SMART AIRPORT
HOW T EC H N OLO GY I S SHAP I N G
T H E F U T U R E O F AI R P O RTS
www.wavestone.com
Wavestone is a consulting firm, created from the merger of Solucom and Kurt Salmon’s European Business
(excluding retails and consumer goods outside of France) Wavestone’s mission is to enlighten and guide their
clients in the most critical decisions, drawing on functional, sectoral and technological expertise.
2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The airport industry is developing at a
very fast pace, supported by a solid and
continuous growth of the total number
of passengers processed per year (the
worldwide passenger traffic increased
by 64% between 2009 and 2016). Major
European and Asian hubs are continuing
to grow, with Middle Eastern players
developing quickly and new comers
appearing in Latin America (e.g. Santiago)
and Africa (e.g. Addis Ababa).
requires common self-service solutions.
Africa and Latin America are at the
beginning of the digital era and will show
an important need of legacy IT systems
in the next few years. Globally, the airport
digital era induces a substantial growth of
the investments made in IT&T1. The market
size grew twofold since 2011, reaching USD
9.07 billion in 2016.
As for operations, the general trend within
the industry consists in going for live and
predictive operations in order to maximize
the capacity of terminals and runways. In
this domain, the A-CDM2 initiative seems
to get serious interest, even outside the
European market. Self-service solutions
are now very mature and some of them
even reach their limit with the massive
introduction of online and mobile check-in
solutions. Hence, airports should readapt
their strategy and use further automations
in their processes to improve the quality
and the safety of operations.
This rapid growth of the industry has put
airport operators under pressure to face
important challenges such as increasing
their capacity, optimizing their processes,
diversifying their revenues, being part
of the passenger global experience and,
of course, providing top security and
cybersecurity measures. In this context,
digital solutions gave airports the unique
opportunity to address all these issues.
The digital transformation started at the
beginning of the 1990s and led each
airport to move onto different levels
of digital maturity, where each level is
characterized by the set of technologies
adopted.
On the other hand, passengers look further
into an augmented airport experience
in which digital technologies co-create,
with the personal assistance, a “phygital
experience”. An experience enriched
with personalized content and available
seamlessly through different channels
to provide the so-called omnichannel
experience.
The different levels of airport digitization
have certain trends depending on the
region of the world. In Europe, Middle East
and Asia, airports are particularly digitally
mature. Their needs in terms of IT&T are
further steered towards cutting-edge
technologies and innovations. In North
America, the airport industry seems to be
late in its digital transformation and mainly
However, these digitally enhanced
services require a robust and advanced
network infrastructure, able to carry
1. Information Technology & Telecommunication
2. Airport-Collaborative Decision Making
3
huge amounts of data generated from
Finally, in this continuously moving
the newly deployed solutions. For this,
IT&T sector, airports should adapt their
both the professional 4G/LTE network
organization in order to follow the
and the access to free public Wi-Fi offer
change better by reducing the risks
an ideal environment to leverage IT and
and uncertainties related to the rapidly
propose new innovative applications.
emerging cutting-edge technologies. To
Furthermore, to accelerate innovation,
do that, innovation should be put at the
heart of their strategies, and management
airports are adopting open innovation,
should find its equilibrium between
based on providing API platforms to the
3
developers’ community.
conventional and new agile methodologies
Integrating the airports’ systems within
quality, faster, cost effectively and most
the global ecosystem, giving third parties
importantly on a lean start-up basis.
that are capable of delivering better
access to the airport’s critical systems,
Thus, being a Smart Airport is not about
associated to the fact that operators are
complete digitization of the airport,
willing to migrate to the cloud in the next
but much more about the ability of the
five to ten years, will dramatically increase
company to make the most of innovation
the risk of cyberattacks. To face these new
and technology, in order to develop a
challenges, where the airport is obliged
competitive edge and face international
to innovate and at the same time protect
competition.
its own legacy systems, the industry
must develop additional expertise in the
field of cybersecurity, such as putting in
place a SOC4 and thoroughly testing the
vulnerability of its infrastructures.
3. Application Programming Interface
4. Security Operations Center
4
AUTHORS
Jean-Baptiste Nau
Franck Benoit
Jean-Baptiste Nau, Senior Manager, is
an expert in the air transport industry.
He joined Wavestone after more than
15 years of experience in Groupe ADP,
where he managed financial, international,
commercial and operational projects. Today
Jean-Baptiste steers various studies on air
transport and manages project deliveries
in many fields such as controlling, business
strategy, customer experience, etc.
Franck Benoit, Business Analyst, initiated his
career in transport and travel consulting. He
studied Political Sciences at the “IEP d’Aixen-Provence”, and holds a Master’s degree
in Air Transport Law & Management from
Aix-Marseille University. His double expertise
allows him to advise different actors from
the air transport industry in conducting their
strategic projects.
jeanbaptiste.nau@wavestone.com
franck.benoit@wavestone.com
6
CONTENTS
08
13
Introduction of the study
The future of the airport industry
28
Global digital trends within the industry
53
Organizational impact of the d igital transformation
56
Conclusion
7
INTRODUCTION
OF THE STUDY
8
CONTEXT
In 2016, train operators showed some
signs of weakness due to security and
political concerns raising across Europe.
Eurostar for example, the operator of
the high-speed train that crosses the
English Channel, processed 4% 5 less
traffic than in 2015. On the other hand,
air transport continued to show its
strength globally with an impressive
5.5% growth in 2016, confirming the
resilience of the air industry to political
instability. In this flourishing state of air
travel, airlines and airports are required
to deliver high standard services for
their customers in order to be able to
improve their attractiveness and provide
the passengers with a personalized travel
experience.
early on. Airliners are generally
known for their low financial margins,
moving operating costs due to a high
exposure to fluctuant fuel prices and
for having “demanding” customers.
These constraints have put airlines
under pressure to reassess their
business model and their value
proposition earlier. This “underconstraints” evolution, has made the
airlines embrace the potential of digital
solutions early on, in order to find new
ways of generating revenues, reducing
costs and improving the customer
experience.
//
certain way, engaged in the digital
makeover in response to the rise of
passengers’ connectivity and access
Today, we are witnessing a continuous
reshaping of the air travel industry
in order to face not only common
challenges such as cost reduction and
competitiveness improvement, but also
newly emerging challenges such as digital
transformation and passenger experience.
In fact, digital transformation is impacting
all players of the ecosystem including
airlines, hotels, travel agencies and
airports. However, this impact occurred
at different paces for each stakeholder:
//
Later on, travel agencies were, in a
to the Internet. They embraced this
change by going massively online,
providing mobile-based reservation
applications and recently launching
chatbots to improve customer service
(i.e. Expedia launched its Facebook
messenger-based chatbot in June
2016).
//
Nevertheless, airports were rather late
in their digital transformation and in
leveraging information technology.
Historically, airlines faced serious
issues with their competitiveness
This difference can be explained by
the following circumstances:
5. Source: Press releases
9
•
airports decided to invest massively in
technology over the last decade. These
investments doubled between 2011 and
2016, increasing from USD 4.42 billion to
USD 9.07 billion according to the airport
IT provider SITA.
Putting aside regional and
international hubs, the majority of
airports in the world process less
than one million passengers. This
limited passenger traffic makes
these airports less exposed to
complex operations that require IT
This acceleration of the airport digital
market has faced the industry players
with new challenges:
and digital assistance to become
optimized and smoothened.
•
Airports are generally known to be
financially robust. Their average
//
Airport IT departments are now
obliged to adapt their working
environment to deliver in an agile way,
more suitable for disruptive solutions
and technologies
//
Airport operators are used to
collaborating with big IT companies
but and must now work with startups and small companies, who are
new major players in the innovation
and digital landscape. Many structures,
unknown to the industry a few
years ago, had to be created: digital
department, customer experience
digital department, innovation
department, etc.
net profit margin is around 16% 6
and can go up to 20% for airports
processing more than 40 million
passengers. This healthy financial
status made airports adapt late
i n n ova t i o n s a n d s o l u t i o n s to
improve their competitiveness
because they were not in need of
that, unless the case of airlines.
•
F ro m a m a n a g e m e n t a n d a n
operational point of view, airports
are extremely complex structures
w h e re d i f fe re n t st a ke h o l d e r s
co - ex i s t a n d o p e ra te : p u b l i c
services, airport operators, airlines,
This digital “shock” has pushed airports
to leverage IT solutions, become smarter
and be more efficient, and has revealed
to the public a new concept: the “Smart
Airport”. Does this concept have an exact
definition? Can we define an airport as
a smart one or not a smart one? What
about the regional trends? The following
white paper tries to provide the reader
with some answers to these questions.
ground-handlers, suppliers, etc. This
complexity can make technology
deployment sometimes difficult
due to a divergent set of interests
held by each player and a lack of
collaboration.
I n o rd e r to g o a h e a d w i t h d i g i t a l
t ra n s f o r m a t i o n a n d c o n f i r m t h e i r
substantial role in passenger journey,
6. Source: ACI 2015
10
METHODOLOGY
I n t h i s c u r r e n t s t u d y, Wa v e s t o n e
proceeded with the following three
approaches:
Airport survey: Wavestone addressed
a questionnaire to more than 25
airports around the world regarding
their IT&T systems and digital
strategy. The sample of airports
ranged from very small local ones
like Durango airport (DGO) in Mexico
to important international hubs such
as Dubai airport (DXB) in the United
Arab Emirates, Charles de Gaulle
airport (CDG) in France and Frankfurt
airport (FRA) in Germany.
//
The status of the current
IT&T solutions deployed at
the airport
2
The future deployments
planned for the short and
long-term
The major issues that digital
solutions may address within
the airport industry
4
The airport’s strategy
i n t e r m s o f I T&T a n d
cybersecurity.
//
Large data analysis, including press
releases, annual reports and various
studies
//
Interviews with a range of experts in
the IT industry, airline and airport IT
in particular.
The three elements mentioned above,
g a ve Wa ve s t o n e e n o u g h m a t e r i a l
to draw up trends appearing on
a re g i o n a l b a s i s a n d m a j o r d i g i t a l
challenges to come in the next
three to five years within the airport
industry.
