Putting his bag on the automatic baggage check-in, he plugs his PDA into the airport management system (AMS) as he steps on the conveyor. After he and his luggage are scanned for signatures of explosives and drugs, the PDA fixes an intelligent tag to his suitcase to ensure that it is delivered to his hotel on arrival. At the end of the conveyor, he picks up his boarding pass, which shows his seat number, up to date departure time and customs clearance.
Fantasy or reality? A bit of both. We have the technology, or almost. Before we know it, PDAs and smartcards will allow much more control over the unavoidable chore of getting from home to aircraft. But are airports going to be ready for them?
Airport operators have to make complex tradeoffs. On the one hand, they want to get people through the airport and on to the aircraft as fast as possible. Passengers don't want to queue for ticketing, check-in, security, and boarding. And airlines, faced with increasing airspace and airport gridlocks, want to be able to turn aircraft round in 15 minutes. On the other hand, airports want to increase dwell time, keeping passengers in their terminals long enough to spend money on shops and entertainment.
The challenge of reconciling these conflicting objectives is exacerbated by the 10 to 15 year time lag between planning and opening a new airport or airport expansion. Most challenging of all, competitive patterns are changing, with shifts in the centres of demand, bigger and faster aircraft and more competition from high speed rail.
The airports of the future will have to minimise hassle for passengers, maximise efficiency for carriers, and meet strict environmental criteria. They will also have to cater for changing patterns of customer and supplier utilisation. This is where new technology will help the design of entrance, waiting and gate areas.
Technology will remove the need for check-in desks, security areas, duty-free shops and entertainment areas. Even the gates will make room for revenue-generating VIP lounges, shopping, and virtual entertainment centres. In particular, technology will help smooth the flow of passengers.
Travel distributors are already beginning to respond to passengers' demands for a seamless transition from booking to the trip itself: Southwest has introduced ticketless travel, Mondex has issued smart credit cards, and British Airways and Lufthansa are testing smart cards for ticket purchase. But smart technology has much more potential than just storing the data for ticketless travel. The storing of personal preferences (eg on-board service), details of individual trips (car/hotel reservations), and information to speed security checks (passport data, visas) are all in the works; they are limited only by regulation and current cost, not technology.
While ATB2 (Automatic Ticket and Boarding) passes and bar-coding of luggage speed up the check-in process, they only work once the passenger is in the airport. Linking mobile telephone technology with smart cards will also allow frequent travellers to check-in on their way to the terminal. The AMS can then advise on delays, confirm your arrival, and, depending on security status, baggage and departure time, direct you to the fastest track to your plane. In the terminal, agents with hand-held terminals can check-in passengers without baggage.
Today, palm/finger recognition immigration systems such as INSPASS in the US are being tested, but they are only the forerunners of a trend: the recognition that security checks can become part of an airline's (or an airport's) customer care.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) screening technology will allow non-invasive searches of passengers and baggage as they walk through, detecting virtually all dangerous and illegal substances.
By the time passengers arrive at the gate, having perhaps spent some time in the airport's virtual shopping mall while sitting in the comfort of a VIP lounge, the carrier will have accessed the AMS to adjust waiting lists, catering requirements, and cargo. Quicker servicing and high tech maintenance screening to avoid last minute hitches will mean less time at the gate.
For an airport operator the real challenge is how to access and use technology to drive profits and create a habitable environment for local communities. Early adopters of technology are already reaping the benefits. Now airport operators need to expand their view to include passenger flows and revenue management.
Source: Airline Business
