of service improvements Qualitative environmental improvements Passenger survey input. A business planning framework should also be established to quantify financial and economic benefits to the sponsoring airport and stakeholders for example, in terms of reduced capex, value of passenger time savings, and revenue generation opportunities. Probably the most important aspect of the Pilot Program is the need to formalize the use and business case, including issues such as developing the collaboration strategy for instance. Inflight services and processes. Limited access to digital travel processes inflight denies travelers the ability to prepare for subsequent phases. Immigration pre-clearance, ground transport prebooking and destination wayfinding could be offered inflight to minimize arrival processing times. SMART TRAVEL PILOTS This journey of innovation begins with the sensible first step: the Pilot Program. Pilot Programs allow the airport to engage directly with various technology companies. They typically start with mapping the existing situation to analyze travel experience drivers, identify the critical bottlenecks and areas of meaningful optimization. This mapping will help to reveal the digitized end-to-end process. Many airports have already recognized the need to actively engage in the digital revolution and have developed initiatives in this way. For example, GVK, owner and operator of Mumbai and Bangalore Airports, has established an innovation lab to explore opportunities in improving passenger levels of service while avoiding major capital expenditures. 20 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

21 Similar programs are underway at Schiphol, Heathrow, Dubai, Singapore and many other airports. Industry players such as ACI, IATA and SITA, among others, are actively engaged in supporting our industry to encourage advances in technology. PROOF OF CONCEPT The initial stages typically involve a Proof of Concept to establish the use case for example, indoor navigation wayfinding technology. A process of canvassing for technology solutions is then commenced, identifying potential candidate technology solutions that might hold promise. The next step can involve allowing various companies to deploy a Pilot Program which could involve a test case to shortlist the most likely successful solutions. See 'Pilot Programs: key success factors.' VALIDATION The Pilot Program permits a validation process for the airport and stakeholders to understand the overall benefits, implementation challenges and areas that require significant collaboration, with a key challenge being to understand which technology solutions hold real promise and which are vaporware. It is through the Pilot Program that airport management can manage risk and gain the best understanding of the potential benefits of an innovation solution before making major investments into the existing infrastructure. THE HOLY GRAIL OF THE TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION IN AIR TRAVEL WILL BE THE ADVENT OF THE TRULY CONNECTED TRAVEL EXPERIENCE WHERE THE CUSTOMER DRIVES THE EXPECTATIONS. A CALL FOR OPEN SOURCING The aviation sector is a massive global transportation infrastructure business that is nonetheless highly fragmented when compared to many other industries, such as information technology. To quote Professor Richard de Neufville from Airport Systems, Planning and Design Webinar Series, September 2013 : in some ways it s a mom and pop organization of a business. There are no big leaders with significant market share, who are organizing things, setting standards, who are investing in research on how to operate and build efficiently. A lot of relatively small actors worldwide. Even though airports represent substantial infrastructure at the scale of a small city, they are still largely isolated entities with no real aligned business strategies beyond those provided by trade organizations and regulators to ensure basic levels of safety and security. This decentralization is not conducive to innovation solutions as it forces each airport to be a one-off project. The industry must align to develop a digital revolution that engages high economies of scale. The travel industry is changing very fast, driven by growing consumer expectations. There is a huge risk that airports and airlines will be left behind if they continue down the path of individual and proprietary innovation solutions. HOLY GRAIL The holy grail of the technology revolution in air travel will be the advent of the truly connected travel experience where the customer drives the expectations. We need to welcome and embrace the digital revolution that is upon us. We need to develop solutions that are universal and based on open source technology similar to other industries engaged in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Or someone else will. FOR MORE ISSUE 3: 2016/

22 PASSENGER PROCESSING AND SECURITY AS PASSENGERS LOOK FOR MORE CONTROL OVER THEIR JOURNEYS, IT S TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY THAT THEY TURN. LITTLE WONDER WE RE SEEING THE RELENTLESS RISE OF THE KIOSK. KIOSKS KEEP RISING The kiosk remains one of the interfaces best placed to meet passenger demands, a fact that s ensured its continued rise in adoption and usage in airports across the globe. Such is the success of kiosks, that at the start of this year SITA celebrated the rollout of its 10,000th kiosk globally, in use by airline group Air France-KLM. But what started out as a quick and efficient platform to checkin for a flight, has evolved to include numerous functions across the airport journey. ALL-IN-ONE The sleek new kiosks rolled out by Air France-KLM across their main hubs and key outstations this year are a prime example of the power of the kiosk. They re packed with the latest features, allowing passengers to quickly and easily check in for flights, print bag tags or purchase additional services from the airline. They also include several new features, such as chip and pin and contactless payment devices, which allow passengers to pay for flights, upgrades, meals or other ancillary services. Prime example of kiosk power: sleek new kiosks rolled out by Air France-KLM across main hubs and key outstations According to Nicolas Nelson, VP Distributed Services IS Group, Air France-KLM Group: The New Generation Kiosk project is a strategic project for Air France-KLM, aimed at significantly improving the customer experience in 50 airports worldwide. With these 765 state-ofthe-art kiosks from SITA, we are providing a solution that will improve the self-service experience for check-in, self-tagging and baggage recovery. VERSATILE Meanwhile, SITA s VP Airport Portfolio, Andrew O Connor, says: Kiosks have proved to be an extremely versatile interface for a wide range of airport functions and services and increasingly available from a single kiosk. It s been shown time and again that packing all this functionality in a kiosk can speed up processes, increase passenger satisfaction and reduce the space needed to complete traditional travel steps. BAG DROP A key growth area for kiosks is self-service bag drop. Today 42% of airports have kiosks that can print bag tags to help passengers tag their own luggage before leaving them at drop-off points. We recognize that kiosks in the area of self-service baggage drop are a natural extension to the online or kiosk check-in and expect a sharp growth in this segment of the self-service market over the next few years, says O Connor. 22 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

23 IT S BEEN SHOWN TIME AND AGAIN THAT PACKING FUNCTIONALITY INTO A KIOSK CAN SPEED UP PROCESSES, INCREASE PASSENGER SATISFACTION AND REDUCE THE SPACE NEEDED TO COMPLETE TRADITIONAL TRAVEL STEPS. ANDREW O CONNOR VP AIRPORT PORTFOLIO, SITA At the end of 2015, SITA acquired Type 22, a market innovator that s driving the development of bag drop services, aimed at strengthening SITA s end-toend baggage portfolio, which includes both assisted and self-bag drop solutions. The new bag drop portfolio, including Scan&Fly and Drop&Fly, complements SITA s suite of intelligent airport IT solutions designed to improve the entire passenger process from curb to arrival hall. IMMIGRATION A critical development is at immigration, with kiosks increasingly used to bust queues and improve the traveler experience. Secure self-service immigration kiosks speed up border crossings for travelers presenting biometric travel documents. This frees up skilled resources to focus on the higher-risk minority. SITA's own portfolio offers automated border control kiosks and gates (ABCKiosks and ABCGates), which are in use in countries across all regions of the world. US GROWTH In recent years, the US in particular has been a major growth market where selfservice border control kiosks have become a regular feature at airports. The US-specific program to introduce passport control kiosks across the country is called Automated Passport Control (APC). Many of the country s airports have embraced SITA s self-service border solutions, as part of the program. That includes the installation of more than 300 APC kiosks at over 10 airports: JFK New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia and San Diego they re among a growing list of airports which all now have biometric immigration kiosks provided by SITA. 90 SECONDS Some 25% of the world s passengers feel negative emotions at the border control stage of the journey, according to SITA s IT Trends surveys a frustration that s likely to worsen as international travel continues to grow. But SITA s Sean Farrell, Portfolio Director for Government, says kiosks will make a big impact. Border control kiosks have already shown that processing times can be dramatically speeded up, with the average transaction time of just 90 seconds, he says. SIMPLE PROCESS SITA s self-service immigration kiosks use a simple process to speed up processing: the answering of a set of regulatory questions at the touch-screen, passport reading and validation, and identity verification. At the end of the self-service process, the kiosk issues a receipt to be presented to a border agency officer for final clearance through a fast-track, dedicated lane. SITA continues to work with governments around the world to ensure that our technology meets the requirements of each jurisdiction, says Farrell. To cite a US example again, last year the US Customs and Border Protection updated the requirements for APC kiosks at US borders to include facial recognition capability and, with the support of SITA, the first kiosks to meet this requirement were installed at Orlando Airport late last year. ENTERTAINMENT Looking beyond the travel steps, there s a clear opportunity for entertainment on the move. Mobile, alongside the kiosk, is fast emerging as one of the favored platforms in the airport. SITA is exploring ways of delivering content to passengers preparing for a long-haul flight, and short on entertainment, by creating DigitalMedia Kiosks. These would make it possible for travelers to purchase or rent films, TV programs or even magazines or newspapers on their personal devices just before they take off. What started out as a solution for check-in has morphed into a more robust interface where passengers can interact with the airline and airport at virtually every step of their journey. FOR MORE DIGITALMEDIA KIOSKS Kiosks have helped make airports more efficient and improved the experience for passengers. Together with mobile, kiosks are fast relegating more traditional, face-to-face services and helping to better serve passengers, says O Connor. SINGLE TOKEN Looking further into the future, new technologies continue to provide enhanced functionality within kiosks. The use of single biometric identification, for example, which can be integrated with airline and immigration databases, can be used in the kiosk to potentially combine several travel steps into a single interaction. See: The advent of the token', page 33. Having worked with airlines, airports and governments around the globe, SITA is in a unique position to identify the key pain points or areas of opportunity and bring all the parties together to solve them. This has allowed us to develop kiosk products, such as Smart Path TM, to ensure a seamless and quick solution, concludes O Connor. As many as 65% of passengers are using their mobile devices to access entertainment, according to the 2016 Passenger IT Trends Survey. SITA s new DigitalMedia Kiosks are beginning to play a part. These can make available films, TV programs, newspapers and more on personal devices just before take off. See 'Get your media on demand', page 4 ISSUE 3: 2016/

