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AIR TRANSPORT

ISSUE 1 – 2015

LET’S MAKE BORDERS SMARTER THE CASE FOR AUTOMATION

PAGE 22FLYING DATA CENTERS

CONNECTED AIRCRAFT ARRIVEPAGE 34

READY FOR THE CONNECTED TRAVELER?

PAGE 8

INTERVIEW

P 18THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE – NEIL CLARK, CIO, HEATHROW

SITA 252-254 Blyth Road, Hayes, Middlesex UB3 1HA, UKTelephone +44 (0)20 8756 8000Enquiries to [email protected]

Follow us on www.sita.aero/socialhub

INTERVIEW

P 28AT THE HEART OF GROWTH – KEREM KIZILTUNÇ, CIO, TURKISH AIRLINES

IT’S ALL ABOUT ‘ME’

P 6‘ME-CENTRIC’ TRAVEL TRENDS

CONTENTS

3ISSUE 1: 2015

Air Transport IT ReviewAir Transport IT Review online and breaking news: www.sita.aero/air-transport-it-review

Publishers: Arthur Calderwood, Susan Brown

Managing Editor: Terence Tucker

Editorial: Gerald Oliver, Paul Brock, Scott Handy

Production Editors: Amarat Raval, We Are

Information is subject to change without notice. All trademarks acknowledged. ©SITA 2015

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FEATURE Ready for the connected traveler? Latest airport IT trends 8

FEATURE Shaping the next 100 years – Francesco Violante, CEO, SITA 12

FEATURE The future-proof airport – how to create one? 14

FEATURE We know where your bag is – Nick Gates, SITA 20

FEATURE Let’s make borders smarter – the case for automation 22

FEATURE The kiosk rises – big opportunites at the border 26

FEATURE A new era of connectivity for air transport 30

FEATURE Always-on aviation – service excellence to smooth the journey 32

FEATURE Flying data centers take off – connected aircraft arrive 34

FEATURE Member updates 38

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AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW4

NEWS


A FIRST IN BORDER KIOSKS FOR JAMAICAAir passengers arriving at Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica can look forward to faster border clearance with the launch of new automated border control (ABC) kiosks.

Jamaica is the first country in the Americas to allow passengers arriving from any international location to use kiosks for self-service immigration border clearance.

60% RISEOther countries have experienced the benefits of biometric kiosks but have limited their use to select nationalities or those enrolled in trusted traveler programs. Passenger throughput at the borders is expected to increase by close to 60%.

STOP PRESS Passengers traveling to the US can now pre-clear US Customs and Immigration at Abu Dhabi International Airport using new automated passport control (APC) kiosks from SITA. Introduced in December 2014, the self-service kiosks use advanced biometric technology to streamline border control procedures and process passengers securely in less than 60 seconds.

See ‘Let’s make borders smarter’, page 22.

For more news go to www.sita.aero/pressreleases

MEDIA KIOSKS HIT LAS VEGAS SITA’s innovative Media Station was featured in online news videos made at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

SITA Media Station is a self-service entertainment kiosk that can deliver the same content digitally to smartphones and tablets that an airline provides in paper.

Search ‘Media Station’ in the SITA Online YouTube channel.

CONNECTED AIRCRAFT TO BOOST EFFICIENCYSITA and OnAir have formed SITA OnAir to set the benchmark for true nose-to-tail connected aircraft solutions – regardless of fleet size, route structure or aircraft type.

With new aircraft capable of generating vast amounts of in-flight data, the initiative will ensure airlines use it effectively and efficiently in their operations.

EXPERTISEThe initiative brings together both companies’ industry leadership in multiple areas of expertise, including ground and in-flight connectivity, cockpit data services, air

traffic management solutions, aircraft communications and infrastructure solutions – as well as application development for passengers and crew.

The core of the new business organization is SITA’s knowledge of airline communications and IT, and OnAir’s expertise in supplying in-flight connectivity.

“The connected aircraft will transform both the passenger and crew experience while improving airlines’ operational efficiency,” said Francesco Violante, CEO, SITA.

See ‘Flying data centers take off,’ page 34.

SITA TRANSFORMS GLOBAL NETWORK SERVICESITA is transforming its global network and communication services to offer airlines and airports more value and greater capacity to meet changing business needs.

The adoption of cloud-based solutions, the growing need for flexible on-demand services at airports, and the entry into service of e-enabled aircraft, all require a new generation of global network services.

SITA is working with strategic partner Orange Business Services and five regional service providers to expand communications capabilities at airports and strengthen the focus on operational excellence.

See ‘A new era of connectivity,’ page 30.

AIR TRANSPORT IT SUMMIT 2015: 16-18 JUNESave your seat now for the 2015 IT Summit, to be held in La Hulpe, Brussels. Under the theme ‘Ready for the connected traveler?’ we’ll be looking at the increasingly connected aviation industry driven by data and intelligence.

With a line up of air transport CEO and CIO speakers, the Summit is a ‘must-attend’ event for IT professionals responsible for the strategic use of technology.

