Optimising Airport Operations and the Role of Intelligent Technology

Improving Operational Efficiency for Small and Mid-Sized Airports

Why Airports Need Advanced Management Solutions

Streamlining Airport Management

Implementation and Successful Adoption

Looking to the Future

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John Hancock

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Whether it is for business or for leisure, an increasing number of us are travelling by air and that means that an increasing number are using airports. Once simply the fields where aircraft landed and took-off and where passengers embarked and disembarked, airports are now organizations in their own right with the need to manage their own increasingly complex part of an increasingly complex air travel network. As well as the original activities, airports have to ensure security, the safe delivery of luggage, ground handling services and, increasingly today, part of the travel ‘experience’. That means hospitality and retail. Those two last items also account for an increasing proportion of an airport’s revenue.

We open with a series of questions and answers from George Richardson, Co-Founder of AeroCloud, looking at the evolution of a software solution specifically for the management of small and medium airports. It looks at how technology can enhance airport operations and how a successful implementation can be achieved, as well as discussing future trends in airport management.

Our next article takes a wider view of how artificial intelligence can enhance airport operations starting with some of the influences that have to be considered such as passenger numbers and aircraft movements – the basic functions of

an airport – security demands and the need to optimize revenue before looking at the advantages that artificial intelligence can offer and airport operator. Then Camilla Slade’s article looks at the prerequisite to success for an IT solution implementation, that is to streamline the operation. She covers the advantages of streamlining operations and illustrates these with a case study of a recent implementation at Liverpool John Lennon airport, introducing, also, the concept of the Cloud and how it adds value to a solution.

Moving forward, Peter Dunwell gets down to the nitty gritty of a successful IT software solution implementation. He starts by setting out the mechanics of an implementation before considering the challenges that are likely to arise during implementation and looking at what can be done to mitigate or overcome those challenges. The message could be summed up as - be sure to prepare. Finally, we take a look into the future for airports as best as it can be predicted, and what steps can be taken to be prepared for what is likely to happen (trends of predicted passenger numbers over the next thirty years) and to be ready for events that have not yet been foreseen.

John Hancock Editor

John Hancock, Editor of Airport Reports, has written and edited articles and papers on a range of IT, technology, engineering and support services topics as well as for Commercial Aviation Operations IT. His range of subjects have included aero-engineering, auto-engineering and electronics, high value manufacturing, testing, aviation IT, materials engineering, weapons research, supply chain, logistics and naval engineering.

Improving Operational Efficiency for Small and Mid-Sized Airports

How Did AeroCloud Begin and What is Your Mission?

I founded AeroCloud with Ian Forde-Smith, our CTO, in Macclesfield in 2019. Ian had come from a long career of working with airports and I was in the process of retiring after 10 years in racing and looking for an old lock, new key style company.

After a couple of years devising potential business ideas, AeroCloud was born - an intelligent SaaS airport management platform that allows executives and operational teams to make data-driven decisions to solve the complex challenges they face every day. Our mission is to be the largest provider of airport operation automation software for the small to medium-sized airport market globally. And in less than three years, we have partnered with 47 customers in the UK, Europe and US, with our software processing more than 190+ million passengers annually.

In February 2023, we successfully raised $12.6million in Series A funding after we were able to demonstrate our commitment to and progress against our mission. Indeed, when commenting on the motivation behind investing in AeroCloud, one of our new investors, Liz Christo at Stage 2 Capital, said “In only a small time, AeroCloud has become the definitive operating software for small to medium-sized airports”. With this new funding, we plan to deliver on our bold ambitions to expand our business, employ local people in the North West of England where we were founded, and continue to displace our competitors.

What is AeroCloud’s Portfolio and How it Has Evolved?

AeroCloud is the only cloud-native intelligent airport management platform on the market. It enables everything from faster passenger processing times to increased communication between stakeholders to deal with real-time

fluctuations in processes to ensure that airports work better and communicate with customers.