24 AIRLINE IT STRATEGY, SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS OUR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION COBUS MCQUIRK, SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS HoD IT STRATEGY & ARCHITECTURE, DISCUSSES DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AS A PART OF THE AIRLINE S IT STRATEGY. What does digital transformation mean for your airline? It means not just looking at the technology side to see what can be done better, but also at the bigger picture for South African Airways (SAA). I believe that s crucial when approaching the concept of digitally transforming an organization. From an organizational viewpoint, this must take into account the commercial structure, as well as the organization s size and reach. From a societal perspective, it must take into account the development status of the country in which the organization operates. For SAA, we operate in a country that s in-between developed and developing. Our commercial structure is made up of an integrated airline group (SAA flagship, Mango and SA Airlink), and a full flagship loyalty entity (SAA Voyager). It includes an MRO capability that services and maintains aircraft both in South Africa and across Africa, a cargo entity, and a beverage and meal entity (Airchefs). Our fleet across the group consists of approximately 90 aircraft, carrying between passengers, with vast global, regional and local network coverage. So this is a sophisticated group, with diverse entities. Our digital journey which we ve just started recognizes this and for our airline this has plenty of potential to make us stronger and more innovative than ever before. 24 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

25 What is its objective? The objective of our journey is to do what we do every day but to do it smarter and in conjunction with technology for our customers. Our digital transformation strategy has therefore been developed to achieve this objective. However, there are many aspects we need to constantly address to ensure that this transformation stays for good and doesn t just fizzle out. These are all part of the bigger digital transformation picture from full integration of applications for passengers, air and ground crew, to cloud adoption, the need for an always-on mobile workforce, and our move towards business intelligence and predictive data analytics. One of the most important aspects that all of this relies upon is connectivity. Without connectivity, any efforts to implement a digital strategy within an organization are doomed to failure. But we re making great headway and we re on-track for a fully digitally transformed SAA by the end of What steps are you taking? To answer this, I ll use two case studies one about EFB (electronic flight bag) and the other called Network Aware. We live in an age where paper-based administration is less and less the norm. It s being replaced with electronic alternatives. Not only does this trend safeguard against human error, it also enables the display of real-time information that s always up-to-date. Put that trend into an airline context and the savings of both time and money are massive. This is the main element of our EFB initiative taking a paperbased process and converting it into a digital one. But there s even more to it than that. To ensure its success requires that the EFB is properly integrated with all necessary backend operational systems. On a similar line of thought, many airline operations have been paper-based or desk and PC bound for years. But as time goes on, this is quickly becoming a digital and mobile process. Our Network Aware initiative is an application that enables an airline to identify, process, and comprehend all critical elements involved in airline operations at any given time from fleet performance to passenger connections, as well as landing sequences for departure and arrival. Put simply, it enables airlines to know exactly what s going on in regards to their flights at any given time. So without going into detail, it s clear from the outset the benefits that these two initiatives would have for airlines. Implementing them not only entails complying with regulatory requirements. It also means that those executing it must have a welldefined skillset to know what to do, and how to handle the technology as well as set up excellent support services. Any challenges encountered? With any change, there will always be challenges. For us, our main one was connectivity. With technological infrastructure not being as developed in Africa as it is in many other parts of the world, some offices are currently served by 64K lines a bit of a struggle when it comes to wanting to digitize aspects but one that we have learnt to work around. The implementation of EFB and Network Aware also brought with them some of their own specific challenges, and several lessons have been learned. For EFB, these were in the form of hesitancy to adopt this technology by the air and ground crew who would be using it, a slight lack in the seamless integration with the numerous service providers that made EFB possible, and the need to improve the skillset of our staff. For Network Aware, there was also resistance from those who d be using it on a daily basis, as well a slightly separate relationship between the business as a whole and its IT function, which we have resolved. What would you advise to others on this journey? First, the one thing to keep in mind at all times is that it s not all about technology. Technology is one of the enablers but there are many other enablers that all add to the proper implementation and overall success. For instance, properly trained staff is a priority. You can have all the technology in the world but without the skillsets required to work with this technology, you d be wasting both time and money. Also, training staff will help them more easily accept this new technology rather than expecting them to learn along the way. Second, as I ve mentioned, the relationship between business and IT in an organization is exceptionally key. This is because being digitally wired means needing 24/7/365 ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS IS CONNECTIVITY. WITHOUT CONNECTIVITY, ANY EFFORTS TO IMPLEMENT A DIGITAL STRATEGY WITHIN AN ORGANIZATION ARE DOOMED TO FAILURE. A BRIGHT FUTURE? AFRICAN AVIATION See SITA s White Paper A bright future: Africa, air transport, technology and empowerment for women. support. We re heading into a time where being always-on is becoming an expectation and this cannot be achieved without having this support. Third, getting buy-in from the top of an organization is imperative and your efforts will be in vain if this is not achieved beforehand. The fourth factor, is that with any digital roadmap varying skills are needed, so when embarking on a digital journey don t expect everything to stay the same or only change slightly. From experience, I can tell you that this is not the case and you need to be prepared for change. With new skills come new processes both work hand-in-hand. And finally, we have connectivity. As I ve said, connectivity plays a vital role in the proper and successful implementation of any digital transformation strategy. Without it, it s just not possible. We need to be open to the potential that the digital future holds for us. Whether we re prepared for it or not, it s already changing the way we live and go about our normal day-to-day lives. As airlines, our digital roadmaps need to effectively address this inevitable evolution. ISSUE 1: 2: 3: JUNE 2016/

26 BAGGAGE MANAGEMENT BAGGAGE TECHNOLOGY IS ADVANCING FAST, CUTTING THE INCIDENCE OF MISHANDLED BAGGAGE AND MAKING LIFE EASIER FOR PASSENGERS CHECKING IN THEIR BAGS. BAGS ON THE MOVE 26 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

