Pandemic accelerates digital innovation at region’s airlines and airports

Airlines and airports are putting in place biometrics to speed up passenger processing through airports to boarding. And that is not the only change.

by ASSOCIATE EDITOR AND CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, TOM BALLANTYNE  

February 1st 2023

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SITA Asia-Pacific president, Sumesh Patel, told Orient Aviation last month that “before COVID airlines and airports were competing”. Read More » They did not want to share information or strategies, he said.

“The airlines said ‘this is my passenger and I will take care of it’ and the airports said ‘this is my passenger and I will take care of it’. They have learned they must work together or they will not be able to solve the problems,” he said.

“I see more collaboration between stakeholders. From SITA’s perspective, they are working together, agreeing this is a common problem and asking how do we tackle that.”

If there is a challenge, it is related to governments. They need to be working more closely with the industry, Patel said.

The re-opening of China was an example. Several governments introduced new and different rules, complicating travel.

In January, SITA released its 2022 Air Transport IT Insights report that outlined accelerated IT development at airlines and airports.

Faced with increased disruption, baggage mountains and staff shortages, airports and airlines were digitilising operations and speeding up the passenger journey with more self-service options, SITA wrote.

Commercial aviation IT spend will continue its steady year-on-year growth that began in 2020, it said. About 96% of airlines and 93% of airports are expecting IT spending to be stable or increase this year compared with 2022, SITA said.

Last year, airline IT investment climbed to an estimated US$37 billion and airports outlaid US$6.8 billion for upgraded digital systems.

In the post pandemic recovery period, chief information officers (CIOs) of airlines and airports want to ensure operations are as agile and resilient as they are efficient, with IT solutions central to their success, SITA said. This strategy has spurred an acceleration of digitalization, with airlines and airports looking to technology solutions to fortify their operations against disruption while automating the passenger experience.

SITA is one of many providers offering low-touch, self-service and agent-assisted passenger processing solutions at each step of the journey to airline and airport clients.

“Clearly, the pandemic is pushing faster adoption of these technologies. Firstly, to deal with staff challenges. Secondly, they want to use their resources more efficiently,” Patel said.

A faster than expected recovery from the pandemic has caught many airports and airlines off guard. Staff shortages are a problem.

“They are really ramping up, but even if you recruit new employees you need six to nine months for training them,” Patel said.

Additionally, it has become clear many staff who left the industry don’t want to come back. They have found new jobs and careers,” Patel said. IT is the answer to this problem, he said.

The Insights report tracks increased airline emphasis on IT tools for management of irregular operations and delivery of the best passenger experience despite staff shortages.

“In the last three years, 90% or more airlines have been investing in IT service management enhancement, disruption warning systems and business intelligence initiatives for aircraft turnaround management, passenger processing and baggage processing,” the SITA study said.

“Business intelligence solutions are at the forefront of airport IT investment priorities, with 93% or more carriers planning business intelligence initiatives for asset management and flight operations by 2025,” SITA said.

“The emphasis on agility, adaptability to disruption and prompt communications with customers and stakeholders is clear.

“By 2025, 50% of all airports will have implemented automated predictive alerts before flight disruption events and business intelligence initiatives to scale operations based on demand.”