The survey is divided into four main
parts:
1
3
11
THE IT&T SYSTEMS CONSIDERED IN THE
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The following study deals with
a l l t h e I T&T f r o n t o f f i c e s y s t e m s
including mobile applications,
self-service applications, airport
operation systems, network,
infrastructure and cybersecurity.
t h ro u g h o u t t h e p a ss e n g e r j o u r n ey
on terminal side, including check-in,
bag drop, security & boarder control
and boarding.
Network and infrastructure are
the backbones of any digital
t ra n s fo r m at i o n . We a re w i t n e ss i n g
a generalization of legacy solutions
l i ke W L A N 7 a n d Wi - F i , b u t a l s o a n
increased interest in new solutions
like the Internet of Things (IoT),
4 G / LT E f o r p r o f e s s i o n a l u s e a n d
iBeacons.
As for mobiles, they included
smartphone applications but
also mobility solutions deployed
m a s s i ve l y i n b e t we e n t h e g r o u n d
agents and ground handlers on
airside and landside.
For the self-service applications,
they are present nowadays
7. Wireless Local Area Network
12
THE FUTURE OF THE
AIRPORT INDUSTRY
13
A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR
THE AIRPORT INDUSTRY
Following the fall in air travel
demand in 2008, resulting from
the economic crisis that had hit
at the time (the growth of the
number of passengers transported
d ro p p e d to 0.1 % i n 2 0 0 8 ) , t h e
industry started to show strong
results year-on-year: starting
2009 to present, the number of
passengers transported by air made
a n i m p re ss i ve g row t h a n d re a c h e d
a 9.2% CAGR8 for 2009-2016.
Number of passengers transported per year
4
3
2,25
2,628
2,787
2,894
2010
2011
2012
3,048
3,218
2013
2014
3,441
3,7
2
1
0
2009
2015
2016
Source: International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
This variation of the number of
passengers transported seems to be
closely linked to the GWP, allowing
us to confirm that the global
economic growth is a key driver
fo r a i r t rave l . A s a re s u l t , o n t h e
one hand, positive financial trends
are coming out from Russia and
C h i n a i n 2 0 1 7 w h e r e r e s p e c t i ve l y
t h e i n d u s t r i a l p ro d u c t i o n we n t u p
and the household consumption
increased. On the other hand, a
fuel barrel price stabilizing around
5 0 to 6 0 U S D, i s j u st a s p e r fe c t
t o i m p rove t h e e c o n o m y a n d p u l l
u p t h e c o n s u m p t i o n i n d ex i n G u l f
co u n t r i e s a n d t h e U S ( w h e re s h e l l
oil companies are showing good
signs of financial resilience).
Th e s e t wo m a j o r fa c to r s p re f i g u re
a GWP9 growth for 2017 higher
8. Compound Annual Growth Rate
14
airport operations significantly
m o re co m p l ex a n d l e ss s e c u re. O n
the one hand, the complexity of
t h e o p e ra t i o n s t e n d s t o g e n e ra t e
additional costs due to an increased
s o l i c i t a t i o n o f g ro u n d a g e n t s ( i .e .
servicing, processing and quality
control agents), while on the
other hand, the security issue is
getting more problematic with the
considerable increase in terrorismrelated risks, especially in public
congested places like airports.
than in 2016, and therefore an
i m p o r t a n t i n c re a s e i n t h e n u m b e r
of transported passengers in the
coming few months, maybe years.
This sustainable increase in the
number of passengers fueled the
r e v e n u e s o f t h e a i r p o r t i n d u s t r y,
w h i c h f o r a b o u t 5 5 % 1 0 , co m e f ro m
aeronautical revenue 11 . Thus, airports
saw their revenues increase by
around 50% between 2011 and 2016.
At the same time, the immense
volume of passengers, baggage
a n d f re i g h t to b e p ro ce ss e d m a d e
Global revenues of the airport industry (in $billions)
200
150
108,3
117
2011
2012
153,9
158
2015
2016
142,4
131
100
50
0
2013
2014
Source: ACI
for major hubs (more than 40 million
p a ss e n g e r s /ye a r ) , g i ve t h e a i r p o r t
industry the unique opportunity of
b e i n g a b l e t o i n ve s t m a s s i ve l y i n
construction, innovation and digital
solutions.
The regular growth of revenues
mentioned above, matched with an
important net margin of the industry
ranking, according to ACI, between
12.9% for small airports (1 to 5
million passengers/year) and 20.6%
9. Gross World Product
10. According to ACI
11. Aeronautical revenues are the ones generated exclusively from the air transportation activity (passenger charges,
landing & parking charges, terminal rentals, security charges…), whereas non-aeronautical ones are generated by ancillary
services (retail concessions, car parking, real instate income or rent, food and beverage, advertising…)
15
MAJOR HUBS AND
REGIONAL TRENDS
Th e a i r t ra n s p o r t vo l u m e i n te r m s
of passenger traffic is expected to
explode with an annual cumulative
growth rate of 4.9% until 2040.
H oweve r, t h i s b o o m w i l l b e m a i n l y
driven by four leading markets:
EUR
NAM
+3,7%
+2,8%
ASP
MEA
AFR
+6,2%
+7,7%
+4,2%
LAC
LAC
+4,6%
Source: ACI
MIDDLE EAST
Being both strategically and geographically well placed between
Europe and North America on the one hand, and Asia on another,
dynamic platforms like Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and
Doha in Qatar will continue to act as major international hubs,
boosted by the great performance achieved by Emirates and
Qatar Airways respectively.
ASIA-PACIFIC
The region is expected to confirm its leadership by
having almost double the air traffic of the European
market in 2040. This is possible due to the surge of the
middle class in both China & India, and the attractiveness of many countries such as Thailand & Indonesia as
major tourist destinations.
SOUTH AMERICA
Recently, the social and political context deteriorated in Latin
America, mainly in Brazil and Columbia, due to corruption and
economic issues. This will definitely lead to a review of the
growth of air traffic projected by ACI for the region. Nevertheless,
the consolidation of the air travel market by LATAM Airlines and
the emergence of Santiago de Chile as a hub for the region, will
support the local traffic growth for the next decade.
AFRICA
It will experience solid growth profiting from Nigeria
as a business hub, Ethiopia for its hub potential, South
Africa & Kenya for their tourism and business; mostly
supported by growing trade with China.
16
Th i s a i r t ra f f i c co n ce n t ra t i o n t h a t
will be migrating, by 2040, from the
North (Europe and North America)
to the South (Latin America, Africa,
M i d d l e E a st a n d A s i a - Pa c i f i c) , w i l l
change the configuration of the
airport industry in the world:
//
to public and environmental policies
that are limiting the possibilities of
extending current infrastructures.
//
Today, major hubs are located in
Europe (e.g. Frankfurt, Paris and
London), Asia (e.g. Singapore and
Seoul) and in the Middle East (e.g.
Dubai, Istanbul and Doha). Most of
them are facing serious capacity
issues: their current maximum capacity
is nearly reached and any extension
in the near future is hard to get due
In the future, hub cartography will
move following the air traffic shift
projected for the next decades as
shown in the map above. There is
no doubt that the historical hubs will
keep their market place in the short
and medium run, but a considerable
number of hubs, either regional or
international, will be appearing in Latin
America and Africa. Airport operators
within these regions will face a surge
of operations and an increasing
complexity in their processes.
MEA
High concentration of
regional and local hubs at
present
High potential of developing
air hubs for tomorrow
17
High concentration of
international and regional
hubs at present
FUTURE CHALLENGES OF
THE AIRPORT INDUSTRY
Facing the generalization of air
t r a n s p o r t i n s o c i e t y, t h e a i r p o r t
industry has been able to absorb
the continuous growth of the
traffic. In the late 2000s, the value
p ro p o s i t i o n o f a n a i r p o r t c h a n g e d
drastically by shifting from a
processing platform serving airlines
a n d g ro u n d h a n d l e r s ( i .e. s e c u r i t y
checks, baggage processing, etc.),
to a travel experience provider
serving passengers: lounge services,
travel retail, entertainment corners,
business areas, online shopping, etc.
in less than two decades, including
h u b s l i ke Pa r i s - C D G . B a s e d o n t h e
ex p e c te d a i r t ra f f i c evo l u t i o n a n d
t h e f a c t t h a t i n t e r n a t i o n a l t ra f f i c
will overcome domestic ones by
2028, the “physical capacity” of
these platforms will be reached.
Knowing that these airports are
in regions where extensions are
almost impossible, they should
deploy new processes and solutions
capable of treating passengers
fa s te r. N o n e t h e l e s s , t h e e m e rg i n g
air transport market in South
America and Africa won’t face such
co n s t ra i n t s , s i n ce a i r p o r t a re a s i n
these zones are still extendable
by a d j u s t i n g r u n way a n d t e r m i n a l
volume.
This fast transformation that
o c c u r re d i n t h e e c o s ys t e m f o rc e s
airport operators to find innovative
and new solutions to enhance
virtually the entire capacity of
their infrastructure and improve
p a s s e n g e r j o u r n ey by o f f e r i n g a n
airport experience as a way of
living.
PASSENGER EX P ER I EN C E
The airport journey is now very
important in the door-to-door
passenger experience. The average
time spent at the airport counts for
more than 60% 12 of the overall time
s p e n t d u r i n g t h e t rave l i n c e r t a i n
cases. The value proposition of
a n a i r p o r t o r a te r m i n a l to a t t ra c t
additional flight connections, is
no longer exclusively linked to the
minimum connection time (MCT)
RAIS IN G THE CA PACITY
F i ve m a j o r E u r o p e a n a i r p o r t s a r e
already facing capacity issues
( D ü ss e l d o r f, F ra n k f u r t , Lo n d o n
Gatwick, London Heathrow and
Milan) and 19 other airports are
expected to have the same problem
12. For short haul flights
18
but it is also linked to the quality of
the in-terminal experience that the
airport is able to provide.