27 THE CHALLENGE IS TO ASK OURSELVES WHAT DO WE NEED? WHAT SHOULD PROCESSES LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE? WHAT DO WE NEED TO CHANGE IN THE PROCESS AND HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY HELP US? DR BJÖRN BECKER DIRECTOR PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, AIRPORT & PASSENGER SERVICES, LUFTHANSA The air transport industry has saved over US$22bn in the past nine years, thanks to improvements in baggage handling and a big reduction in lost or mishandled bags. The number of mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers has fallen by two-thirds, from to just 6.5 the lowest mishandling rate since SITA began reporting baggage handling trends in In the meantime, the actual number of mishandled bags has dropped significantly from around 46.8m in 2007 to 22.75m in But still much remains to be done if the US$2.3bn being spent each year on resolving mishandled bags is to be reduced even further. HITTING THE SPOT The good news is that there s no let up in the pace of change. Improving baggage handling will deliver improvements for passengers along with cost savings, comments Peter Drummond, Head of the Baggage Portfolio (acting) at SITA. The technology is available to support increased selfservice, tracking and improved tracing and SITA is working to deliver efficiencies. BAGJOURNEY TRACKING BAGS FROM CHECK-IN TO DELIVERY SITA s BagJourney provides tracking information, following the bag from check-in to final delivery, if necessary through multiple airports and multiple airlines. With 97% of passengers now carrying a smart mobile device while traveling, it means that airlines, airports and passengers can share the same information, tracking data in real time. BagJourney works by using the data provided in SITA s own BagMessage service and delivered via an Application Programming Interface (API). It s also being integrated with WorldTracer. MORE TOUCHPOINTS Launch customer Etihad. Senior Technology Manager Abe Dev said: With BagJourney we can now track a bag from the start of its journey to its last confirmed location. The more touchpoints we can bring into use, the better the service so we re looking to spread this to outstations and baggage teams in offices worldwide, and to use the data to enhance our analytics and reporting tools. SPECIAL OFFER FOR SITA MEMBERS SITA is now providing a special BagJourney offer to all members. See full online article at: RESOLUTION 753 Critically, airlines are also readying themselves for implementation of IATA s Resolution 753 in June 2018, adds Drummond. Improved visibility of each bag's journey will be achieved by the implementation of better baggage tracking systems which will allow operational and performance improvements. Some airlines will allow their passengers to track their bag, just like a parcel, allowing them to take fast action if flights are disrupted and their bags are delayed. BAG DROP BREAKTHROUGH A key baggage trend is the introduction of self-service bag drop services at airports. While only 20% of passengers questioned used a staffed or fully automatic bag drop in 2015 (as opposed to an airline check-in counter), when asked whether they would expect to be using either a dedicated staffed station or full selfservice bag drop in 2016, the number had increased to more than 30%. The world is seeing increasing adoption, such as unassisted bag drop processes like those in Brisbane, Melbourne and Singapore Changi airports, implemented by SITA. Melbourne Airport s work with SITA has involved self-service units so passengers can tag and drop bags without the need for a staff member, in a process that takes passengers an average of 30 seconds. DROP&FLY With the acquisition of Type22 at the end of 2015, SITA has taken a major step forward in the area of bag drop, according to Rico Barandun, SITA's Portfolio Director, Self-Service, Airports. The Dutch company s self-bag drop portfolio includes Scan&Fly and Drop&Fly, complementing SITA s existing end-to-end self-service solutions. Bringing Type22 s products into SITA s portfolio makes us leaders in self-service bag drop integrated with common-use systems. As we see self-bag drop evolution, it allows us to offer solutions that are perfect both for new airport terminals as well as existing desk environments, adds Barandun. ROBOT: LEO Other exciting advances are afoot, including the successful trial with Geneva Airport of a baggage robot named Leo, developed by SITA, for use at Terminal 1. This fully autonomous, selfpropelling baggage robot has the capacity to check in, print bag tags and transport up to two suitcases with a maximum weight of 32kg. ISSUE 3: 2016/

28 BAGGAGE MANAGEMENT TRACKING IS A VERY IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF BAGGAGE PROCESSING. IN THE WORK WE DO, WE VE SEEN REDUCTIONS IN MISHANDLING OF 30-35% WHEN AN AIRLINE IS ABLE TO TRACK BAGS FROM END TO END. ANDREW PRICE HEAD OF AIRPORT OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT, IATA BAG TAG FOOTHOLD As such innovations imply, over the next few years the focus for airlines and airports is on expanding the range of baggage self-service options. As the facility for passengers to print their own bag tags at a kiosk becomes the norm over the next three years, airlines are starting to turn their attention to alternative options for passengers to take control of their bag tags. The past year has seen some progress on permanent electronic tags and airlines trialing, or soft-launching, home-printed bag tags. Electronic bag-tags look likely to gain a foothold in 2017, following on from IATA and Airlines for America progress on coordinated standards relating to electronic tags. HOME PRINTED While electronic tags may appear to have greatest appeal for a niche group of frequent flyers, the community is also working towards a simple mass market solution home-printed bag tags. In the summer of 2015, Swiss Airlines launched home bag tag printing for any of its flights departing from Geneva and Zurich Airports. Registered and tagged baggage can be handed in, either at the self-service bag drop machine or at any staffed bag drop desk. The airline also offers this facility for selected inbound flights from stations outside the European Union to these airports. Outside Europe, more airlines have joined the ranks of those offering this service. AirAsia launched Home Tag last year at Johor Bahru s Senai International Airport in Malaysia for flights to Kuching and Kuala Lumpur. The low cost carrier has since been working to make Home Tag available across its regional network. FUTURE-PROOF As self-service advances in the baggage arena, airlines are keen to future-proof their selfservice investments to take advantage of new baggage processes at the airport. An example is Air France- KLM s deployment of selfservice kiosks at its hubs in Amsterdam and Paris during 2016, which will ultimately be available across the airline group s network. To support the move to self-bag-tagging, the kiosks are equipped with extra storage for tags as well as audio and camera features for remote support from airline staff. The kiosks will also accommodate future services such as check-in and payment using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Nicolas Nelson, VP Distributed Services IS Group, Air France- KLM Group, says that: The New Generation Kiosk project is a strategic project for Air France-KLM, aimed at significantly improving the self-service experience in 50 airports worldwide. We are providing a solution that will improve the selfservice experience for check-in, self-tagging and baggage recovery. The initial feedback from our customers and station managers is very positive, with reports of increased availability, better user interface and improved self-service use ratios. GET IT RIGHT The accelerating move to such self-service baggage options needs to be managed with caution, however, according to Dr Björn Becker, Lufthansa s Director Product Management, Airport & Passenger Services. The challenge is to ask ourselves what do we need? What should processes look like in the future? What do we need to change in the process and how can technology help us? THE CONNECTED BAG Andrew Price, Head of Airport Operations Management, IATA Airlines tell us that the cost of handling a bag correctly is about US$10, while the cost of mishandling a bag is about US$100. That s a huge penalty cost for a simple error. We want to help control those costs, which is why we have a baggage program called End-to-End Baggage Capability, or ebc. It aims to introduce five common capabilities: Identification, Tracking, XML, Data sharing and Process automation. Resolution 753 requires that airlines record changes in custody between parties involved in handling a bag. It requires tracking at three points: at the arrivals reclaim (so you know when the bag has been delivered), at the transfer injects (very important because the first place that a bag goes to when it's being transferred is into the transfer system), and on aircraft load. A fourth point of record being proposed is when the passenger gives the bag to the airline. And we've also been asked to make this full machine-to-machine communication only. IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE An implementation guide is being made available via the IATA website. Tracking is a very important element of baggage processing. In the work we do, we ve seen reductions in mishandling of 30-35% when an airline is able to track bags from end to end. Having that visibility is very important as is the correct data behind a bag. See full online article at: 28 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

29 BAGS ON THE MOVE KEY STATISTICS 3.5BN passengers enplaned 6.5 mishandled bags per thousand passengers globally 2.02 mishandled bags per thousand passengers in Asia Pacific 50.7% cut in total mishandled bags since 2007 US$22.4BN global savings since % mishandling costs as a percentage of average operating profit per passenger (US$ 15.5) 8.43M bags delayed during transfer Source: Baggage Report 2016 My advice it is better not to provide self-service at all, than to provide it just for the sake of it and see passengers fail. The success of self-service is not about technology, but about airports and airlines making sure that the process is right and passengers get and identify the benefit. If with self-service bag drop you spend the same half hour in the queue that you did with agent check-in before, people will ask what s the benefit?" BAGGAGE RECOVERY Baggage recovery or tracing technology is also being introduced following collaboration between SITA and German airline group Lufthansa on SITA s WorldTracer solution. The new system gives Lufthansa agents access to a user-friendly desktop interface that makes it easy to record delayed baggage and trace missing bags. The interface allows ground handlers, airport operators and airlines to access WorldTracer s global baggage data while integrating it with their own reservation or operational systems, providing a rich data set that helps quickly trace a missing bag. This new, user-friendly version of WorldTracer makes it possible for agents to quickly trace a bag and return it to its owner, says Guenter Friedrich, VP Commercial & Passenger, at Lufthansa. This will have a powerful impact on customer satisfaction. The new software is being rolled out to all Lufthansa agents during 2016 and will be made available to the broader air transport community. BAGGAGE MESSAGING HAS SUPPORTED THE MOVEMENT OF BAGS THROUGH AIRPORTS SINCE IT WAS DEVELOPED IN AS WITH ANY STANDARD, THE DEVELOPMENTS OVER MANY YEARS HAVE LED TO AN INCREASING NUMBER OF VERSIONS OF MESSAGES AND SETTINGS TO FACILITATE THE EVER CHANGING PROCESSES AND DRIVE TOWARDS LOWER MISHANDLING. HOUMAN GOUDARZI PROJECT MANAGER, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION, IATA ISSUE 3: 2016/