When we first launched, we had great success penetrating the US market with our proposition of offering airports a cloud-based environment to become more data-driven, rather than relying on manual data management processes for airport management, such as Excel.

For us to penetrate the European market successfully, though, we knew we had to tap into what airports in the region wanted – and that centres around common use passenger processing, self-check-in, and self-bag drop.

That’s why we acquired Flight Solutions in August 2022 – a company well regarded in the region for its passenger processing technology –and means we can now offer a comprehensive one-stop solution for all their airport data and passenger journey needs.

In March 2023, we launched AeroCloud Optic – a pioneering industry-first computer vision technology that enables airports to gain kerb to gate passenger insights for the first time. AeroCloud Optic uses computer vision to intelligently, anonymously and accurately track passengers as they move through an airport. Our AI algorithm is the only solution on the market that can re-identify passengers along their journey. And we’re proud of what a game-changing technology it is – the industry has been crying out for development in this space, incorporating modern technology such as AI and Machine Learning (ML) into the airport.

What is Your Take on the State of the Airport Sector Today? What Changes Have You Seen Post-COVID?

All airports globally had to do the best that they could in line with the guidance and/or restrictions in their specific regions, so to say one region recovered better than another would be subjective. But purely from a commercial perspective, airports in the North American

George Richardson, Co-Founder of AeroCloud, answers a series of questions relating to the creation and operations of AeroCloud

Our mission is to be the largest provider of airport operation automation software for the small to medium-sized airport market globally

market had a more advantageous position as, despite the tighter restrictions on international passengers, their domestic flights still gave them the opportunity to continue operating and they didn’t lay off staff like airports did in Europe and APAC, so they were commercially in a much better position post Covid-19.

Now, international travel is returning, airports worldwide are struggling to adjust to heightened demand as they navigate the challenges of staff shortages and a lack of investment due to debt incurred during the pandemic. They must invest in solutions that will enable them to make greater operational efficiencies, improve the passenger experience, and boost revenue in the long-term.

How Does Intelligent Technology Enhance Airport Operations?

Small to mid-sized airports often use manual processes to monitor vital information. This is slow and can deliver inaccurate information to the airport operation and management systems – skewing predictions and planning decisions. Manual processes also don’t give a centralised, real-time view of what’s happening across the airport, leaving stakeholders in the dark about the current state of play beyond periodical reports. Decision-making will be made in silo, not necessarily delivering the optimum outcome.

Airports need to become data driven so that data is in the hands of all relevant parties for real-time decision making based on accurate insights. When AI and ML are added to the mix, airports can use this data to identify trends, draw learnings, and predict future scenarios to inform more accurate decision-making and long-term planning.

How Do You Work with Customers to Ensure Successful Implementation of Your Technologies?

A core component to our success story so far is that we put our customers at the heart of our innovation. Across all regions, we take a research-based and data-driven approach – finding out potential customers’ goals and challenges and providing consultation on how we can help to solve their problems. This has led us to create an innovative ecosystem of evangelical customers who we invite to provide feedback to our product team so that we create new features and products for the industry. This is how we created AeroCloud Optic and will continue to innovate in our future product roadmap to solve the complex operational challenges that airports experience across the globe.

Can You Talk Us Through a Case Study of a Successful Implementation That Has Improved Airport Operations and Seen Actual Results? (Liverpool)

Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s slogan is “faster, easier, friendlier”, so we already knew AeroCloud Optic would be a perfect fit to support the team’s expectations of elite operational efficiency. They had tried multiple ways –from manual counting to Bluetooth systems, Wi-Fi systems, and LiDAR – to track how individual passengers travelled through the airport but had not found a method that delivered the accurate information they needed. When we work with customers, we encourage them to tell our product team the problems they face and then collaborate with them on fixing them. This is how we worked with Liverpool John Lennon Airport when trialling AeroCloud Optic. It is being used by the airport to better understand movement in the building – identifying peaks and bottlenecks, and where queues are likely to form – flattening any planning curves and increasing efficiency. And the airport is already seeing the longlasting benefits that AeroCloud Optic will bring. Paul Staples, Director of Airport Operations, described the solution as “the holy grail of commercial activity in an airport” as “we now have accurate information that allows us to plan more effectively at an operational level, while also helping to inform decision-making for marketing, and spend per head in retail and concession environments. We’ve never been able to do this in the past.”