(historically, airlines used to choose
a n a i r p o r t a s a h u b o r co n n e c t i o n ,
based on the accessibility and
transfer time between each flights),
MOBILE OVER
CONNECTIVITY
Passengers are connected :
whether business traveler or
tourist, passengers are looking
for Internet connectivity
“everywhere”
This over connectivity is for
airports at the same time a
cost generator (i.e. network
investment) and a great
opportunity to make revenues out
of this ancillary service
PERSONALIZED
SERVICE
Passengers are looking for
services matching their needs and
preferences
Airlines adapted their model to
let the passenger feel unique.
Now it is up to the airport to do
the same in order to ensure the
loyalty of their clients
In addition, passengers’ needs
are changing under the global
connectivity boost within the
travelers’ population: according to
t h e a i r p o r t I T p rov i d e r S I TA , 8 3 %
o f p a ss e n g e r s c a r r y a s m a r t p h o n e
t o d a y. T h i s o v e r - c o n n e c t i v i t y,
c a u s e d t h e t rave l e r to c h a n g e h i s
attitude during his travel, to look for
a seamless travel journey and to ask
SEAMLESS
EXPERIENCE
The airport and the travel
experience are a series of steps
which are similar across the globe
Passengers look to make these
procedures as seamless as
possible so that they won’t feel
the disruptions on their way
for a personalized experience: in this
co m p e t i t i ve l a n d s c a p e , a n a i r p o r t
must adapt his merchandizing
strategy and propose the right
service for the right passenger
a t t h e r i g h t m o m e n t . T h e s e t h re e
conditions should all meet in order
to maximize the value created by a
passenger.
19
the only two sources of revenues for
airports were the airport tax and the
landing fee. However, knowing that
the runway capacity is limited, and
therefore it is for the terminal, the
so-called aeronautical revenues are
l i m i te d a s we l l . Th e re f o re , a i r p o r t
o p e rato r s a re t u r n i n g , l i ke a i r l i n e s
did years ago, towards ancillary
services including VIP lounges, fast
track lanes, Internet connection and
other services.
P RO C ESS O PTIM IZ ATION AND COST
RE D U CTIO N
As mentioned before, airports
a r e a b l e t o d e l i ve r h i g h f i n a n c i a l
p e r fo r m a n ce s . H oweve r,
privatization is occurring fast
within the business, leading to
private ownership of major airports
requiring additional cost reductions
a n d b e t t e r f i n a n c i a l m a rg i n s t h a n
the public one. Airports have
already deployed lean processes
that showed encouraging results in
t h e l a st t wo d e c a d e s , b u t n ow t h e
tremendous increase in the number
of passengers to be processed has
challenged the efficiency of such
legacy processes inherited from
lean management: the industry is
no longer looking for big budget
cuts or huge process redesign,
but it is increasingly chasing every
small improvement to be done
t h ro u g h o u t t h e p a ss e n g e r j o u r n ey
(i.e. automated security checks), the
a i rc ra f t j o u r n ey ( i .e. i n d u st r i a l i ze d
apron processes), the baggage
journey (i.e. automation, reliability,
loss reduction), etc.
Hence, by diversifying its business,
the industry shifted from a B2B
player (serving airlines and ground
handlers) to a B2C one (serving
directly the end-user). This change
is crucial in terms of marketing and
m e rc h a n d i z i n g , s i n ce d e l i ve r i n g i n
a B 2 C m o d e re q u i re s t h e n e e d t o
k n ow t h e c u sto m e r ve r y we l l , h i s /
her preferences and his/her profile.
The new digital era penetrating
the industry, gives the opportunity
to k n ow t h e c u sto m e r a n d t h u s to
propose an adequate service.
SECURITY AND C YB ER S EC UR I TY
For the last five years, the
international geopolitical
landscape has changed. The world
witnessed an unprecedented rise
of terrorist attacks, especially
in Europe. Knowing that public
places as congested as airports
are a privileged target of such
attacks (a major attack happened
D IV E RS IFICAT IO N O F REVENUES
The industry understood early
o n t h e p o te n t i a l o f t h e p a s s e n g e r
d we l l t i m e i n s i d e t h e a i r p o r t a n d
how this time can be turned into a
new source of revenue. Historically,
20
O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , m a ny a i r p o r t s
are embracing the benefits of open
d a t a a n d t e c h n o l o g y. H o w e v e r,
steering airport’s solutions towards
open APIs and their integration
with external systems widens their
exposure to an increased risk of
cyberattacks. Noting that according
t o t h e I T p rov i d e r S I TA , l e s s t h a n
19% of airports are ready to face
a n y k i n d o f c y b e r t h re a t s , t h e re i s
a major challenge that the industry
m u s t ove r c o m e a n d t h e r o a d m a p
t o a c h i e ve t h a t i s c e r t a i n l y a t i t s
starting blocks.
recently in Brussels airport, also
in Paris-Orly to a lesser extent),
t h e s e c u r i t y p ro ce d u re s a re b e i n g
t i g h te n e d d ra s t i c a l l y b o t h a ro u n d
and inside airports. This change
in procedures has had a serious
impact on passenger experience, on
the waiting time at security checks
and therefore on the dwell time
in the duty-free area. Therefore,
operators are facing a challenge of
optimizing security for the staff and
passengers, and keeping the airport
journey as smooth as possible.
21
A DIGITAL ERA FOR A BETTER
AIRPORT EXPERIENCE AND SMOOTHER
OPERATIONS
The airport industry started its
digitization process under the
pulse of airlines. Indeed, in the mid1980s, airlines and ground handlers
wanted to share IT facilities across
t h e a i r p o r t i n o rd e r to re d u ce t h e
required investments when opening
new routes (especially seasonal ones
or charter flights). At the same time,
n ew s p a ce a n d t h u s , n ew c h e c k- i n
agents in the airport premises, was
b e co m i n g h a rd e r to f i n d a n d ve r y
expensive for operators. Therefore,
through common interest for airlines
a n d a i r p o r t s , C U T E (C o m m o n U s e
Te r m i n a l E q u i p m e n t ) o f f e r e d t h e
o p p o r t u n i t y t o d ra s t i c a l l y re d u c e
the space required to install
check-in areas and to partition
the investments in-between the
airport and all the airlines using
these desks. This massive CUTE
d e p l oy m e n t t h a t c a r r i e d o n u n t i l
the beginning of the 2000s is
co n s i d e re d to b e t h e f i r st wave o f
the airport industry digitization.
and processing faster passenger
c h e c k- i n . Th i s wave co n t i n u e s i n a
w i d e ra n g e o f a i r p o r t s a c ro s s t h e
g l o b e , e s p e c i a l l y i n ce r t a i n zo n e s
w h e re t h e m a n p owe r c o s t i s ve r y
h i g h ( E u ro p e, U S , A s i a - Pa c i f i c) . I t
i s t o b e n o t e d t h a t by 2 0 1 6 , 9 1 % 1 3
of the airports in the world were
equipped with at least one selfcheck-in kiosk.
A third wave of digitization started
to take place around 2010. It
consisted of deploying self-service
throughout the customer journey in
the airport: for baggage deposit,
b o rd e r co n t ro l a n d b o a rd i n g . Th i s
generalization of self-service
marked an important milestone for
the passenger experience: travelers
became the master of their own
ex p e r i e n c e , b e i n g a b l e t o c h o o s e
the moment to check-in, to pass
through border control and to
b o a rd . M a ste r i n g a l l t h e p ro ce ss e s
to be done on terminal side gave the
passenger the possibility to better
manage his/her own time, and in a
certain way to extend his/her dwell
time in the entertainment and dutyfree area.
This wave was then followed by the
deployment of self-service check-in
starting in 2003: a compact solution
capable of replacing check-in agents
13. SITA
22
relevant to identify digital trends.
F i n a l l y, t h e f o u r t h w a v e o f
digitization arrived earlier than
expected, around 2012. This
wave wa s s u p p o r t e d by t h e ove r performance achieved by tech
giants like Google and Facebook
w h o g ave b i r t h i n t h e t e c h n o l o g y
e co s p h e re to t h e co n ce p t o f o p e n
d a t a a n d b i g d a t a . T h i s l a s t wave
of digitization is still at its very
b e g i n n i n g , a n d i s c a r r i e d by ve r y
few airports around the world.
We s h o u l d rat h e r fo c u s o n “d i g i t a l
maturity”, which represents the
level of technology adoption within
an airport. The four waves of
digitzation led to the emergence of
four types of airports:
//
Airport 1.0: the typical “traditional”
airport where all processes are done
manually. The IT penetration is limited
to certain solutions such as CUTE or
basic resources management solution.
These types of airports normally run
a B2B business without any service
marketed directly to the passenger.
//
Airport 2.0: the main factor defining
this type of airport is self-service and
massive CUTE deployment. Airports
2.0 are adopters of partial self-service,
limited just to check-in process and
Wi-Fi technology being deployed in
these airports.
//
Airport 3.0: self-service is deployed
across the passenger journey at all
levels. Operations management is
automated and predictive and mobility
solutions are largely used on terminal
side and air side (particularly in apron
areas).
//
Airport 4.0: the 4.0 airport leverages
big data and open data to enhance
its innovation. Operators try to
create value out of data, by adapting
processes to real-time passenger
flow, anticipation and by knowing the
customer profile better. This family
of airports clearly sees its business
shifting from B2B to B2C.
D IGITA L MATURITY: A KEY
CHA RACTERIST IC OF AN AIRPORT
The four waves of digitization
clearly distinguish airports
according to their digital maturity.
Why?