30 BAGGAGE MANAGEMENT NEW BAG MESSAGING STANDARD Houman Goudarzi, Project Manager, Technology and Innovation, IATA Every day, airlines and airports exchange millions of messages on the location of baggage. SITA s own solution, BagMessage, provides a global, fully managed and secure message distribution service to some 220 airports and more than 400 airlines. But the complexity of messaging has grown, with new demands made of the messaging components. INCREASING SUCCESS Houman Goudarzi, Project Manager, Technology and Innovation at IATA is developing an XML schema for baggage messaging, aimed at increasing the rates of messaging success. SITA is closely involved in the initiative, alongside a number of major airlines and airports. Baggage messaging has supported the movement of bags through airports since it was developed in 1985, explains Goudarzi. As with any standard, the developments over many years have led to an increasing number of versions of messages and settings to facilitate the ever changing processes and drive towards lower mishandling. CHALLENGE To make it more challenging, there are a diminishing number of experts in the field to support the existing messaging infrastructure. To overcome this and other issues, a new messaging standard is being developed, based on established best practices. This will allow future developments at a reasonable cost, using technology that is almost universally adopted in other industries. PILOT PROJECT The industry partners, including airlines, airports and IT providers have joined forces and are currently developing the next generation standard. A sophisticated pilot project, leveraging a cross-standard data modeling approach, and open standards for data transport, is in development to be rolled out at the end of BAG TRACKING Bag tracking is in the spotlight too, and will continue to be so over the coming years as airlines work to ensure they can track each bag throughout its entire journey in readiness for the implementation of IATA s Resolution 753. This will require them, by June 2018, to be able to track a bag onto the aircraft, into arrivals or transfer areas and share this tracking information with the next handling agent (airline, ground handler or airport) in the journey. As a result, there will be much closer monitoring of inbound (arrival/transfer) bags; and a major focus on exchanging bag information, not just among industry stakeholders but also to passengers, which will go some way to relieving the stress many passengers feel while waiting for their luggage at the bag carousel. For Pablo Navarrete, Senior Airport Director, LATAM Airlines Group, the introduction of journey tracking is welcome. Our vision is to closely monitor and track each phase of the baggage handling process, from beginning to end. For passengers, it is a given that we will deliver their baggage on time at their destination, he says. With a growing network of airports across multiple countries, the ability to access real-time data on such a vital element of the travel experience gives us peace of mind that we will always have full visibility of our passengers baggage and are able to act proactively before a bag is mishandled. Using the BagManager technology, we can provide passengers with realtime information, which is especially important if we need to alert them about any type of service disruption and proactively propose alternative solutions. PRESSURE As well as IATA driving change, there are other pressures on the air transport community to improve baggage performance. In the US, the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) bill to re-authorize the funding of the Federal Aviation Administration also includes a proposal that would allow passengers on domestic flights to recoup their checked baggage fees. That would be the case if the airline does not deliver their luggage within 24 hours from the time of the flight s arrival at the destination where FULL ARTICLE ONLINE SITA BAGGAGE SURVEY WEBINAR they were due to retrieve their checked baggage. See The connected bag by Andrew Price, IATA. Thanks to innovations in technology and a fresh determination to deal with an age-old problem, the prospect of the number of mishandled bags reducing radically below the 20 million plus mark is tantalizing not least because of the opportunity to further improve the passenger experience, and book more millions of dollars of savings. Now available on demand, Connected bags at every step. Go to Webinars at ATWOnline 30 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

31 BAGGAGE MANAGEMENT AIRLINES AND AIRPORTS AROUND THE WORLD ARE TAKING A FRESH LOOK AT RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID) RFID IS BACK ON THE AGENDA ISSUE 3: 2016/

32 BAGGAGE MANAGEMENT The business case is compelling: the rollout of RFID, which can accurately track passengers baggage in realtime across key points in the journey, holds the potential to save the air transport industry more than US$3 billion over the next seven years to % LESS LOSS Research by SITA and IATA reveals that the highly accurate tracking rates of RFID technology could reduce the number of mishandled bags by up to 25% over the next seven years. That s good news for passengers and the industry. The success of tracking bags lies in deploying the right technology and infrastructure, which need to be robust, affordable and accurate, says Peter Drummond, Head of Baggage at SITA. RFID can represent a great opportunity to meet these expectations by improving the performance of bag handling at the stages of the bag journey. GOING GLOBAL Airlines globally have begun to rollout out RFID tracking. Prominent among them is Delta Air Lines which has begun to rollout RFID across 344 stations to manage more than 120-million bags every year. In particular, RFID will address mishandling during transfer from one flight to another, one of the key areas identified by SITA and IATA where the technology could help improve baggage handling rates. RFID technology will ensure that airports, airlines and ground handlers are able to keep track of bags at every step of the journey ensuring the right bag is loaded onto the correct flight. RFID OR BARCODES? Introducing RFID has a distinct advantage over barcodes, in that it allows information to be read outside of the baggage system, and ground handlers can be notified and 32 take proactive action to put bags back on course for their intended flights, says Drummond. This is a particular advantage for bags that are being transferred from one flight to another, an area where mishandling remains an issue. RESOLUTION 753 The technology also supports IATA s Resolution 753 that requires airlines by 2018 to keep track of every item of baggage from start to finish. The deployment of RFID would build on the already significant savings delivered by the smart use of technology for baggage management. According to the SITA Baggage Report 2016, technology has helped reduce the number of mishandled bags by 50% from a record 46.9 million mishandled bags in 2007, saving the industry US$ 22.4 billion. This improvement comes despite a sharp rise in passenger numbers over the same period. REVOLUTION The airline industry is at the brink of a revolution in baggage tracking. Deploying RFID globally will increase accuracy and reduce mishandling rates, says Jim Peters, Chief Technology Officer at SITA. This is a win-win situation passengers will be happier, operations will run smoother and airlines will save billions of dollars. The industry first started looking at the viability of RFID almost a decade ago but the cost was prohibitive. However, the technology has now advanced substantially helping bring the cost to a level that has many airlines interested. BUSINESS CASE The SITA/IATA business case shows that the improvements in handling rates do not come at a great cost. RFID capabilities can be deployed for as little THE SUCCESS OF TRACKING BAGS LIES IN THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE. RFID REPRESENTS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF BAG HANDLING. PETER DRUMMOND HEAD OF BAGGAGE AT SITA as US$0.1 per passenger on average while generating expected savings of more than US$0.2 per passenger. With some big airlines and airports already introducing RFID technology, combined with the fact that it is compatible with existing barcode technology, adoption of RFID across all airports could provide a positive return for airlines, both in cost savings and passenger satisfaction. REVISITING RFID Over the past few years we have seen more airlines introduce and reap the benefits of RFID technology through better oversight of their baggage operations," says Andrew Price, Head of Airport Operations Management at IATA. FOR MORE For more about the RFID benefits: The advances in the technology and the immense benefits it brings to the airline industry has prompted IATA to revisit and fully explore the benefits of RFID today. SITA s and IATA's assumptions are based on RFID being deployed in 722 airports (representing 95% of passenger numbers globally) in 2016 through 2021.The figures for 2016 take into account the RFID infrastructure already deployed or about to be deployed at multiple induction points on the baggage journey. In the coming months SITA will further explore the benefits of RFID, working with various partners to trial RFID technologies in several locations around the world. AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