What Are the Future Trends and Challenges in Airport Management?

Coordination and communication are key to operational management. Yet in many airports, most stakeholders are in the dark about the current state of play. Data is not readily accessible, and many third parties might never see it beyond periodical reports. Putting data in the hands of all relevant parties helps them understand how their services are performing and how that impacts the airport operations as a whole. That is why we offer unlimited licenses to our cloud-based platform. We don’t want airports to have to choose who has access to data nor reduce its potential in supporting better operational decision-making.

It’s an exciting time for the industry as travel finally has started looking like it’s ‘getting back to normal’. However, the game is different to what it was before March 2020, with tightened budgets and staff shortages - just two of the many challenges airports must navigate.

AeroCloud Optic uses computer vision to intelligently, anonymously and accurately track passengers as they move through an airport

Those that weren’t previously investigating new technologies such as computer vision, AI and ML – and the data and insights they deliver – will no doubt be saying this year that they can’t survive without them. Airports will need to get on the front foot now and use data and technology to drive better operations, frictionless passenger experiences and, ultimately, healthier bottom lines.

Airport’s

Liverpool John Lennon

slogan is “faster, easier, friendlier”, so we already knew AeroCloud Optic would be a perfect fit to support the team’s expectations of elite operational efficiency

LIVERPOOL JOHN LENNON AIRPORT

Why Airports Need Advanced Management Solutions

John Hancock, Editor

How the application of artificial intelligence can enhance airport operations

Airports are complex organizations. Not only do they operate in a highly regulated environment, but they also have to provide a wide range of services to a number of businesses, each with their own processes and procedures. Plus, of course, their main purpose is to get people on and off aircraft as well as to handle those aircrafts’ needs from landing to take-off. And, as if that wasn’t enough, it all has to be conducted with safety and security as priorities plus, like any organization, airports have to make a profit. That’s the complexity, but there is also the matter of passenger numbers and aircraft movements to be considered.

Passenger Numbers and Aircraft Movements

Following the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic when passenger numbers, especially in Europe and Asia, fell to near zero, the postpandemic recovery has turned out to be much faster than was predicted at the time. According to International Air Transport Association (IATA) in June 20231, “… airlines expect to carry 4.35 billion passengers worldwide this year, not far from the record of 4.54 billion in 2019.” Looking forward, Airports Council International2 has predicted that passenger numbers will reach 19.3 billion in 2041 with an expected 153.8 million aircraft movements that year. That’s a good thing for the industry but it is not an unalloyed good. The problem for airports has been that they lost personnel during the pandemic, and many have not returned. It means that, while the amount of work is nearly the same as pre-pandemic times, the numbers of trained and qualified staff available to handle the work has fallen. Airports and airlines are working hard to recruit new workforces but there are also new and additional regulations relating to recruiting., “The recovery is taking place faster than we had anticipated,” said Jennifer Janzen, spokesperson for industry lobby Airlines for Europe Speaking to Politico3

Security Concerns and Optimizing Revenue

Some considerations remain unchanged from pre-pandemic days. Airport security has long been a core requirement but, while people expect security to ensure their safety, they still find it irksome during the time when they are passing through the checks and scanners. In the article ‘Challenges facing aviation security’4 , Passenger Terminal Today explained, “from June 2024, everyone will need to be screened using security scanners, and their belongings should be screened via C3 x-rays – CT-type x-rays producing 3D images. These are big changes from the walk-through metal detectors (WTMD) and conventional x-rays that we see operating in airports today. While the enhanced security is to be welcomed, it comes at a financial cost and is expected to take longer than today unless the security process can be updated and improved. As well as the cost of the equipment, staff will have to be trained and some airports will also be expected to continue to meet standard passenger queuing times. On top of that, as mentioned earlier, most airports are businesses that need to make money. Part of that revenue will be derived from the airlines in landing fees, for terminal facilities and for ground services; but, to maximize revenue from all that happens at an airport, it is also important to generate revenue from passengers. These days, that means hospitality and retail outlets, but the longer a passenger takes to get from the front door to the departure lounge, the less time is available for spending on food, drink and pre-flight purchases. As we said earlier, running an airport efficiently, safely and profitably is a challenge.