The analysis of the airport
landscape, at first glance, lets us
t h i n k t h a t t h e I T&T p e n e t ra t i o n i s
closely correlated to the size of
t h e a i r p o r t . Ye t t h i s a ss u m p t i o n i s
potentially irrelevant: when looking
closer into the digital performance
of different airports, we spot
t h a t t h e m o s t i n n ova t i ve o n e s a re
in many cases small to medium
a i r p o r t s , m o re a g i l e t h a n b i g o n e s
or hubs. Also, when comparing two
major hubs (i.e. Atlanta and Dubai),
both the size and the platform
complexity are almost the same
b u t t h e d i g i t a l d e p l oy m e n t i s n o t
at the same level in both. This
leads us to confirm that the airport
segmentation, based on passenger
traffic or freight volume, is not
23
BUSINESS TYPE
A IRP ORT 4 .0
B2C
++
•
Airport systems are fully integrated within the ecosystem using open
APIs, and big data
•
Using data for a better comprehensive way to analyze passenger profile
and generate additional revenues
SMART
AIRPORT
A IRP ORT 3.0
•
Self-service fully deployed across the terminal. Agents are equipped with
mobil ity solutions (i.e. smart tablets)
•
The use of digital solutions to improve operations, optimize the usage of
resources and improve the passenger experience
A IRP ORT 2 .0
•
CUTE is fully deployed and CUSS is set for some airline users
•
The m ain purpose of this level of digitalization is process automation and
cost reduction
A IRPORT 1 .0
B2B
++
•
Computerized processes but manual intervention is needed
•
IT is used to run basic services of the airport
d r i ve n a l m o st exc l u s i ve l y by t h e
w i l l to i m p rove t h e p ro ce s s e s a n d
re d u c e c o s t , w h e re a s s t a r t i n g 2 .0
level, the main objective shifts
onto the passenger: to generate
additional revenues and improve the
customer experience.
The airport transition between the
d i f f e re n t d i g i t a l m a t u r i t y l eve l s i s
d r i ve n by t h e c h a l l e n g e s t h a t t h e
i n d u s t r y i s f a c i n g . H oweve r, e a c h
challenge motivates the choice
to go from one level to another
differently. The transition operated
from 1.0 to 2.0 digital grade is
24
A I RPORT 4 . 0
1. Generate ancillary revenues
2. Passenger experience
A IRP ORT 3.0
1. Capacity raise
2. Passenger experience
3. Cost reduction & process improvement
A IRP ORT 2 .0
1. Cost reduction & process improvement
2. Passenger experience
AIR PO RT 1 .0
in the number of airports which are
digitally advanced, running important
transformation programs based on
data analysis, mobile technology and
open innovation.
THE T RENDS A RE QUITE SPECIFIC TO
EACH REGION
The global trend of airport
digitization seems to be very
heterogeneous. Nevertheless, it
is obvious that there are some
regional trends that can be grouped
into three main categories:
//
//
The zone including Europe, Middle
East and Asia-Pacific is a very
dense area in terms of air traffic.
The airports of these three regions
suffer from serious problems of
congestion which lead them to push
the digitization process to its limit
by targeting the airport 4.0 model.
In the future, we will be seeing a rise
25
North America, a specific region
where airports (and airlines) seem
to struggle to impose a digital
d i s r u p t i o n i n t h e i r i n d u st r y. I t
might be linked to the American
passengers’ state of mind for whom
the travel is still considered as just
a way of transport and not as an
experience. Regional airports, which
are for the most considered to be at
2.0 level, will be potentially migrating
to level 3.0 by deploying largely
self-service at security checks and
boarding and by equipping their
ground handling teams with mobility
solutions capable of enhancing
quality, customer service and ground
operations.
//
in the airport industry is for the time
very low. These airports are running
with overcapacity, but the air travel
potential of these two continents is
very high, that is why the demand for
legacy IT systems like CUTE, CUPPS
and CUSS is expected to explode in
these continents.
South America and Africa, two
regions where the digital penetration
MEA
High demand on
self-service solutions
& mobile solutions
High demand
on legacy IT&T systems
26
Getting Smart with
high demand over data
related to solutions
27
GLOBAL DIGITAL TRENDS
WITHIN THE INDUSTRY
28
The airport IT&T industry achieved growth seven years in a row since 2011
and achieved double-digit growth each year between 2011 and 2014.
Total airport IT&T build and run expenses (in $billions)
10
8,3
8,7
9,07
9,43
9,81
10,20
10,61
8
5,77
6
4,42
5,03
4
2
0
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018*
2019*
2020*
Source: Estimation based on SITA communications
THE MAJOR I N V EST MEN TS ST I L L G O
TO AIRP ORT OP ERAT I ON SYST EMS
AND CHEC K- I N SOLUT I ON S
The major growth of the market was
recorded in 2014 with an increase of 43%14,
due mainly to a high number of greenfield
airport constructions achieved by 2014
and the generalization of the self-service
technology, known to be very expensive
(hardware & software). This growth is
expected to persist with a cumulative
annual rate of 4% until 2020, at least.
This increase in the total IT&T expenses
is accompanied with an increasing IT&T
budget allocated by airport operators:
IT&T average budget went up from 4%
of the average airport turnover in 2011 to
5.7% in 2016.
New technologies like digital solutions
for staff mobility and new services still
account for a very small amount of the
industry’s market volume. Until present,
the Airport Operation Systems (AOS),
including RMS (Resources Management
Solution), AODB (Airport Operation
Database) and check-in solutions counted
for more than 40% of the global IT&T
spending.
14. According to figures communicated by InfraDeals
29
year with USD 2.4 billion of airline
a n d a i r p o r t c y b e r s e c u r i t y m a r ke t
(out of which 31% is directly
re l ate d to t h e a i r p o r t I T i n d u st r y ) ,
k n ow i n g t h a t t h e l e g a l f ra m ewo r k
is extremely propitious for a stable
growth of the sector for the five to
ten years to come.
IT&T expenses distribution
7%
21%
3%
5%
6%
2%
9%
START-UPS: A S ER I OUS CON C ER N FOR
HISTORICAL PLAYER S OF T H E I T&T
INDUSTRY
25%
B a c k-of f i ce s ol ut i ons
FI DS
Te l ecom
C heck- in & boarding
AOS
B aggages
Se c uri ty
Airside
Historically known for its airport IT
solutions, SITA is still the leader of
the market, controlling almost 25%
o f g l o b a l I T&T d e l i v e r i e s ( S I TA’ s
market share accounts for four times
the one of the second market player
A R I N C ) . Th e a i r p o r t I T s e g m e n t i s
also held by smaller players like
RESA, offering a large portfolio of
specific airport products.
Source: Amadeus, SITA, Wavestone analysis
As shown by our estimation of the
m a r ke t va l u e a n d d i st r i b u t i o n , t h e
investments in security systems
are still low (around 5% of the
t o t a l I T&T i n v e s t m e n t s ) . T h i s i s
driven primarily by IATA and ICAO
re st r i c t i o n s a n d a i r p o r t st a n d a rd s .
H oweve r, a c c o rd i n g t o S I TA , 2 0 1 6
was an important milestone for
the fast change happening in the
security field: more than 50% of the
surveyed airports pointed out that
security is in the top 3 priorities for
the coming years.
But these airport IT specialists are
facing the arrival of new actors on
this increasingly attractive market:
//
A c r o s s t h i s I T&T p a n o r a m a ,
cybersecurity is achieving an
e xc e p t i o n a l g r o w t h o f 9 . 9 % 15 p e r
15. According to Gartner
30
IT integrators: these players have
been active in the industry for a while
and are reinforcing their positions by
having an innovative brand powered
by a large international presence.
A few samples of these actors are
the Spanish IKUSI or INDRA, the
American UNISYS or the German
T-SYSTEMS (better known as a
telecommunication specialist).
//
//
Airline IT editors: this is the major
risk of airport IT pure players. Groups
like AMADEUS or SABRE evolve in
a similar airport environment so
they know the ecosystem very well.
They have important connections
within the industry (airlines, ground
handlers or airports) letting them
easily enter the market. They also
have very important investment
capabilities due to a very strong
financial performance (these actors
are still recording double-digit
growth year after year).
31
Start-ups and small companies:
two characteristics define these
new competitors, innovation and
agility. Their very small structure and
organization allows them to propose
disruptive solutions for airports of
type 3.0 and 4.0. Their agile deliveries
are something particularly requested
by airports when it comes to new
technologies inducing a great level
of uncertainty (i.e. uncertain business
model, uncertain need, uncertain
technical feasibility, etc.). These
new players are mainly specialists of
certain cutting-edge technologies,
for example Vision-Box for security
solutions, Foxstream for intelligent
video surveillance, BLIP Systems for
indoor geo-localization and Pacifa
Decision for 3D modelling and flow
management.
THE GLOBAL PREDICTIVE AND SMOOTH
AIRPORT OPERATIONS
where the passenger and flight
n u m b e r s a re t i g h t l y l i n ke d to
seasonal fluctuation (e.g. the activity
of Parisian airports is considerably
higher for summer holidays than for
random days in the year, the activity
of certain airports like the one in
Mauritius is concentrated around
the western seasonal breaks, etc.).
Airports have to be able to predict
the operational needs based on the
number of scheduled flights, and
the flight occupation status as well.
This operational visibility allows
the airport to adapt its human and
physical resources to be as close as
possible to the peaks of demand.
The rise of airport management
c o m p l ex i t y d u e t o t h e
democratization of air travel
(as shown before, causing the
tremendous increase in the number
of transported passengers) and
the arrival on the market of a large
number of airlines and ground
handlers, have put the airports
i n f a c e o f c o m p l ex p ro c e d u re s t o
perform, very important number of
assets and resources to manage and
i n c re a s i n g r i s k s o u rce s to co n t ro l ,
where cases of travel disruption
have increased significantly.
To co u n te r t h e s e n ew l y a p p e a r i n g
i s s u e s , a n d to o p t i m i ze t h e u s a g e
of the airport assets (i.e. apron
occupation, check-in desks
attribution, etc.), airport operators
a re n o l o n g e r l o o k i n g fo r a l e g a cy
solution capable of managing
resources on a day-to-day basis, but
m o re f o r re a l - t i m e a n d p re d i c t i ve
s o l u t i o n s c a p a b l e o f a d j u st i n g t h e
operational performance according
to the actual and predictive needs.
//
//
Predictive operations: particularly
important for “seasonal airports”
32
Real-time operations and centralized
steering: predictive operations
are not sufficient to run an airport
nowadays. Disruption risks are very
high (i.e. terrorist attacks, weather
uncertainty, etc.), so the operators
are forced to have a real-time status
of all the actions done around the
platform, to share this status with all
the involved stakeholders in order
to adjust operations and guarantee
quality and safety.