33 IDENTITY MANAGEMENT FROM THE COFFEE MACHINES TO THE KEYNOTES OF THE AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY, THERE S A LOT OF TALK ABOUT SINGLE TOKEN TRAVEL. THE ADVENT OF THE TOKEN Ever since IATA introduced its vision in 2014 of a transformed door-todoor experience allowing passengers to walk through the airport without breaking stride, the air travel industry has looked eagerly towards biometric and more recently blockchain technologies to provide answers. With airport trials underway, SITA is making headway in realizing such a passenger experience, says Renaud Irminger, Director of SITA Lab. SITA s Smart Path solution captures a passenger s biometric details with a facial scan during an enrollment process at a kiosk or bag drop, whichever is the first touchpoint in the journey. Once checked against the passenger s travel documents, a secure single token is created and stored in a secure biometric database. It s then used at every interaction through the airport, for the duration of the passenger s journey, after which the biometric is deleted. Whether it s at self-bag drop, the security checkpoint, duty free shopping, border control or during aircraft boarding the passenger is identified thanks to facial recognition, eliminating the need to showa passport or boarding pass, speeding up passenger flow. See A walkthrough experience. This approach is a simple, straightforward solution which can be replicated for every flight journey and every airport on that journey. MOBILE TOKEN Today, further work is underway by SITA Lab to create a reusable mobile token that can be stored securely on the passenger s mobile device instead of in an airport database and then used in every airport. This would leave passengers in control of their data. Personally, as a frequent traveler I want to be able to walk into any airport worldwide, go through security and immigration, access the lounge and board my plane just by having my face recognized, says Irminger. This is why we are investigating the development of a re-usable token. There are extensive benefits in terms of security and convenience of the current local and one-time single token, but re-usability of the token in the future would extend these benefits even further. The design of a global travel token would be such that the passenger only has to enroll once with the service to have their biometric, biographic and itinerary data captured and a token created. With a certified digital identity stored securely on their mobile device, the traveler would have the option to simply re-use this identity for subsequent journeys. PAVING THE WAY This would pave the way for newer phases of the project that will allow the token to be recognized and used across many airports and ultimately across borders. Based on SITA s trials of Smart Path single token travel in several airports, we re now able to look into this next generation of token, says Irminger. A first step is to consider how to create a single token on a mobile phone and how to use blockchain technology to make this token securely available in multiple airports and for various stakeholders across the journey. For SITA Lab, that remains work on the cards, but once done then Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Software Development Kits (SDKs) will be made available on Developer.aero. ISSUE 3: 2016/

34 INDENTITY MANAGEMENT These will manage all functionality regarding the registration of the user identity, storage and encryption of biometric data. Eventually it will include the interaction between the mobile device and airport equipment (kiosk, gate and security, for instance) as the concept of the token is accepted globally. RE-USE Re-use or re-enrollment is the process where passengers would simply click on their mobile device to share their biometrics with the global travel token service, before visiting an airport for a subsequent flight and without needing to have it captured again at a kiosk. This can be performed at any stage of the passenger journey, whether it is booking a flight, checking in or when in transit. BLOCKCHAIN Importantly, blockchain technology provides a distributed ledger of tamperproof transactions, enabling multi-stakeholders to access information but maintain traveler data privacy. Working with Shocard, a blockchain start-up, we ve created a world premier prototype of this using blockchain, says Irminger. Blockchain technology offers strong privacy and security while making verification available to multiple stakeholders, which is why it's very much on the agenda of the finance industry of course. For a global single travel token capability, records of transactions in relation to the capture, encryption and storage of biometric data for the passenger and all gate and border transactions would be stored on the blockchain, allowing independent verification and further guaranteeing data integrity without compromising data privacy. This creates an authenticated audit-trail of transactions. INNOVATION PROGRAM This research by SITA Lab is conducted as part of the Identity Management Community Innovation Program. SITA Lab has formed a team of six architects and developers, working under Program Manager Sherry Stein. We have a total of nine research projects under the program, she says, including re-usable travel token which is the most challenging but also the most impactful. END-TO-END The single token or 'One Identity' solution was outlined at the 2016 World Passenger Symposium in an IATA white paper to which SITA contributed. It is going to be the key for creating a true end-to-end passenger facilitation process for all stakeholders at an airport. It must therefore be accepted as the true and trusted identity of the traveler across all frontiers, in order to facilitate a smooth and seamless journey for the passenger and to optimize the throughput of passengers. As SITA Lab continues to investigate, the following criteria will need to be explored and conceptualized thoroughly: Phasing of storage and distribution of identities in global biometric systems to the ultimate and unique storage of a verified identity on a passenger s mobile device. Requirement for nonnotarized to fully notarized registration and enrollment with the system. Addition of data to the identity token (biometric, passport, single boarding pass, multiple boarding pass, visa, ETS, multiple identities, and so on.) THE WALKTHROUGH EXPERIENCE WILL BE EVER MORE SEAMLESS AND CONVENIENT AS WE EXPLORE NEW GENERATIONS OF SINGLE TOKEN TRAVEL. RENAUD IRMINGER DIRECTOR, SITA LAB Secure and high speed transferral of the identity token to gate and other check point interaction hardware. It s very early days but as we test, develop and further test our prototype with governments and security agencies, we ll also be aiming A WALKTHROUGH EXPERIENCE FOR MORE, GO TO to create a global identity framework, concludes Irminger. What s clear is that IATA s vision of a walkthrough experience of the journey is becoming a reality, and that reality will be ever more seamless and convenient as we explore new generations of single token travel. SITA s evolving passenger processing portfolio now includes its SITA Smart Path technology, launched in This innovative development, now being trialed in airports, allows passengers to move through the airport and board the aircraft simply by presenting themselves for a biometric check. Once verified there s no need for the passenger to present a boarding pass, a passport or travel documents again. SINGLE TOKEN The passenger s biometric details are captured through a facial scan at the first touchpoint in the journey. The scanned image is checked against the digital image stored within the passenger s travel document, typically the e-passport, and then combined with the passenger s boarding pass information to create a secure single token. Then, at each step of the journey from check-in, to aircraft boarding or border control passengers gain access simply with a facial scan and without having to show their passport or boarding pass. See full online article at: FULL ARTICLE ONLINE 34 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

35 BORDER MANAGEMENT AUTHORIZE IN ADVANCE PRE-TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION ENABLES GOVERNMENTS TO IMPROVE BORDER SECURITY WHILE SIMPLIFYING THE BORDER CONTROL PROCESS FOR PASSENGERS, AIRPORTS AND AIRLINES. A growing number of countries are finding that pre-travel authorization is the key to avoiding long wait lines at the border and to more efficient border control. Crucially, it ensures that those who do not match entry criteria are not permitted to travel to their destination in the first place. At the heart of pre-travel authorization is a mix of technology, systems integration, network connectivity and processes shared between border management agencies and key stakeholders such as airports and airlines. DELAYS ARE COSTLY Many governments still require only a minority of foreign visitors to obtain a visa in advance of travel and little is known of those not requiring a visa until they arrive at the port of entry. This has necessitated checks on arrival, often causing delays and leading to costs for detention, processing and repatriation. In addition, many border agencies already receive some passenger data from airlines, but it's often incomplete or inaccurate and may only be available after an inbound flight is already in the air. Pre-travel authorization plugs this gap by providing highquality data for governments to validate before passengers even board their inbound flight, allowing them to be prevented from traveling if they would be deemed inadmissible upon arrival. Security is improved and the reduced workload from not handing inadmissible passengers at the border frees up resources. ISSUE 3: 2016/

36 BORDER MANAGEMENT SITA IS IN A UNIQUE POSITION TO PROVIDE BORDER SERVICES BECAUSE WE VE BEEN DELIVERING BORDER SOLUTIONS BOTH IN THE GOVERNMENT AND AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY SECTORS FOR 20 YEARS. SEAN FARRELL HEAD OF PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT, GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS, SITA VET BEFORE YOU GO Pre-travel authorization is a way of collecting and distributing information that allows border agencies to assess travelers risk level before they travel. It also opens up the way for further automation of border control for low risk travelers. For example, the use of Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) allows governments to vet travelers before travel, such as checking watch lists and databases to see if there's any reason not to admit the applicant. INTERACTIVE API SITA s Advance Passenger Processing, or APP, solution integrates pre-travel authorization with airlines check-in processes for real-time clearance by the authorities of the destination country and, in some cases, those of the departure country. APP allows governments to receive each passenger s travel document and flight details at the time of checkin, regardless of whether the check-in is online, using a kiosk or in person. The government vets the traveler and then returns an ok-toboard or no-board instruction to the check-agent or, if checkin is online or via a kiosk, to the check-in application, which then instructs the traveler to speak to an airline agent. It s a neat way for countries to export their border, to everyone s advantage. One SITA customer built their business case on potential savings from processing illegal migrants at the border. LONG EXPERIENCE SITA is in a unique position to provide border services because we ve been delivering border solutions both in the government and air transport industry sectors for 20 years, according to Sean Farrell, Head of Portfolio Management, Government Solutions at SITA. We can act as an intermediary and offer extensive experience integrating air transport and government systems. For example, our core pretravel authorization system iborders TravelAuthorization pre-approves more than 200 million travelers per year. AUSTRALIA In partnership with SITA, the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) pioneered pre-travel authorization with the introduction of the Electronic Travel Authority System (ETAS) in ETAS enabled Australia to cope with a huge influx of visitors to the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, without compromising border security. Today Australia processes over 2.5 million ETAS transactions a year using iborders and 3.5 million ETAS queries. The Australia Government has also made APP mandatory in Australia. MIDDLE EAST SITA has also helped governments secure their borders across the Middle East. The region is also a target for terrorism and SITA has helped many governments in the Middle East deploy fully integrated border management systems, allowing them to become world leaders in air transport security and facilitation. FULL ARTICLE ONLINE FOR MORE The movement of people across the world has never been greater, but the result has been the need for increased security and border management. Fortunately, technology is delivering the means to minimize the inconvenience to passengers, airlines and airports while maximizing the ability of governments to fulfil their primary obligation to their citizens. 36 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