Using Technology to Enhance Airport Operations

While it might once have been acceptable to use old-school technology such as Excel to maintain the records and plot the trends and

Airlines expect to carry 4.35 billion passengers worldwide this year, not far from the record of 4.54 billion in 2019

performance of an airport to be able to plan and devise appropriate processes, that is no longer really feasible. Airport operators must look to alternative technologies and the one that many are turning to is intelligent technology using artificial intelligence (AI). AI makes its decisions using relevant information that has been gathered over time and applying algorithms. If the information is accurate and the algorithm is well programmed, errors can be reduced to near zero. As well as improving and speeding up the process and the airport operations, this will also save money.

There are numerous definitions of intelligent technology but they all boil down to the application of artificial intelligence as a means of increasing the speed and capability of the process and, by removing the need for human intervention, also reducing the risk of error.

According to Yvan Goudard, ‘How artificial intelligence could impact airport operations in the next 5 years’ 5, “By using artificial intelligence technology, airports can improve passenger experience by reducing waiting times in queues. AI-driven solutions can monitor and analyze passenger flow through airport facilities, identify crowd patterns and bottlenecks, estimate wait times, and use these insights to optimize queue and crowd management.” That would not only improve the airport experience for passengers

References:

1 Euronews & IATA https://bit.ly/3YWkQ6t

2 Airports Council International https://bit.ly/3PfGiA2

but would also enhance their safety and increase the time available for them to eat, drink and shop.

The Advantages of Using Artificial Intelligence

There have been millions of words written about the advantages that AI can bring to an organization. Here are a few that I have found and that recur in several places.

Perhaps the most obvious is that AI facilitates automation which brings its own benefits of speed, accuracy and reduced labor costs. As well as collecting and analyzing information, AI can offer conclusions as to what that information might mean and what course of action could be taken. For instance, collecting passenger data can support enhanced passenger experience and provide a better understanding of what services, offers or advertising would best suit each passenger. AI can also speed passenger flows with selfcheck-in and baggage drop.

Just as airlines and operators, post-pandemic, have moved to the forefront the adoption of smart technologies and paperless operations, airports facing very similar challenges will find that smart technology will help their businesses to manage the post pandemic environment and will also deliver for them real long-term benefits.

3 Politico, ‘Capacity crunch: Post-pandemic staff shortages threaten aviation recovery’ https://www.politico.eu/article/capacity-crunch-coronavirus-covid-aviation-recovery-hiring-vacancies-summer-schiphol-airport-staff-shortages/

4 Passenger Terminal Today https://www.passengerterminaltoday.com/opinion/challenges-facing-aviation-security.html

5 Yvan Goudard, ‘How artificial intelligence could impact airport operations in the next 5 years’ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-artificial-intelligence-could-impact-airport-next-yvan-1c/

AI makes its decisions using relevant information that has been gathered over time and applying algorithms. If the information is accurate

and the algorithm is well programmed, errors can be reduced to near zero

Streamlining Airport Management

Camilla Slade, Correspondent

Getting the processes in the business right will help to get the best from modern Cloud-Native solutions

Processes often evolve as new requirements or tasks are added: soon, what started as a fairly straightforward process has become complicated, so that people are reluctant to tamper with it for fear of it going wrong. Or processes become ossified because people have stopped questioning their effectiveness even when other things change – ‘we’ve always done it like that!’ As a result, established processes might not be as efficient and streamlined as they were when first devised. According to kissflow6, “Streamlining processes refers to the practice of identifying and eliminating repetitive and unnecessary steps or activities in a process in order to make it more efficient and effective.” Intelligent technology can make a big difference in streamlining processes but only after the processes themselves have been examined and brought up-to-date in their present state. Applying IT to a poor process won’t make it into a great process but applying IT to a wellstructured process will make it work better and deliver greater value.