The outcome of the study confirms
that the so-called “operations
IT” including RMS (Resources
Management System), AODB
(Airport Operational Database) and
FIDS (Flight Information Display
System), are well consolidated
directly by software editors
l i k e R E S A ( F r a n c e ) a n d S I TA
(Switzerland). The benchmark
validates the fact that relational
proximity between the airport and
the editor is well appreciated by the
airports for several reasons:
//
At t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e f i r st wave
of airport digitzation in the 1990s,
many airport operators chose
to develop, in house, their own
“operations IT” solutions. This
was the case for major airports
s u c h a s G ro u p e A D P a n d F ra p o r t .
With the fast evolution of these
solutions, “in-house” adopters faced
a co n t i n u o u s r i s e i n t h e I T&T co st ,
whereas sharing platforms like SITA
and AMADEUS continued to propose
very competitive solutions in terms
of cost, technology and innovation.
Unlike local or international
integrators, editors are capable of
providing all levels of support on
site or offshore, whereas integrators
provide support only at level three or
the second level at their best.
//
Editors have greater expertise in
the solution that they designed and
implemented.
//
When dealing directly with the
software editor, sometimes airports
benefit from some “community
evolutions” of the solution where the
costs are shared by all members of
the community (SITA and AMADEUS
models, for example).
//
MOST OF T H E AI R P ORTS P R EF ER
MARKET SOLUT I ON S OV ER I N - H OUS E
DEVELOP MEN T
Almost 100% of questioned airports
have their IT operation systems
p r ov i d e d b y a t h i r d p a r t y, a n d i n
t h e f u t u re t h i s t re n d d o e s n ’ t s e e m
to get reversed.
COLLABO RAT I V E DEC I S I ON MAK I N G
(A-CDM) AN D T H E TARG ET OF
SHARING I N FOR MAT I ON
I n i t i ate d by t h e i n te rg ove r n m e n t a l
organization EUROCONTROL,
A-CDM intends to share information
between all the stakeholders of
t h e a i r p o r t ( i . e . o p e ra t o r, g r o u n d
handlers, ATC, airlines, and external
stakeholders like weather condition
providers, etc.). This initiative
makes every supplier serving at
the airport an actor of the decision
made across the platform.
These systems are considered as
“critical” for the industry. Having
direct support from the editors
is an important criteria very well
appreciated by the questioned
airports.
33
The benchmark confirms that
A-CDM is more adapted for 3.0 and
4.0 airports where digital maturity
is high enough to deploy such a
tool for all of the stakeholders.
Historically, this solution registered
high demand in Europe (it was even
conceived for the European air
traffic zone), but the study clearly
shows a certain interest in the
subject in airports located in the
Middle East and Asia. These regions
will record an important demand for
this solution in the next few years.
A-CDM benefits
E XCH A NGING DATA
P LAN N I N G I N ADVAN C E
SH
AN
G
TI
DIN
IZI
NG
UP
TA
• U p d at in g t h e AO P/ N O P w it h
th e l atest dat a received
• Adapting infrastr ucture to
pre dictable flows
• Adapting re s ource s to
pre dictable abnor mal
s ituations
IM
UP DAT IN G DATA
• Adapting s lots to flight
plans
OPT
G
• We ather forec ast s
NG
A ircraf t Operato rs
A irpo rt s
G ro und Handlers
A ir Navigat io n S ervice
P roviders
• N etwo rk con st rain t s
AT I
• Pl a n ned act ivit ies an d even t s
RIN
• Adapting de mand to
capacity
CIP
• A r r i v i n g & depart in g flight s
i n fo r mat ion
A
• A i r p ort con figu rat ion an d
re so u rces
RE D U C I N G COST S AN D I M PAC T
O N E N V I RO N M E N T
• Optimiz ing aircraft
tur n- arounds and
de par ture & ar r ival
proce s s e s
• A r r i v i n g & depart in g
f l i g ht s in form at ion
• Re ducing de lays
• Pl a n ned act ivit ies an d
eve n t s
• N etwo rk con st rain t s
34
TOWARDS THE LIMIT
OF SELF-SERVICE
The first self-service check-in kiosk
appeared around the beginning
of the 2000s. At the time, it
was considered as a revolution
for passenger experience. The
technology provided major
i m p rove m e n t s fo r t h e d e l ay s p e n t
checking-in, and important cost
reduction opportunities, especially
in countries where the labor cost is
high.
to the ground handling costs, in
particular the check-in cost.
ONLINE AN D MOB I L E C H EC K- I N I S A
MAJOR TH R EAT FOR K I OS K SOLUT I ON S
T h e r i s e o f l ow - c o s t c a r r i e r s w h o
limit the number of checked
l u g g a g e by m a k i n g i t a n a n c i l l a r y
paying service, has pushed travelers
t o d e e p l y c h a n g e t h e i r b e h a v i o r.
The number of passengers carrying
checked luggage on medium or
short haul flights is getting too
low: the average length of vacation
is being shortened, especially for
yo u n g t ra ve l e r s w h o p r e f e r s h o r t
breaks over long holidays.
But the labor cost is not the
only driver to implement such a
s o l u t i o n . Th e n a t u re o f t h e t ra f f i c
is fundamental: airports having
a n i n c re a s i n g n u m b e r o f l ow - c o s t
airlines are facing high pressure
to implement automatic check-in
s o l u t i o n s . Th e p ro f i t a b i l i t y o f l owcost airlines is indeed directly linked
This change in traveler behavior has
limited the actions to be done at
COST O F LOCA L LA BOR
A I R T RA F F I C TYPE
For countries with a high cost
of labor, the demand of these
solutions is much important
Airports receiving low-cost
carriers have a higher demand
over automated solutions
35
going back to manual services where
the human impact and added value
is largely pointed out by passengers
of all kinds (business, tourists,
technophiles, etc.). This human-based
customer service is perhaps making these
airports appear in the top performing
airports in terms of passenger satisfaction,
but it is not challenging, in any case, the
fact that digital technologies are essential
for the airport operations management
and efficiency. The key is likely to be able
to mix self-service equipment for basic
operations and human presence for added
value services.
t h e a i r p o r t to p a s s e n g e r c h e c k- i n
and possibly on-board seat changes
or other option changes. However,
the mobile and online technologies
h ave m a d e i t p o s s i b l e t o p e r f o r m
all operations from reservation
to on-board service purchase.
This technological improvement,
associated to the traveler behavior
change, has made the usage of
in-terminal automated check-in
kiosks very limited.
K n ow i n g t h at t h e f u n d i n g o f t h e s e
assets is based on a model of
“per checked-in passenger fee”,
the business model of the airport
is being directly and negatively
impacted. Some airports, especially
in South East Asia where passengers
a re “ ove r - c o n n e c t e d ” , d e c i d e d t o
s t o p i n ve s t i n g i n c h e c k - i n k i o s k s
(the average cost of a single
kiosk is €20,000 to €30,000)
and instead, to invest in mobile
check-in technology, but here they
fa ce a n o t h e r i s s u e : t h e u s e o f t h e
airport website and mobile solutions
is too low in comparison to the ones
provided by the airlines.
For that, the use of technology
i s s h i f t i n g t ow a r d s t h e q u a l i t y o f
operations. The benchmark confirms
a t r e n d o f l e ve r a g i n g t e c h n o l o g y
t o i n c r e a s e a c c u r a c y, e s p e c i a l l y
i n co m p l ex a n d m a j o r h u b s w h e re
luggage and cargo management is
critical to match particular conditions
of a large number of flights and in some
cases very short connection time. In
this domain, solutions like Baggage
Reconciliation System (BRS) are driven by
both an improved accuracy, a considerable
reduction in luggage loss and most
important, the IATA resolution 753 making
BRS mandatory for all IATA airlines by
2018. Airports are complying with these
constraints by massively deploying
scanning and reconciliation solutions,
but still small airports processing less
than 1 million passengers seem to be late
regarding this issue.
AU TO MAT IO N IS S HIFTING TOWARDS
Q UA L I TY INST EA D O F PASSENGER
S E RV ICE
A l t h o u g h i t i s n o t g e n e ra l i ze d ye t ,
automating passenger service is
showing its limit. Major tourist
airports (like in Mauritius) and major
h u b s ( l i ke S i n g a p o r e - C h a n g i ) a r e
36
THE AIRPORT PASSENGER
EXPERIENCE: A MAJOR CHALLENGE
B e g i n n i n g i n 2 0 1 0, a n ew co n ce p t
e m e rg e d i n t h e a i r t rave l i n d u st r y :
airport experience. The airport
te r m i n a l i s n o l o n g e r a p l a ce o n l y
intended to process check-in,
luggage and to go through security
checks, but it is more a day-to-day
l i v i n g s p a c e w h e re p a s s e n g e r s o r
v i s i t i n g p e o p l e c a n s h o p, v i s i t a n d
be entertained.
and in certain cases to connect
t o r e m o t e c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e (e . g .
Munich airport deployed their
famous Infogate, capable of merging
between information technology
and human assistance). This mix of
d i g i t a l s o l u t i o n s a n d p e r s o n a l i ze d
s e r v i ce s e e m s to s u i t t h e n e e d s o f
t h e c l i e n t s m u c h b e t t e r. A i r p o r t s
that have already deployed
“ d i g i t a l o n l y ” i n t e ra c t i ve s c re e n s ,
are facing the reluctance of the
p a s s e n g e r s w h e re t h e s e s o l u t i o n s
are impersonal, having some
technical limitation (in particular
fo r t h e i r “ to u c h ” c a p a b i l i t i e s) a n d
not adapted to the passengers need
in such a critical place as airports:
passengers are often stressed in the
terminal and at duty-free and when
they need assistance they prefer a
human-based one over purely digital
s o l u t i o n s . Th e “ p hyg i t a l ” s o l u t i o n s
a re m o re a d e q u a t e t o t h e a i r p o r t
environment, they can definitely
have a better technology usage
factor.
In order to answer this new form
o f “ a u g m e n t e d t r a v e l ” b e t t e r,
airports multiplied entertainment
co r n e r s a n d s h o p p i n g a re a s i n t h e
te r m i n a l . Th e re s u l t i n g co m p l ex i t y
of the airport design induced a lot
of new passenger needs like indoor
guidance, CRM, e-marketing, etc.