37 LOW-COST CONNECTIVITY THE ADVENT OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS HAS RESULTED IN AN EXPLOSION OF NEW SERVICES AND INFORMATION THAT WAS NOT POSSIBLE JUST A FEW YEARS AGO. BUT ITS SUCCESS RELIES ON LOW-COST CONNECTIVITY THE LIFEBLOOD OF MODERN DAY TRAVEL EVERY TECHNOLOGY REQUIRES A DIFFERENT INFRASTRUCTURE, AND WE HAVE TO IMPLEMENT IT AT THE AIRPORT WHICH IS NOT THE EASIEST ENVIRONMENT. WE NEED TO RETHINK THE WAY WE DEAL WITH CONNECTIVITY AND I BELIEVE THE SOLUTION IS STANDARDIZING. SEBASTIEN FABRE VP PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT, COMMUNICATIONS & INFRASTRUCTURE, SITA SEE ALSO: ISSUE 3: 2: 2016/

38 LOW-COST CONNECTIVITY OPINION NEW SOLUTIONS NEEDED Stuart Lodge, Executive Vice President of Global Sales & Partners at SIGFOX The success of the Internet of Things hinges on low-cost, low-power connectivity that may not necessarily be delivered through traditional cellular, WiFi or Bluetooth networks. For a number of years, we have been promised an explosion in the Internet of Things, where billions of connected devices will deliver more information and more services. Yet the explosion has yet to happen. The reason the IoT has not taken off in a major way is that while we have some great connectivity services that exist today, these are not really good at connecting the millions of smart devices needed to drive IoT. HUMAN-DRIVEN CONNECTIVITY Many of the devices we deploy today from your smart car to your smartphone are typically managed by a human being that interacts with the connectivity. But these technologies are not great for connecting other things. These need to be lowcost, low-power, globally available and easy to deploy. OVERCOME CHALLENGES We at SIGFOX are trying to provide a service to the wider world of connectivity through a low-powered wide area network. To have a low-cost, low-power network you can t transmit a lot of data. You have to drive the quantity of data down to a minimum. Our network is message-based to deliver messages that have a payload of 12 bytes. And no matter where in the world you are, you can access that network through a single Application Programming Interface (API) in the cloud, providing the same service everywhere. OPPORTUNITIES This network will open new opportunities in the air transport industry. These include providing cost-effective connectivity in airplanes themselves, enabling the tracking of cargo and associated cargo, management of spare parts across vast networks, and in the airport, the tracking of baggage. See full online article at: The ATI's focus until recently has been on connecting people. But with the march of the Internet of Things (IoT) we are now connecting people to a myriad of objects around us. Today, we can be connected to our car and home. In fact, connectivity has revolutionized the world around us, delivering new services and opening up new business opportunities. Just think Uber. In the air transport industry, IoT has allowed passengers to become connected to the airport. And it has enabled connected aircraft to exchange vital flight information between ground and air. AFFORDABLE QUALITY However, all of this relies on affordable good quality connectivity. At the same time, the imminent arrival of billions of tiny smart devices demands ultra low-cost and ubiquitous data transmission. For passengers, affordable connectivity is expected. One of the chief concerns a traveler has when they leave their home or office is how can they stay connected to their personal and work life during their journey, says Gene Quinn, CEO and Founder of Tnooz. They have come to expect connectivity through Wi-Fi or low-cost telecommunication services throughout their travels. It s no longer negotiable. THE REASON WE'RE TALKING ABOUT LOW COST IS THAT THE TECHNOLOGIES WE USE TODAY ARE NOT GREAT FOR CONNECTING OTHER THINGS. THOSE OTHER THINGS, BE IT BAGGAGE OR AIRCRAFT, HAVE A DIFFERENT SET OF REQUIREMENTS WHICH NEED TO BE MET. STUART LODGE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL SALES & PARTNERS, SIGFOX 38 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

39 OPINION THE FUTURE OF NETWORKS Pierre-Louis Biaggi, VP, Connectivity Business Unit, Orange Business Services Flexible and affordable. These two words will more than any others impact how we deliver connectivity in the next few years and beyond. Today with a massive migration of applications to the cloud, the rapid digital transformation of entire industries and the advent of the Internet of Things are all shaping the future of connectivity. The first thing we at Orange Business Services are doing to meet this demand is deploying a hybrid network solution. Our customers need flexibility to cope with very agile connectivity requirements. Hybrid networks bring the best of MPLS and Internet while providing additional services such as security, application performance management and acceleration. This guarantees that applications run smoothly at all times. Software defined networks will bring to the customer automated functionalities, full digital interfaces, and most importantly instantaneous delivery. This network should be fully managed by the application, fully secure and with a full digital interface. We also strongly believe that the service will be defined by performance not by bandwidth or megabytes. And over the long term there will be no distinction between public and private network. The barrier between LAN and WAN will disappear in order to have a smooth customer experience whether you are in the airport, on the street or at your desk. This is not a long-term development. In fact, we expect that in 12 to 24 months these types of functionalities for certain use cases for certain types of networks will be deployed. Our vision of the future is not a model based on low cost. It s about a better network adapted to the best application at the right cost. See full online article at: Low connectivity is also central to the delivery of services within the airport or onboard the aircraft, whether accessing information on the whereabouts of your baggage or the details of your next flight. Connectivity is the most central and pivotal part of the passenger experience. VITAL LINK For airlines and airports, connectivity is also the vital link that allows them to take advantage of the benefits that IoT brings to the industry. There s talk about connectivity being free. Maybe we'll get there one day but basically what we now need is radically lower cost connectivity, says Stuart Lodge, EVP, Global Sales & Partners, SIGFOX which has set about creating its own low-cost and dedicated IoT network. PRESSURE All this demand for connectivity has placed huge pressure on traditional networks around the world. With the massive explosion in the usage of the Internet of Things, companies or industries are changing their business models, says Pierre-Louis Biaggi, VP, Connectivity Business Unit, Orange Business Services. In the retail sector we have chains which are opening stores with a full digital experience, merging the experience you have in the shop and the experience you have on the internet, he adds. WITH THE MASSIVE EXPLOSION IN THE USAGE OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS, COMPANIES OR INDUSTRIES ARE CHANGING THEIR BUSINESS MODELS. IN THE RETAIL SECTOR WE HAVE CHAINS WHICH ARE OPENING STORES WITH A FULL DIGITAL EXPERIENCE, MERGING THE EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE IN THE SHOP WITH THE EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE ON THE INTERNET. PIERRE-LOUIS BIAGGI VP, CONNECTIVITY BUSINESS UNIT, ORANGE BUSINESS SERVICES ISSUE 3: 2016/