Reasons To Streamline Your Processes

Intelligent and digital processes using artificial intelligence (AI) will be able to generate dashboards with which users can view all activities, receive useful reports on regular activities or easily specify reports on oneoff events and activities. Better and better organized data plus algorithms support well-informed decisions and there is also the opportunity to integrate an AI based solution with other systems to eliminate information duplications. It will all add up to improved productivity and less errors with humans out of the processes. Speaking of the human element, as long as the change is handled well, people soon understand the need for better processes and how, by removing some of their repetitive and routine tasks, it can make their job more satisfying: instead of having to

generate information, they can concentrate on devising and implementing decisions.

In Sara Hoidahl’s article, ‘The Benefit of Streamlined Business processes’ 7, for Douglas Secondary Packaging Solutions, she offers, “… several steps to streamlining work processes and developing an efficient work flow to boost productivity.” Her steps include:

• Analyze current workflow and identify key areas of focus;

• Break down the process, prioritize work and documentation;

• Automate the work process;

• Test your new workflow and be ready to adjust;

• Put your new workflow into action;

• Continuously innovate and improve.

In the context of this article, let’s look at a real-world example where a successful implementation of improved processes has delivered valuable benefits for an airport.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport

The Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s slogan is “faster, easier, friendlier”, so it was already clear that the comprehensive solutions of AeroCloud Optic would be a perfect fit to support the team’s expectations of elite operational efficiency. The airport had tried multiple ways – from manual counting to Bluetooth systems, Wi-Fi systems, and LiDAR – to track how individual passengers travelled through the airport, but had not found a method that delivered the accurate information they needed.

Intelligent technology can make a big difference in streamlining processes but only after the processes themselves have been examined and brought up-to-date in their present state

When AeroCloud works with customers, the solution provider encourages their customer to tell the product team the problems they face and then collaborate with them on fixing those problems. This is how AeroCloud worked with Liverpool John Lennon Airport when trialing AeroCloud Optic. It is being used by the airport to better understand movement in the building – identifying peaks and bottlenecks, and where queues are likely to be – flattening any planning curves and increasing efficiency.

Having completed the implementation, the airport is already seeing the long-lasting benefits that an intelligent technology-based solution will bring. Paul Staples, Director of Airport Operations, described the solution as “the holy grail of commercial activity in an airport” as “we now have accurate information that allows us to plan more effectively at an operational level, while also helping to inform decision-making for marketing, and spend per head in retail and concession environments. We’ve never been able to do this in the past.”

Going onto the Cloud

No doubt, readers will know about the Cloud. Cloud solutions do not require the user to update their hardware or software in order to accommodate a solution or update. Using the Internet, Cloud solutions are housed on servers all across the Internet where solution users can house their software and all of their records. When they have a job to do, they log on to their Cloud provider’s servers and all that they need is there. Without the need to host everything on their own premises, Cloud users don’t have the worry of looking after all the IT equipment and they know that the software they use will always have been

References:

updated with any changes that the solution provider has made.

There are many solutions that have been adapted for the Cloud (Cloud-enabled), but there are also solutions that were designed for the Cloud from the outset; these are known as Cloud Native solutions. The difference is summarized by AWS (Amazon Web Services)8. “The term cloud native refers to an application that was designed to reside in the cloud from the start. Cloud native involves cloud technologies like microservices, container orchestrators, and auto scaling. A cloud-enabled application doesn’t have the flexibility, resiliency, or scalability of its cloud-native counterpart. This is because cloud-enabled applications retain their monolithic structure even though they have moved to the cloud.”