INDO OR GU IDA NCE: FROM DIGITAL
S IGNAGE, TO INTERACTIVE SCREENS,
TO M O B ILE P OWERED NAVIGATION
Major hubs benchmarked in the
s co p e o f t h i s st u d y h ave d e p l oye d
indoor interactive screens allowing
passengers to find points of
interests, access to flight schedules
37
DIGITAL TOUCH SCREENS
SOLUTIONS ASSOCIATED TO A
REMOTE ASSISTANCE
DIGITAL TOUCH
SCREENS SOLUTION
n o t ad ap ted to t he st re s sf ul
ai r p o r t envi ro nm e nt
ve r y expansive
ver y ex p an s i ve
m i xing digit al so lut io n wit h
human vir t ual presence
th e p as s en g er a d op t i on i s
to o l ow
m ore perso nalized
a c hieving better usage facto r
As for the indoor mobile assisted
navigation, the projects seem to
be at their very beginning and
at PoC stage (less than 20% of
the benchmarked airports have
already implemented indoor mobile
localization or plan to implement
i t ) . P a r t i a l l y, t h i s i s d u e t o t h e
inaccuracy of the Wi-Fi technology
t h a t h a s b e e n u s e d u n t i l n ow a s a
p r i m a r y t e c h n o l o g y. T h i s t e c h n i c
shows serious limitations inside
complex infrastructures like
airports, but some PoCs who are
merging it with Bluetooth or IoT
solutions are showing promising
results.
of the passenger going through the
te r m i n a l i n d u ce s ve r y l i m i te d t i m e
lapses where the passenger is able
to manipulate his mobile phone.
For instance, at the check-in and
s e c u r i t y a re a s , t h at a cco u n t fo r a s
m u c h a s 3 6 % 16 o f t h e t i m e s p e n t
at the airport, the ability or the
willingness of the passenger to
check his phone for guidance is
extremely limited.
Then come the other moments of
the experience where the passenger
proceeds with his own discretionary
activities. These periods are divided
in two parts: the first one between
t h e c h e c k- i n a n d s e c u r i t y c h e c k s ,
and the second one between the
c u s to m s a n d b o a rd i n g . A s f o r t h e
first one, the stress of the passenger
is at his highest level and the
Another important point to
mention is the user experience
of indoor mobile-based guidance
applications. The particular context
15. According to a research by Kirk (2013)
38
exa m p l e, t h e a i r p o r t s i n F ra n k f u r t
and Copenhagen are testing
some use cases applied to these
h a rd wa re s i n t h e m a i n te n a n ce a n d
repair activities.
passenger won’t use his mobile since
he knows he is going to have to
give it in to be checked at security.
Therefore, the only phase where the
potential of using the mobile phone
for a long period is high, is actually
between the customs and boarding.
B u t h e re , a n o t h e r f a c t o r a p p e a r s ,
the complexity or the simplicity of
the dwell-time zone:
//
//
CRM AND E- MAR K ET I N G TO B ET T ER
REACH TH E PASS EN G ER
As stated before, the improving
digital maturity of an airport leads
it to change from a business-tobusiness model to a business-tocustomer model. This migration
immensely changes the way airports
approach passenger needs.
In many cases, the duty-free area
is a straight zone where the need
for indoor guidance is very limited.
The duty-free at Dubai airport is a
perfect example to illustrate that, the
architectural design is so straight that
the passenger will probably use the
conventional signage over mobilebased guidance.
In a B2B configuration, the airport
is not looking to serve the end
user: therefore, knowing the
p a s s e n g e r, t h e i r p r o f i l e a n d t h e i r
n e e d s i s n o t o f g re a t i m p o r t a n ce .
But when it comes to serving the
c u sto m e r d i re c t l y, a i r p o r t s s h o u l d
l o o k t o k n o w t h e p a s s e n g e r ve r y
well, at least as much as the airline
d o e s . To e n s u r e t h a t i s t h e c a s e ,
a i r p o r t s h ave t r i e d m a ny t i m e s to
obtain passenger data (for instance
through the PNR, Passenger
Name Record) from airlines, but
these were always opposing this
requirement. Facing this reluctance,
airports decided to launch their own
CRM and loyalty programs.
In other cases, the terminal design
is more complex, including circular,
straight and cross levels areas. In
those particular cases, the passenger
adoption of mobile-based indoor
navigation can be effective and high.
The development of new mobile
personal solutions such as
connected watches, digital glasses
and other wearables, will have a
p o s i t i ve i m p a c t o n t h e te c h n o l o g y
adoption by the passengers.
Without any doubt, airports should
start preparing the post smartphone
e ra . Po C s i n t h i s f u t u r i st i c d o m a i n
a r e s t i l l a t a ve r y e a r l y a g e : t h ey
are oriented for operational use but
n o t fo r p a ss e n g e r ex p e r i e n ce. Fo r
//
39
It is clear that the CRM penetration
within the industry is still low
and mainly concerns airports of
3.0 and 4.0 digital maturity (for
example, Paris, Frankfurt, Dubai,
S i n g a p o re - C h a n g i a n d S e o u l Incheon). Thanks to new services
directly provided by the airport
to the passengers (e.g. Internet
parking booking, a mobile app,
loyalty program), these airports
acquire passenger data, increase their
customer knowledge and develop
p e r s o n a l i ze d e - m e rc h a n d i z i n g
through personal messaging or
notifications sent via IoT or i-Beacons
infrastructures. The fact that the
passenger is now better known
by the airport operator offers new
opportunities to generate additional
revenues, either through targeted
marketing with higher added value
than the conventional one, or by
selling passenger data (in accordance
with local and international rules) to
third parties interested in such kind
of data (retailers, advertisers, etc.).
Data use is key and still needs to be
developed by airports.
40
THE OMNICHANNEL CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
Th e m o b i l e d ev i ce, fo r i n st a n ce, i s
the second most used channel after
the website for retrieving flight
information, or buying additional
s e r v i c e s . T h e r e f o r e t o d a y, a n d t o
keep their market share in terms
of services sold in terminal or
outside (parking slots, taxi service,
e tc . ) , a i r p o r t s s h o u l d m u l t i p l y t h e
channels that lead to the customer.
The evolution of the traveler ’s
modes of consumption has led
the airports to readapt their
conventional channels of interaction
w i t h t h e p a s s e n g e r. N o w a d a y s ,
a traveler is a big consumer of
d a t a , h e /s h e i s o v e r - c o n n e c t e d
via smartphones and is always
ready to change his/her channel of
interaction with the airport.
Social media channel
Wearables channel
Physical channel
1990s
Mobile channel
Mobile channel
Website channel
Website channel
Website channel
Physical channel
Physical channel
Physical channel
2000s
2010s
41
2015s
the performance of these mobile
applications depends on the digital
maturity level of the airport.
S M ART P HO N ES A RE THE BACKBONE
O F T H E PA SS ENGER EXPERIENCE
Airports that understood the
i m p o r t a n ce o f t h e m o b i l e c h a n n e l
in the passenger experience and
started to implement a mobile
application are generally the bigger
a n d d i g i t a l l y m at u re o n e s . I n d e e d ,
A I R PO RT 4 .0
•
The level of digital maturity of
the airport characterizes the
f u n c t i o n a l i t i e s p rov i d e d , w h e t h e r
by the phone application or the
we b s i te a s s h ow n i n t h e fo l l ow i n g
diagram:
A IRP ORT 4 . 0
WEBSITE
Website providing flight schedules, 3D
cartography and rich ancillary services
e-purchasing capabilities
•
MOBILE
Mobile application with cartography
and flight schedules, click & collect and
indoor navigation
SMART
AIRPORT
A I RPO RT 3 .0
•
WEBSITE
Website providing flight schedules,
3D cartography and some ancillary
services e-purchasing capabilities
A I RPO RT 2 .0
•
•
WEBSITE
Website giving live
flights schedules and 2D
cartography
A I R PO RT 1 .0
•
A IRP ORT 3.0
WEBSITE
Website with some
basic information
42
MOBILE
Mobile application with
cartography and flight schedules
have the capabilities and most
importantly they have the will, to do
that. A great example of an airport
leveraging technologies to the
maximum is Frankfurt: some months
ago, it launched a new chatbot
a p p l i c at i o n to s e r ve p a ss e n g e r s i n
collaboration with a start-up.
A s s h ow n i n t h e g ra p h a b ove , t h e
transformation of customer service
and care has been accelerating since
2 0 1 0. B e fo re t h i s c r i t i c a l ye a r, t h e
momentum of new transformations
within the airport and travel
industries on a wider scale was
a ro u n d 1 0 ye a r s . S t a r t i n g i n 2 0 1 0
(and the democratization of mobile
and other cutting-edge technologies
since 2007) the landscape of
customer experience has deeply
changed.
THE REAL CHALLENGE IS NOT TO
P R O V I D E M U LT I P L E C H A N N E L S , B U T
TO M A K E T H E E X P E R I E N C E S E A M L E S S
WHEN SHIFTING FROM ONE CHANNEL
TO ANOTHER
I n n ova t i o n w a s s i n c e g e n e ra l i z e d
to all industries, either service
or product ones (banks, airlines,
i n s u ra n ce co m p a n i e s , re t a i l , e tc . ) ,
and the number of customer
touchpoints has become “limitless”:
mobile app, wearables app, chatbots
through social media, personalized
emailing, e-chat etc.
Indeed, providing a new technology
or a new channel of customer
service is important to show the
d i g i t a l m at u r i t y o f t h e a i r p o r t a n d
i m p rove i t s c l i e n t p e rce p t i o n . B u t
the most important thing is to
provide certain continuity between
every tool: it is not of a tremendous
use, to provide a functionality or a
computerized process that you can
perform through the airport website,
a n d t h a t yo u c a n n o t f o l l ow - u p o r
modify later on during the journey.
The passenger should be able to
switch from one channel to another
without disrupting his/her process.
Airports should follow this trend and
f re q u e n t l y p rov i d e n ew i n n ovat i ve
touchpoints in order to maintain
their capacity to be the main source
o f i n fo r m at i o n fo r t h e p a ss e n g e r s ,
at least during the final three days
before departure and at best during
the entire travel experience. Airlines
43
The principles of a successful omnichannel experience
1
Multi-device &
multi-channel
Functional
2
Seamless
3
•
Devices’ technology is moving very fast: digitally mature airports should innovate
permanently and look for what’s next.