40 LOW-COST CONNECTIVITY BALLOONING This ballooning of demand is putting tremendous pressure on the network and the bandwidth requirement. It is also challenging our budgets. We are having to ask ourselves how do we manage our budget in order to cope with this demand yet deliver the performance that our users are requesting in terms of quality, reliability and security? asks Biaggi. An added constraint for the air transport is the complexity of this connectivity. Our industry has a very specific requirement," says Sebastien Fabre, VP Integrated Networks Business Line, SITA. "Let me take the example of aircraft connectivity. The fact is that an aircraft at the gate can now connect to refresh its inflight entertainment content, load new flight plans or download maintenance records. But to provide this connectivity is not easy to achieve, with different systems and requirements. HYBRID FOCUS The answer to providing low-cost connectivity lies in allowing for greater flexibility, delivering connectivity when needed and bandwidth when required. In order to manage this disparity between high bandwidth requirements from hungry applications, cost control and performance, operators like ourselves are providing hybrid network solutions, says Biaggi. These combine the best of internet and MPLS plus additional services such as security, application performance and acceleration in order to make sure that any application takes the best network at the time it requires it. In the future, our customers will only see one network and the distinction between public and private will become irrelevant. STANDARDS Fabre also argues that standardization is key to affordability. When I look at the communication infrastructure landscape, it looks very much like a jungle. And a jungle that is proliferating very quickly and becoming increasingly tangled. Every time we launch a new technology we are not removing the old one, adds Fabre. We are hoarding. Stacking up. As a result you have got systems and applications all requiring different types of technology and different access methods, all with their own dedicated infrastructure. RETHINK And all this for relatively low volumes. There are only a few thousand aircraft that are flying. So how can you be very low cost, if not free of charge, when your connectivity requirement is extremely complex yet at low volume. Every technology requires a different infrastructure, and we have to implement it at the airport which is not the easiest environment. We need to rethink the way we deal with connectivity and I believe the solution is standardizing. Fabre believes that setting industry standards for everything from security to availability, the industry could invest in one infrastructure that serves the entire community, helping drive down cost. CONNECTIVITY IS THE MOST CENTRAL AND PIVOTAL PART OF THE PASSENGER EXPERIENCE. GENE QUINN CEO AND FOUNDER OF TNOOZ FIT FOR PURPOSE SIGFOX s Lodge believes IoT has prompted the need for a new network that is fit for purpose. The reason we're talking about low cost is that the technologies we use today are not great for connecting other things. Those other things, be it baggage or aircraft, have a different set of requirements which need to be met. The first requirement for IoT connectivity and the devices that power them is that they need to be low power," adds Lodge. Most of these devices attached to objects will not have a power supply, and therefore they need to be battery operated. And they need to have a lifetime of five, 10 years for them to be economically viable. The second requirement is they need to be low cost. Third, connectivity also needs to be all-pervasive, so that people can just use and connect objects, without necessarily getting involved in the deployment and the infrastructure that allows that connectivity. You need to have something that's available globally. And the last one, which is very important, it needs to be simple. It needs to work. It needs to work out of the box. And it needs to be easy to develop and deploy solutions. MAJOR CHANGE While there is no one solution, the air transport industry will continue to drive demand for low-cost connectivity. It s a challenge that will force a major change in the way connectivity will be delivered over the next few years, becoming if not already the most vital infrastructure needed for modern aviation. 40 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

41 CONNECTED AIRCRAFT LET S SEIZE THE POTENTIAL IF WE RE TO SEIZE THE POTENTIAL OF NOSE-TO-TAIL AIRCRAFT CONNECTIVITY WE NEED TO ENSURE THAT DATA IS USED EFFECTIVELY FOR THE BENEFIT OF PASSENGERS AND OPERATIONS, WHILE DELIVERING A BOTTOM LINE BENEFIT ACROSS THE INDUSTRY. ISSUE 1: 43: : JANUARY 2016/2017 DECEMBER

42 CONNECTED AIRCRAFT BY 2025, THE AIRLINE PASSENGER EXPERIENCE ASSOCIATION (APEX) FORECASTS THAT TODAY S ON- THE-GROUND EXPERIENCE WILL HAVE BECOME THE IN-FLIGHT BASELINE MINIMUM, WITH AIRCRAFT CONNECTED AT ALL ATTITUDES AND WITH EVERY LOW- BANDWIDTH CONNECTED DEVICE ON EVERY PASSENGER AUTOMATICALLY CONNECTED TO THE ON-BOARD IFE. Only connect live in fragments no longer, wrote the novelist EM Forster in He was writing about social conventions, codes of conduct, and personal relationships in turn-of-the-century England. But he might just as well have been setting the ground rules for our new world of limitless data and the resources to leverage the data. For years our industry has been talking of the need to get rid of silos, to foster collaboration, to work together. It was the essence of the invention of the World Wide Web. But perhaps only now are we moving to a truly connected world and it s opening up extraordinary opportunities for improved operational efficiency and enhanced customer service. DEMANDING Increasingly, we expect to be connected to our own particular world, wherever we are at home, work, on the road, in the airport, and now in flight between two continents. We used to choose an airline based on a mix of price and loyalty. Today our choice of airline and airport is increasingly impacted by our experience as a passenger. With an increasing proportion of the world economy dominated by services of all kinds, we re more demanding of the services we re offered. And we expect information to be shared with us, even onboard the aircraft. After all, since we re connected, there s no technical reason why not. GAME-CHANGING That s why the introduction of the connected aircraft is so game-changing and massive in its potential. There is now no reason why everyone cannot be connected, from airframe and engine manufacturers, through airports, caterers, ground staff, airlines, border authorities to passengers. The only questions that each needs to broker is how much information is useful and where s the balance between utility and cost? PASSENGER CHOICE Research from Inmarsat among European short/ medium haul passengers reflects the expectancy of passengers: 83% expect all aircraft to offer connectivity within the next 5-10 years. For 69% of respondents, in-flight connectivity is now impacting their airline selection and 67% say they would pay for in-flight Wi-Fi. They also found that if passengers were given a choice between free connected Wi-Fi or food and beverage, they went for Wi-Fi. By 2025, the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) forecasts that today s on-theground experience will have become the in-flight baseline minimum, with aircraft connected at all altitudes and with every low-bandwidth connected device on every passenger automatically connected to the on-board IFE. OPINION CREATING VALUE THROUGH INTEGRATION Gregory Ouillon CTO, SITAONAIR Connectivity and broadband is everywhere: 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, broadband, satellite, cabin, cockpit. It s essential in enabling a new innovation cycle involving apps, mobile, and content everywhere. No single pipe will solve all data and application needs on all fleets. As choice and complexity increase, so airlines will need support from experts to manage the collection and integration of data over these pipes to enable them to focus on the apps and leverage the data to improve their business across their whole fleet. APP-BASED Whatever the pipe you choose, the complexity is in the end-to-end chain. We have new apps, passengers are getting all the connectivity they want as well as on-board content; the crew is being equipped with tablets and pilots with EFBs. Aircraft are generating more data about their health and operational performance, which can be leveraged into ground applications, for predictive analytics. We're moving towards a universal data management platform. But you re most likely to seize the full potential of the connected aircraft if you can exploit the data on the ground collecting, storing and normalizing it. It s all about integration and knowing what you re trying to achieve. AND IT S ABOUT CHOICES Digital transformation is about choices. Today, there are a number of stakeholders pushing for verticalization. But it remains the airline that s at the center of making the right choices. SITAONAIR is expanding its platforms and services in the cloud to support these data management and exchange requirements. See full online article at: 42 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

43 With the aircraft connected to ground services, incremental improvements to in-flight passenger service become possible such as a personalized welcome as soon as passengers take their seat, or confirmation that their baggage has been loaded, or confirmation that food allergies have been noted by the flight attendants. And, of course, personalized messages concerning any delays, issues with connecting flights, transit times and so on. CONNECTIVITY VALUE Meanwhile, the value that derives from connectivity is already being experienced through capabilities such as the new generation of electronic flight bags (EFBs). Uploading live data, real-time weather updates, optimizing routes dynamically to deliver less fuel burn these are all tangible benefits. As are the time and cost savings of having maintenance crews equipped and ready to go for aircraft needing repair. As many as 50% of airlines have already made the switch away from paper-based charting and flight plans. Some are even connecting while airborne, to get updates to flight plans. THE FULL SERVICE, NOSE-TO-TAIL SITAONAIR unlocks airline challenges and enables them to streamline cabin and cockpit operations, optimize maintenance and flight operation procedures, improve airline and passenger safety, as well as personalize the passenger experience and grow ancillary revenues. DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION To enable the digital transformation of aircraft, bringing them into the fold of the airline IT department, SITAONAIR offers a full service to passengers, crew, cockpit, aircraft, flight operations and air traffic control, providing complete connectivity on a nose-to-tail basis. This gives airlines the ability to personalize the passenger experience, streamline cabin and cockpit operations, and optimize maintenance procedures. The company is unique in looking at the big picture of how digital transformation is enabling airlines to benefit from connectivity, transforming the passenger experience and revolutionizing airline operations. OUR FOCUS GOES BEYOND CONNECTIVITY. IT S ABOUT HOW WE DIGITALLY TRANSFORM THE AIRLINE, ABOUT BETTER MANAGING DATA AND GETTING IT TO THE RIGHT STAKEHOLDERS. AND IT S ABOUT UNDERSTANDING HOW WE CAN USE DATA TO ENHANCE THE PASSENGER JOURNEY, AND CONNECTING ALL PARTIES SO THAT THE IMPACT OF MULTIPLE CONNECTIONS WORKS TO THE BENEFIT OF EVERYONE. DAVID LAVOREL CEO, SITAONAIR ISSUE 3: 2016/