Generally speaking, Cloud Native solutions offer greater speed and agility than their on-premise counterparts. In a world where speed and flexibility are highly prized attributes, that will mean being able to outperform competitors who are not using Cloud native solutions. It also means better and more responsive service for customers. Software as a service (SaaS) is a growing trend that the Cloud has boosted and where the software package is rented. Without the need to house and maintain on-premise solutions, Cloud users will not need to maintain large IT departments as the responsibility for performance of an SaaS solution is with the provider and server maintenance and management is the Cloud provider’s responsibility. As Architech, ‘6 Benefits of Cloud-Native Applications for Business’ 9 explains, “The cloud is helping organizations connect people, data, and processes in new ways to embrace the possibilities enabled by modern technologies.”

6 kissflow, ‘5 Great Tips To Streamline Business processes At Your Company’ https://bit.ly/466Ru83

7 Douglas Secondary packaging Solutions, Sara Hoidahl, ‘The Benefit of Streamlined Business processes’ https://www.douglas-machine.com/the-benefit-of-streamlined-business-processes/

8 Amazon Web Services (AWS) https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/cloud-native/#:~:text=The%20term%20cloud%20native%20refers,container%20orchestrators%2C%20and%20auto%20scaling.

9 Architech, ‘6 Benefits of Cloud-Native Applications for Business’ https://www.architech.ca/articles/6-benefits-of-cloud-native-applications-for-business

Generally speaking, Cloud Native solutions offer greater speed and agility than their onpremise counterparts.

In a world where speed and flexibility are highly prized attributes, that will mean being able to outperform competitors

LIVERPOOL JOHN LENNON AIRPORT

Implementation and Successful Adoption

Peter Dunwell, Staff Writer

Like any change for the business, implementing a new IT solution will work best with good preparation and forethought

IT-based solutions have been with us for a long time and are today regarded as part of the essential fabric of any business. But, of course, like any other function in a business, IT solutions are not static, they continue to evolve and develop as new technologies and capabilities come along. The current ‘latest’ technology development is artificial intelligence (AI) and its bedfellow machine learning (ML). “At its most basic, AI is software that mimics and generates human behaviors – planning, generating ideas, understanding speech and visuals.” That’s how Sulabh Soral1 of Deloitte describes it. AI not only does those things described but also does them at a speed far exceeding what any human could achieve. At its best, AI can process vast quantities of data, ‘remember’ all past circumstances, actions and outcomes and apply that history to the data to offer an appropriate action. Combined with the Cloud (see Camilla Slade’s article above) AI-driven solutions have the potential to revolutionize businesses. But whatever the solution or technology used, one thing has remained: solutions have to be implemented.

An IT Implementation

Experiences of IT implementations vary considerably. In my time writing on the subject, I have interviewed people with both positive and negative experiences. But what seems to separate the two outcomes is preparation. The old business adage that ‘if you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail’ is true for a software solution implementation.

Modern businesses are complex entities with often scores of processes which interact with each other at many points. So, implementing a new solution in one or several methods will also impact on other operations. ‘What Is Software Implementation? (Importance and Elements)’2 published by Indeed, sums it up, “Software implementation is the process of integrating an application into an organization’s workflow.” That integration part is important because a

solution that is not integrated with the rest of the business’s systems would add nothing. For that reason, the first stage in a software implementation is to plan the implementation process itself.

The first step will be to define why new software is needed. It might seem obvious but clearly understanding what the solutions have to achieve will ensure that the next step is properly focused. When looking for the new solution, match the understanding to the specifications of those solutions that are considered and make sure that the solution has the capability to handle the number of users envisaged. Also, ensure that the solution has some flexibility to cope with future developments and allow the user organization to configure and/or customize to suit their identity and practices. And, of course, it will need to be able to be integrated with the other systems in the business.