•
Airports should not focus on airport application only: they should look for new
channels in order to reduce the risks of losing passenger’s connectivity and access.
•
Passengers are now looking for interactive interfaces and are not interested anymore in
“passive” applications where they can only find and read information.
•
They are willing to interact with every interface, perform processes, purchase products
and services across all channels.
•
Any process or functionality proposed via an interface should be accessible from any
device and any platform. There is nothing more frustrating than an ancillary service
bought on the Internet and not accessible for modification on a smartphone.
•
Along the travel experience, the passenger is invited to use multiple devices and
interfaces: the website through his desktop, the application through his mobile phone,
another application through the tablet available at some corners of the terminal...
these “digital jumps” should be as seamless as possible.
//
This new approach of passengers’ services
was long awaited by the airport business
departments. However, the digital and
IT departments inherit major challenges
to manage in this complex and multiplatform environment:
//
The system architecture should
be done to support the evolution
towards new platforms and devices.
The legacy one is extremely costly to
adapt and integrate whenever a new
channel has to be implemented
44
Platform alignment: having
unsynchronized processes through all
the devices and channels is a major
risk induced by the omnichannel
experience. Any small change applied
to a channel should be assessed for
all the other channels.
MOBILITY SOLUTIONS FOR AN
ACCURATE AND SECURED TERMINAL OR
AIRSIDE OPERATIONS
M o b i l i t y te c h n o l o g i e s d i d n o t o n l y
change the user and passenger
habits, but also the way ground
agents achieve their day-to-day
w o r k . C e r t a i n l y, d i g i t a l s o l u t i o n s
provide more accuracy in the
operations by providing live and
up-to-date data and more possible
a c t i o n s to a c h i eve by b r i n g i n g t h e
working tool to every corner of the
a i r p o r t . A c c o r d i n g t o I T p r ov i d e r
SITA, 47% of the airports worldwide
plan to equip their staff with mobile
phone or tablets over the next 2 to
3 years.
are getting some enriched content
allowing the ground agents to
propose and sell ancillary services
across the terminal. The level of
penetration of these solutions is
still low: across the benchmarked
airports, Paris Airport seems to
be the most mature regarding this
technology through their in-house
developed solution Vasco (which
is developed in partnership with a
start-up).
//
Used to exchange operational
d a t a ( u p & d ow n ) o r i n te ra c t w i t h
customers, these mobility solutions
are productivity tools which are
mainly present on terminal side
around the check-in and security
areas, in baggage handling activities
and at air side around the aircraft.
The aim is not the same for all these
areas:
//
Mobile solutions at baggage
handling and apron side: in this case
the aim of such tools is to improve
the efficiency and the quality of the
operations. The benchmark shows
that mobility solutions in these
“technical” areas have a penetration
level higher than in terminal. This is
due to the will of airports to ensure
a safer air side environment through
precise mobile assets and objects
traceability.
The benchmark was not able
to identify a trend regarding
in-terminal mobility solutions. The
characteristics of airports planning
to deploy these solutions are so
Mobile solutions on terminal side
a re u s e d to p rov i d e a cc u ra te
assistance, especially in disruption
cases. Nevertheless, these solutions
45
disparate. Indeed, they have at least
a 3.0+ digital maturity level before
adapting these mobile devices.
B u t i t i d e n t i f i e d a c l e a r t re n d f o r
operational mobile solutions at
apron and air side: the adoption
o f t a b l e t s i n t h e s e a re a s s e e m s to
b e d i re c t l y c o r re l a t e d o n t h e o n e
hand, to the number of passengers
p ro c e s s e d a n n u a l l y a t t h e a i r p o r t
and on the other the number of
assets.
THE GRADUAL REPLACEMENT OF
PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANTS (PDA)
The analyzed airports show that
the demand over the legacy
personal digital assistants is still
high, especially for operational
agents. These devices ensure
robustness, a very good pricequality ratio and they require light
d a t a i n f ra s t r u c t u re . P DA s a re s t i l l
t h e m a i n d ev i ce u s e d i n te c h n i c a l
a r e a s o f t h e a i r p o r t , f o r ex a m p l e
in baggage handling and apron
a c t i v i t i e s . B u t t h e p ro b l e m o f t h i s
solution is that it is esthetically
not suitable for passenger-facing
processes.
Passengers/Cargo traffic
• So l u tion s to
m a n a ge an d t race
m o b i l e as s et s :
r u nway veh ic les
tra ce a bility
•
Mo b i le s olu t ion s
o n term in al s ide
fo r g rou n d agen t s
•
S o lut io ns to
m a na ge a nd t ra ce
f ix a sset s
•
Runway m o bile
a sset s t ra cea bility
so lut io ns
•
Mo bile so lut io ns
o n term ina l side
fo r gro und a gent s
•
S o lut io ns to
m a na ge a nd t ra ce
f ix a sset s : a sset
m a intena nce
For these customer-facing
activities, airports have chosen
lighter solutions such as tablets
o r s m a r t p h o n e s . H o w e v e r, t h e
actual issue of the airport
te c h n o l o g y d e p a r t m e n t i s to o f fe r
a combined solution
c a p a b l e o f a n swe r i n g
Airport complexity t h e r e q u i r e m e n t o f
and air side assets
customer-facing
number
businesses and a
tough operational
environment. That is why the
market is witnessing the advent of
reinforced heavy tablets inspired by
a m i x o f t a b l e t f l ex i b i l i t y a n d P DA
robustness. The only remaining issue
that is slowing down the market
a d o p t i o n o f t h i s te c h n o l o g y i s t h e
price: for now, a heavy tablet is a lot
more expensive than the PDA and is
priced on average up to double the
price of common tablets.
46
NETWORK, CONNECTIVITY AND
THE CLOUD ARE THE BACKBONE OF
AIRPORT DIGITIZATION
Any business or customer oriented
IT solution requires an efficient
network to support its performance
and evolution. Telecommunications
and networks are the backbones of
the airport IT. To ensure the level of
quality, many airports developed, in
t h e p a st , t h e i r ow n l o c a l n e t wo r k s
either for phone calling functions
o r i n te r n e t co n n e c t i v i t y, a n d t h ey
were acting as a monopoly actor
d i st r i b u t i n g a cce ss to t h e n e t wo r k
to different airlines, ground
h a n d l e r s a n d o t h e r t r a ve l a c t o r s .
However, things are changing, this
l o c a l n e t wo r k i s b e i n g o p e n e d t o
competition and we are seeing the
a r r i va l o f n ew t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n
low-costs on the market.
technologies like IoT networks
a n d p ro f e s s i o n a l 4 G / LT E i n o rd e r
to keep their market share, by
proposing high-end offers (more
data, faster and more secured).
4 G I S M A K I N G I T S E N T R A N C E TO T H E
PROFESSIONAL WORLD
P r o f e s s i o n a l W i - F i a n d Te t r a
Solutions are still very common
in the airport industry (100% of
q u e st i o n e d a i r p o r t s a re st i l l u s i n g
these technologies), but many
airports are running tests on 4G
with some promising results in some
o f t h e m o st co m p l ex a i r p o r t s (e.g .
positive results in terms of coverage
and data capacity were reached
in the scope of the tests ran by
HubOne in CDG airport).
Th i s n ew co m p e t i t i o n i s d e f i n i te l y
impacting historical actors (like
H u b O n e 17 f o r P a r i s i a n a i r p o r t s
a n d D e u t s c h e Te l e k o m f o r t h e
Frankfurt airport), but it is pushing
innovation to its boundaries.
telecommunication operators
are largely investing in new
Starting in 2018, 4G technology
should make a large appearance
i n t h e a i r p o r t i n d u s t r y, w h i c h w i l l
have a positive impact on leveraging
innovation and IT.
17. HubOne is a subsidiary of Groupe ADP, specialized in telecommunications
47
4G HAS MULTIPLE ADVANTAGES
Mutu alis at io n o f
infrastr u ct u re an d co st
redu ct io n
O p t i m i s at i o n o f a p ro n
o p e rat i o n s by h av i n g a
h i g h e r b a n d wi d t h
H i g h er cap aci ty of d ata
exch an g e
(more ad ap ted for ai r p or ts
o f d i g i tal typ e 3 .0 an d 4.0)
professional channel is completely
separated from the public one.
P U B L I C W I - F I I S W I D E LY AVA I L A B L E
AND IT MUST BE FOR FREE, TO
S U P P O R T T H E D E V E LO P M E N T O F N E W
PASSENGER-ORIENTED APPLICATIONS
As for the commercial offering,
major airports with a high level
o f d i g i t a l m a t u r i t y ( 3 .0 & 4 .0 ) g o
for a free Wi-Fi model. This free
access is used by the airport as
a base to develop new ancillary
services (e-shop through mobile
applications, indoor localization
and notifications push, etc.) with
higher added value than making
the passenger pay for the Internet
co n n e c t i o n . H oweve r, s o m e o f t h e
airports are opting for a mixed
model of free and paid access,
where the offering is dependent
on the usage time and/or the data
volume and/or the bandwidth.
Public Wi-Fi is available in all
bench marked airports. Providing
a n I n te r n e t a cce s s f o r p a s s e n g e r s
and visitors is no longer an option
during the travel lifetime. Airports’
Wi-Fi connection landscape is
quite similar to the public hotspot
accesses available in common places
like malls, but the cybersecurity
concerns are much higher because
the network access is used for
operational solutions and activities.
That is why airports adopted the
dual Wi-Fi networks where the
48
The Wi-Fi is generalized to all airports studied in the scope of the
benchmark, but the business model differs
from an airport to another
Free Wi- Fi fu n de d by
adver t is em ent
[Th i s m o del i s s p e cif ic
to th e d i g i tal l y m at ure
ai r po r ts]
M i xe d W i - F i m o d e l s b a s e d
o n t h e a cce s s t i m e to t h e
i nte rn et
[T h e p rem i u m l evel i s ei t h er
m o d u l ated b a s ed o n t h e
b a n d wi d t h o r t h e a m o u nt o f
d at a a l l owed ]
//
INTERNET OF THINGS
L i ke o t h e r i n d u s t r i e s , I o T h a s n o t
ye t fo u n d i t s u s e c a s e s w i t h i n t h e
a i r p o r t i n d u st r y. Ve r y few a i r p o r t s
with a very high digital maturity
(e . g . D u b a i a n d C o p e n h a g e n ) a r e
testing some use cases of these
connected objects. These use cases
can be grouped in three streams of
usage:
//
Environment quality: IoT is used to
deliver remote environmental data
like temperature, humidity, noise etc.