44 CONNECTED AIRCRAFT OPINION PROACTIVE AND CREATIVE Dr. Jens Schiefele Director, Digital Aviation Research, Boeing The digital airline is continuously optimized, a real-time operation fully connected across all departments and across airline customers. That's what we want to achieve at Boeing. The transformation is already happening. The latest aircraft have on-board network systems with connectivity built in. The network system uses different data links to the ground which are then shared within the airline or among other partners in the industry. The network and connectivity offers real value for our airline operators and passengers. For example, on an electronic flight deck we can already provide texting on the ramp. We can upload data needed during the flight, get real-time weather updates, and make adjustments for optimized routes with less fuel burn. If faults occur in-flight, we can have maintenance meet us at the aircraft with the spare part ready at hand. We can also provide the airline with extensive post-flight analytics. EFB MAJORITY In terms of moving to electronic flight bags (EFBs), we re now at the 50% point. We're seeing flight plans being uploaded. But they're still isolated, often only ground connected. I like the idea that we should talk about door-to-door. From when the pilot leaves home until he or she is home again, from when the passenger leaves, until he or she's home again. In fact, a pilot typically already does a lot of his or her work at home, so it makes sense to connect people end-to-end. Connectivity is also about having the right information at the right time to make optimal decisions ahead of time. We're all moving from a very reactive mode towards a proactive mode. Boeing staff today are changing from pure engineers to a more creative mix. They re moving beyond visual analytics to provide decision support for the airlines helping them get ahead of the curve, working to make an operation more efficient and better. See full online article at: Connectivity is also allowing airframe and engine manufacturers to use the massive amounts of data accessed through the Cloud to look outside the pure maintenance envelope, including such areas as fuel optimization. Connectivity is sometimes described simply as receiving the right information at the right time. In reality, it s about receiving meaningful data ahead of time, allowing partners and collaborators more time to plan, process and evaluate. The new generation of connected aircraft take this further, introducing full enterprise capability to the flight deck by means of a complete onboard network system, with high bandwidth low-cost ground and in-flight data links, onboard file servers, connected systems, advanced onboard maintenance systems, and separate wireless networks for crews and passengers. BUSINESS DRIVERS As pioneers of aircraft connectivity, SITAONAIR is addressing the core business drivers: growing ancillary revenue, differentiating the passenger experience, improving air navigation safety and operational efficiency. But our focus goes beyond connectivity, comments SITAONAIR s CEO, David Lavorel. It s about how we digitally transform the airline, about better managing data and getting it to the right stakeholders. THE ROLLS-ROYCE OF DATA COLLECTION Rolls-Royce selected AIRCOM FlightMessenger from SITAONAIR to collate and distribute Engine Health Monitoring data from its engines, which fly on over 6,000 aircraft and collectively operate for over 100 million hours per year. As part of its 24/7 monitoring service, Rolls-Royce will use the data to anticipate any maintenance needs and maximize the operational life of its engines. Rolls-Royce engines intelligently collect and analyze data during flight. This data is then transmitted to Rolls-Royce to support its TotalCare Service Solutions. Across the engine fleet this data amounts to thousands of messages per day. Rolls-Royce wanted a single system to receive and distribute these messages to its analytics and operations teams. FlightMessenger was selected to meet this demand. Alongside, AIRCOM FlightTracker and FlightPlanner, the service enables the processing of aircraft data in a harmonized, central and secure way, allowing airlines and industry manufacturers to improve operational efficiencies. For more: 44 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

45 OPINION CONNECTIVITY AND THE PERSONALIZED PASSENGER EXPERIENCE Joe Leader CEO, APEX (Airline Passenger Experience Association) Passengers now expect their in-flight experience to be comparable to their on-the-ground experience, which is why connectivity is playing a growing role. An Inmarsat study showed that when given a choice 67% of passengers would select in-flight connectivity over food and beverage on their flight. Additionally, 69% of passengers said that in-flight connectivity influences their selection of airlines, and 80% would like to use Wi-Fi. The connected aircraft is about the nose-to-tail experience. It's about how you can drive more success for your airline, your business, and your bottom line leveraging data. A passenger s perceived value can impact how they view their flight, as well as the airline they are flying. While connectivity shouldn t be viewed as a cost center, airlines should see it as a revenue opportunity. Identifying a customer s preferences (for example food/ beverage, content, seating) can trigger upgrade opportunities for the airline by anticipating needs in an organic way. Leveraging targeted marketing insights is another way for airlines to boost their revenue. By offering personalized ads, airlines could see a one fifth to one seventh increase in revenue. 2025: THE FUTURE OF THE PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCE By 2025, it is projected that aircraft will not only remain connected at all altitudes, but every low bandwidth connected device on every passenger aircraft will automatically connect while on board. But the future of connectivity could extend to exciting new heights. For example, in-flight wearables will provide airlines with unique data on their customers, for hydration levels, biofeedback and more. Imagine being able to anticipate when a passenger is thirsty, and offering them a drink. That will be a whole new level of the personalized experience! See full online article at: And it s about understanding how we can use data to enhance the passenger journey, and connecting all parties so that the impact of multiple connections works to the benefit of everyone. It s a digital transformation feat that demands a vendorindependent nose-to-tail approach to putting into place the appropriate technologies no matter what the aircraft. Those technologies will include apps and more apps across all platforms, including onboard, mobile and Cloud. Content will be everywhere. Everyone in the aircraft pilot, crew and passengers will have access to mobile apps, with broadband connectivity that will be achieved through a range of pipes and platforms, adds Lavorel. OWNERS? With such an explosion of data, there are questions to be asked and, crucially, answered. Who owns the data? Who can be trusted if it s shared? Will that slow down innovation? How can it be kept secure from those wishing harm? And then there are the interfaces that need to be easy and open if the integration of data is to deliver the expected benefits. Without a focus on the end-toend chain, those benefits will fail to materialize. And no one killer technology can deliver the benefits alone. FOR MORE So while the opportunities and potential of nose-to-tail, door-to-door connectivity are grabbing the headlines, there s still plenty of hard work to be done through collaboration, the use of standards and the development of trust. The connected aircraft is a reality the vital bit is to seize the potential to make it work as well, to the benefit of everyone involved in air travel. ISSUE 3: 2016/

46 SITA MEMBER UPDATES INNOVATION FOR THE COMMUNITY PART OF SITA S MANDATE HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO DRIVE TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE WIDER AIR TRANSPORT COMMUNITY, AND IN PARTICULAR SITA MEMBERS. This year has seen SITA significantly stepping up its focus on community innovation, investing in five keys areas to explore and prototype new solutions around some of the industry s most pressing challenges. FIVE FOCUS AREAS The five key areas include: Cybersecurity Baggage Tracking Identity Management An industry-wide disruption warning system Enabling NDC Over the past few months SITA has made strong progress across each of these areas, focusing on new efficiencies and solutions for the community s benefit. These five areas are sharply focused on driving solutions in areas where we can add the most benefit to the wider air transport community, says Jim Peters, Chief Technology Officer at SITA. We have also aligned ourselves with organizations such as IATA and ACI to ensure that we add our resources to a common, agreed-upon approach. For Cybersecurity SITA is forging ahead with setting up a forum to support the increased exchange of cyber threat intelligence. SITA believes by collaborating we, as an industry, will be better placed to guard against ever-evolving cyber threats, says Philippe-Emmanuel Maulion, Head of Corporate Information Security at SITA. For Baggage Tracking, SITA is exploring technologies to track baggage every step of the way. A key area of investigation is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Identity Management is another major industry challenge. As part of an important SITA initiative we will see the emergence of a single travel token. See The advent of the token, page 33. Another challenge is Disruption Management. Here, SITA has launched an initiative that seeks to collect and share real-time information and updates from across the global aviation industry through a global disruption warning system. And finally SITA remains focused on IATA's New Distribution Capability (NDC). We expect to see concrete solutions to these community challenges, helping build an air transport sector that is more efficient and effective while elevating the passenger experience, concludes Peters. 46 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW

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