Implementation Challenges

Almost any business activity will meet challenges and the implementation of an IT solution will be no exception. The important thing is to be prepared for the likeliest challenges in order to be able to tackle them if or when they arise. The walk me blog, ‘7 software implementation challenges & how to solve them’3 lists the seven challenges most often encountered including:

Misaligned expectations: the software vendor needs to be honest about what the solution can realistically deliver and the user business’s project team with the vendor must work

Modern businesses are complex entities with often scores of processes which interact with each other at many points. So, implementing a new solution in one or several methods will also impact on other operations

together to ensure that realistic expectations are met.

Data integrity: the performance of the new solution will only be as good as the quality and accuracy of the information available to it and how well it is able to work with other systems in the business.

Lack of preparedness in the project team: the user business should properly understand what they are taking on with the implementation and, with the vendor, should understand when and how the vendor will provide support during and after the roll-out.

Lack of preparedness among employees: to head-off resistance from employees who have to become used to the new system, they should be appraised of the reasons for the new software and how it will improve their work. Lack of support from vendor: this really needs no further explanation, but most vendors today see their role as going way past the go-live of a new solution. Vendors want to build long-term partnerships with users.

Inadequate software training tools: Training is very important because there is no point in investing in new software if the staff don’t know how to use it and get the best from it.

Overcoming the Challenges in an Implementation

At the risk of stating the obvious, the nature of the challenges faced will inform any steps taken to overcome them. They are, in short, applied common sense and along similar lines to any project.

References:

Before launching the project to implement a new IT solution, make sure that you know where the organization is today and make sure that processes are all working as they should. Ensure that your objectives are clear and that everybody involved knows what the business expects to gain from the implementation. That will help to establish agreed expectations, to plan a timescale, to allocate the right resources and to avoid disruption to the business. Checking data quality might need some help from the vendor of a specialist consultancy and, where different departments have been used to generating their own data which might not match that of other departments, that will need to be resolved. Make sure that the technology is appropriate to the business – often a solution built with your sort of business in mind will be easier to implement and to use in the long-run. Make sure that the project team are clear about their tasks but also keep the wider workforce informed and prepared for the change to come - explain the benefits for everybody. Test the new system before making the final changeover because you don’t want a problem on day 1. Wherever people need to learn new skills, get the training in as soon as possible so that the changeover is not a shock. Finally, make sure that there are people available at and after the changeover to support employees when they are actually using the new system.

1 Deloitte, Sulabh on AI, ‘The Industrial revolution for human intellect’ https://bit.ly/3EeLn5k

2 indeed, ‘What is Software Implementation? (Importance and Elements)’ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/what-is-software-implementation

3 walk me Blog, ‘7 software implementation challenges & how to solve them https://www.walkme.com/blog/7-software-implementation-challenges/

Ensure that your objectives are clear and that everybody involved knows what the business expects to gain from the implementation.

That will help to establish agreed expectations

Looking to the Future

John Hancock, Editor

Preparing for what we know will happen and being ready for what we might not know yet, when it happens

With the best will in the world, any substantial implementation of a new software solution is going to involve human resources from the user business and, even with preparation, there will be a ‘running in’ period following the implementation. Given that and the fact that new software comes with a financial cost, any purchaser will want to know that the new solution will last them well into the future. No future projections will be infallible. After all, who would have predicted the Covid-19 pandemic or the war in Ukraine? But understanding likely future developments will make a useful backdrop for any decision. And it isn’t only world events that matter; there is always value in knowing about what developments there might be in the future for software of this type.

The Future for Airports

Aviation has transformed travel. At the start of the twentieth century, nobody had ever travelled by air; by the end of that century, 1.7 billion passengers flew in 1999, on a range of airliners including the 524-seat capacity Boeing 747. Of necessity, airports also grew from the grass fields and wooden huts of the immediate postFirst World War period to the concrete runways and well organized passenger terminals with which we are familiar today. In the first article of this Report, we learned that airlines expect to carry 4.35 billion passengers worldwide this year (2023), and that Airports Council International has predicted that passenger numbers will reach 19.3 billion in 2041 with an expected 153.8 million aircraft movements that year.