//
Safety: some PoCs are implemented
to test the feasibility of remote
safety checks using IoT (ex: intrusion
detection, door lock check etc.)
“Freemi u m” f u n d ed by
th e ad ver ti sement an d a
p remi u m p ai d of fer i n g
Asset management: some PoCs
are applied in certain airports to
assess the potential of IoT in the
field of predictive maintenance (e.g.
machine’s vibration level monitoring,
heat level monitoring etc.).
To d a y, t h e m a i n p r o b l e m f a c i n g
a massive deployment of IoT is
notably its maintenance: the limited
battery lifetime of these devices
and their difficult accessibility
in certain cases, would generate
considerable maintenance cost.
Th i s a d d i t i o n a l co st i s m a k i n g t h e
R O I o f t h e s e d ev i c e s ve r y l ow, a t
present. Perhaps, the emergence of
newer battery technologies and the
technology mastering improvement
will have a serious push to the IoT
in the complex airport environment.
49
Recently, Frankfurt airport decided,
for instance, to outsource all its
o n s i t e d a t a c e n t e r t o T- s y s t e m s .
This kind of move is a clear sign
t h a t a i r p o r t s wa n t to re d i re c t t h e
effort of their technology teams
from legacy IT issues to innovation
solutions and more added value
activities.
T H E A I R P O R T I N D U ST RY I S G O I N G TO
THE CLOUD
H i s t o r i c a l l y ve r y r e l u c t a n t t o t h e
offsite data housing, airports
are reassessing their strategies
regarding outsourcing data centers.
Space is becoming very limited on
t h e p re m i s e s a n d o p e rato r s p re fe r
to use these areas as rental or retail
zones, financially more interesting
than a data center.
A n o t h e r ex a m p l e o f s u c h a t r e n d
is the partnership between
Copenhagen airport and Amadeus,
which aims to deliver all operational
systems through the Amadeus
c l o u d ( R M S , A- C D M , AO D B , B R S
etc.). This “cloudification” of the
airport IT&T is a reality, but it could
i n s o m e c a s e s fa ce s o m e p o l i t i c a l
and national security constraints, as
airports are considered as vital and
strategic national assets.
Around 45% of airports have a plan
to develop their cloud connectivity,
to migrate their applications,
starting indeed by non-critical
applications (e.g. back office
applications).
Airport maturity in terms of cloud and offsite hosting
Test or
no plan
Major migration
programs
55%
45 %
Source: SITA
50
HOW ARE AIRPORTS DEALING WITH
GLOBAL CYBERSECURITY ISSUES?
T h e I T&T l a n d s c a p e i s m u t a t i n g
r a p i d l y. D a t a e x c h a n g e s a r e
becoming bigger and bigger
w i t h n e w s o l u t i o n s d e p l oye d l i k e
CRM, loyalty programs, mobile
devices, facial recognition, etc. The
airports tend to open and share
t h e a cce s s i b i l i t y o f t h e i r sys te m s ,
including critical systems like
Airport Operation System (AOS) and
F l i g h t I n fo r m a t i o n D i s p l ay Syste m
(FIDS). And finally, the airports are
planning to migrate to the cloud in
the next 5 to 10 years.
Airport cyber security status
7% 59%
12%
10%
In 2016, 55% of airports had
fully developed an operational
cybersecurity plan and only 19%
were prepared to deal with any
threats.
Any th re at s ma n a g e me nt
E a rl y p l a n n i n g
Com m on cy b e rt h re at s
m ange me nt
M o st c ri t i ca l syste ms
s e c u ri ty ma n a g e me nt
Source: SITA
Major airports now address this
st rate g i c i ss u e by p u t t i n g i n p l a ce
dedicated, but still under-sized,
teams (due to the lack of available
skilled manpower).
51
19%
advanced, have a good knowledge
and expertise in this field. However
globally, the industry will develop an
i m p o r t a n t n e e d i n t h e few co m i n g
years for two areas:
TWO CRITICAL CYBERSECURITY KNOWHOWS TO DEVELOP
Before the emergence of open
data and big data, airport systems
we re n o t co m m o n l y t a rg e te d w i t h
cyberattacks since the systems
were independent, isolated and
n o t a cce ss i b l e by t h i rd p a r t i e s . At
present, giving access to the airport
systems through dedicated APIs, in
o rd e r t o e m p owe r i n n ova t i o n a n d
development, multiplies the risk of
cyberattacks.
Despite there being few small
airports (of less than 1 million
p a s s e n g e r/y e a r ) w h i c h h a v e a
serious lack of cybersecurity
expertise and solutions, major
airports, which are digitally
52
//
Cyberattack detection centers: the
number of attacks will, without a
doubt, increase within the industry,
carried on by the global terrorist
threat. To counter this, airports will
have two options: either to develop
internally the required expertise or
to choose outsourcing. The second
option is more likely to happen, since
the shortage of adapted profiles for
such a domain is a fact.
//
Penetration tests: the same analysis
applies for this domain, where
airports will most likely outsource this
activity in the future years.
ORGANIZATIONAL
IMPACT OF THE DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION
53
All changes and new trends
impacting the airport systems
have a direct impact on airport
organization, in particular the IT&T
department.
INNOVATION H AS B ECOME T H E MAI N
EXPECTED SERV I C E OF AN I T AN D
DIGITAL DEPA RT MEN T
The IT department has the
technological knowledge and skills
to drive innovation. Other business
u n i t s , m o re f o c u s e d o n d e l i ve r i n g
service to clients, expect digital
people to lead innovation.
The IT department, which used
to be considered as a support
function, is not one anymore. IT
has become strategic, and generally
t h e a i r p o r t C h i e f Te c h n o l o g y
O f f i c e r (C TO) i s n ow p re s e n t a t
t h e exe c u t i ve b o a r d o f d i r e c t o r s .
The additional weight given to
CTOs allows them to transform the
function from an IT developer to a
s o l u t i o n p rov i d e r. I n o t h e r wo rd s ,
the airport IT department has,
henceforth, the responsibility to
b e p ro a c t i ve i n s t e a d o f re c e i v i n g
and implementing requirements
coming from the different business
divisions.
For this innovation to be
economically viable and
b u s i n e s s w i s e , i t s h o u l d b e s h a re d
across all the departments. That is
why innovation must be transverse.
To speed up innovation, it would be
b e t te r fo r a i r p o r t s to i n c re a s i n g l y
turn to startups and small
co m p a n i e s i n o rd e r to g e t g re a te r
f l e x i b i l i t y a n d a g i l i t y, e s p e c i a l l y
during the experimental phase.
H I STO RI C A L O R G A N I SAT I O N B ETW EEN B USI N ESS & I T DEPART MEN TS
Business units
Requirement
expressed
IT department
Software delivery
C U RRE N T OR G A N I SAT I O N B ETW EEN B USI N ESS & I T DEPART MEN TS
Business units
Requirement
expressed
IT department
Innovation
54
Software delivery
or PoCs
Th i s t y p e o f b a s e l i n e p ro g ra m c a n
b e m a n a g e d g l o b a l l y i n a V- c yc l e
mode as the uncertainty is very low,
and for small additional innovative
functionalities the development
teams can go for agility.
AGILE OR V-CYCLE?
Innovative projects have, by
definition, a higher level of risk. We
even call it uncertainty. Performing
s u c h d eve l o p m e n t s i n a V- c yc l e
development mode can induce
enormous financial loss if the
project is not successful at the end.
In those cases, agile methodologies
and going step by step in a lean
startup mode is more adapted.
F i n a l l y, a i r p o r t s s h o u l d f i n d t h e i r
equilibrium between traditional
p ro j e c t m a n a g e m e n t m e t h o d s a n d
newly emerging agile ones.
M a ny a i r p o r t syste m s a re n o t t h a t
innovative in areas necessary for the
functioning of the airport: check-in,
RMS (Resources Management
Solution) for operations and so on.
55
CONCLUSION
56
To d a y, n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s h a v e a
clear impact on airports: they
facilitate and accelerate their
mutation. Digital transformation is
happening quickly and gradually
pushing the limits, by offering new
solutions to the airports’ challenges.
Te c h n o l o g y i s a l m o s t l i m i t l e s s :
identifying relevant use cases,
checking acceptability and adapting
t h e o rg a n i z a t i o n to p rov i d e q u i c k
a n swe r s i s c l e a r l y w h at i s at st a ke
today.
and weaknesses and considering
airport context and constraints.
As Albert Einstein said, the
difference between stupidity and
genius is that genius knows its
limits. Consequently, positioning as
a s m a r t a i r p o r t w i l l f i r s t re q u i re a
strategic review, in order to define
the most relevant bricks to develop
to meet the airport strategic
goals. A smart airport is not about
complete digitization of the airport,
it is more how it can provide a
competitive edge to the company. A
roadmap will help to prioritize and
co o rd i n a te t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f
solutions which are more and more
interconnected.
H o w e ve r, a i r p o r t s ’ d i g i t a l
transformation is still at the
beginning: knowing how to use
abundant data, being more
responsive to new uses, developing
new safety & security solutions,
generalizing PoCs in order to
l eve ra g e t h e f u l l p o te n t i a l , h av i n g
a flexible organization able to
manage technologies in constant
development, are many topics which
still need to be improved!
« The difference
between stupidity and
genius is that genius
knows its limits »
In the end, being a smart airport
a p p e a r s m u c h m o re co m p l ex t h a n
j u st b e i n g d i g i t i ze d o r i n n ova t i ve.
A more appropriate definition
wo u l d ce r t a i n l y b e to b e re a d y to
make the most of technological
potential, to take up strategic
p r i o r i t i e s , a c c o rd i n g t o s t re n g t h s
Albert Einstein
57
58
59
www.wavestone.com
60