That past growth to 1.7 billion and then the future growth to 19.3 billion in less than half a century and the changes these numbers will drive should make us well-aware that there will be further changes and developments in the future and not only in physical airport facilities but also in the way they operate. It’s a significant challenge. And that challenge will, in the immediate future, be compounded by the need to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic with the damage it did not only to fleets but also

to staff numbers across the commercial aviation sector, including airports.

The scale of what is required can be gauged reading the report from Oliver Wyman Forum, ‘Evolution of Airports – Travel Trends In The Next 30 Years’1. The report is extensive but is summarized with the statement, “The state of travel – and the way people move around the world – will change dramatically in the coming decades as global priorities shift and new technologies become available. Airports will be core drivers of industrywide change, while themselves being transformed in the process.”

Managing the Future

Traditional ways of managing airports will not be able to cope alone with such growth. But add to that the likely worsening climate situation with more exceptional weather events predicted, as well as a continuing terrorist threat, which no-one expects to go away any time soon, and it is clear that airport management, in having to ensure passenger satisfaction and safety, will have a lot more to do in the future. In his article in Plug and Play, ‘Building Future Infrastructure; The next generation of Airports’2, Yuhan Ma explains that, “Managing irregular operations will be a main focus for airports adopting IT solutions. Over the next three years, 93% or more airports are expected to invest in asset management and flight operations. By 2025, many airports will implement automated predictive alerts before flight disruption events and business intelligence initiatives to enable

There will be further changes and developments in the future and not only in physical airport facilities but also in the way they operate. It’s a significant challenge

based-on-demand operations. Airports are also initiating self-services for a smoother passenger experience.”

All of the above expectations of what the future holds for airport management seem likely plus, of course, something is bound to happen which cannot currently be foreseen. While we cannot predict exactly how the future will look, we can see that there are going to be changes which airports will be better placed to manage if their basic operations are sound. Given the complexities of airports and the complexity of their integration with other parts of the air travel system, as well as the demands of an evermore vigilant regulatory environment, it is hard to imagine that even a small airport could be managed with manual systems anymore.

We’ve already highlighted the expected growth in passenger numbers which, if not well managed, will lead to in-terminal congestion, long queues, delayed flights and worse. Airports that have not prepared might well find themselves sidelined by the network. That leads on to the matter of customer experience and, again, if an airport gets a reputation for delays, then passengers will choose to book from an alternative where there is one available.

Part of the passenger experience is retail and hospitality and that must be factored into airport

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planning. It has been said, only slightly tongue in cheek, that a future airport will be a shopping mall with a runway attached.

Technology is already a major factor in airport management and is destined to become even more important in the future, not only to improve the way in which processes are run, but also to enable airports to run with lower staff levels. Among the technologies already in use, biometrics, scanners, baggage tracking software and passenger identification have all reached levels of reliability where they can improve the passengers’ experience throughout the process. But there still needs to be an overarching management system that will ensure that all those technologies are not working in isolation but are part of a single process. What is certain is that airports cannot avoid the need to equip themselves with the best software solutions possible, to ensure that they are both ready for what we already know about the future market and have the agility and flexibility to not have any unpredicted events that could impact negatively on their business.

We’ll leave the last word to SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) 3, “Smaller airports are particularly vulnerable now and will need to build their resilience at an affordable price in the long term...”

1 Oliver Wyman Forum, ‘Evolution of Airports – Travel Trends In The Next 30 years’ https://www.oliverwymanforum.com/mobility/2023/jun/airport-evolution-travel-trends-by-2050.html

2 Plug and Play, Yuhan Ma, ‘Building Future Infrastructure; The next generation of Airports’ https://bit.ly/44woCVx

3 SESAR, ‘How innovation can support airport operations in a post-COVID world’ https://www.sesarju.eu/news/how-innovation-can-support-airport-operations-post-covid-world

Given the complexities of airports and the complexity of their integration with other parts of the air travel system, as well as the demands of an evermore vigilant regulatory environment, it is hard to imagine that even a small airport could be managed with manual systems anymore

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