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‘AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW’ – FOR THE ISSUES THAT MATTERSee the tablet editions of Air Transport IT Review for features and insights across the technology issues that matter to the industry, including solutions and innovations embracing the explosion of mobile devices, cloud, big data, business intelligence, predictive analytics, new generation passenger systems, e-Aircraft, border intelligence, and much more.Search for ‘SITA IT Review’ in the Apple App Store or Google Play.

5ISSUE 1: JANUARY 2012 5ISSUE 1: 2015

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WHERE ARE YOUR FARES? Many airlines still use e-mails and spreadsheets to manage their fares. But the rapidly evolving and increasingly complex fares market will demand nothing less than intelligent fares management and automation. It’s reckoned that a medium to large carrier can have as many as 500,000 fares in the market place. They may need to monitor as many as three million competitor fares at any time. And in a single day, a tenth of all fares can change.Manual methods don’t make for a commercially savvy approach. Airlines must strive for a single version of ‘the truth’ and instant access to intelligence. Find out more in our online feature:www.sita.aero/air-transport-it-review

CHINA EASTERN DRIVES BIG SAVINGS

China Eastern has recorded a 16% drop in staffing hours and a 60% drop in overtime for ground operations as a result of a new Hub Control Center (HCC) using SITA’s resource management technology.

The improved efficiencies are expected to deliver the airline savings of more than US$ 4 million in 2015.

During delays and disruption the HCC reallocates gates, ground tasks, suggests flight

schedule changes and re-accommodates passengers, all in real-time.

“IMPRESSIVE”Hu Zhenming, Chief Service Officer and General Director of Airport Service, China Eastern, said: “We have worked closely with SITA to develop our new HCC and the results we have seen from using SITA’s integrated technology for our ground operations are impressive.”

BEIJING CHOOSES COMMON USE FOR 80M PASSENGERSAsia’s busiest airport, Beijing Capital International, has chosen SITA to provide passenger processing technology to manage more than 80 million passengers.

The contract builds on a highly successful 15-year relationship, during which SITA supported the airport during the Olympic Games traffic surge in 2008.

The contract for SITA’s common-use technology – AirportConnect Open – will enable 700 workstations, more than 1,000 ticket or bag tag printers, 300 scanners, 200 counters and 100 boarding gates in terminals two and three to be used by airlines operating at the airport.

KIOSKS, BAG DROPSITA is working with the airport to investigate how both kiosks and self-bag drop can support the management of passengers as the airport continues to grow year on year.

80 AIRLINESSITA AirportConnect Open helps the airport operate and manage resources efficiently to provide high quality service to more than 80 airlines.

The common-use passenger processing technology complies with all international standards set by IATA and allows any airline to use any agent desk, gate position or self-service kiosk for passenger check-in and bag drop, and reconciles passengers boarded.

AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY IT TRENDS


The fact that so many of us are becoming connected on our travels has given rise to the phenomenon of the ‘digital traveler’. With that come great opportunities for airlines and airports to develop mobile services to escort us through the journey’s pain points.

That’s why over the last four years we’ve seen sizeable investments in mobile offerings for buying tickets, checking in, getting flight information and so on.

And it’s why we’re now seeing more planned investments in other pinch-points in the journey for curb to gate, such as boarding passes and way-finding.

ME-CENTRIC, MOBILEEven so, passengers are yet to wholeheartedly embrace smartphones as their inseparable digital travel companions. But there’s

IT’S ALL ABOUT ‘ME’

THE NEW FRONTIER IN PASSENGER MOBILE SERVICES WILL BE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS AND PERSONALIZATION. SO SAYS A NEW PAPER, ABOUT TO BE RELEASED BY SITA.

no doubt that the mobile travel services bandwagon is relentlessly rolling on.

SITA’s new paper shows that next on the agenda for mobility is the ‘personal touch’: the ability to satisfy passengers’ growing requirements for a more ‘me-centric’ approach to their travel.

BIG PLANS“There are big plans for mobile investment over the next three years and personalized services feature largely in those plans,” says Nigel Pickford, Director of Market Insight, SITA.

“Airlines and airports will continue to grow existing mobile offerings centered on flight status, purchased services and retail offers. But the new frontier in passenger mobile services will be customer relationships and personalization.”

MY JOURNEYAccording to the report, the air transport industry is shifting towards a new era of continuous engagement.

“It’s increasingly empowering ‘digital travelers’,” says Pickford, “and it’s creating rising demand for more relevant services and giving airlines and airports opportunities to offer passengers enhanced personalization.”

The report shows that over half of passengers want better airline fare comparison, as well as improved real-time flight information and enhanced in-flight wireless services. And, it says, they’re willing to share personal data to get these relevant services.

ON THE GROUND Responding to passenger expectations with vigour, the industry is planning investments in services and

infrastructure to enable more personalization.

Airlines’ sights are set on providing a real-time service experience, targeted at their passengers’ journeys, via smartphone apps: 65% of airlines plan to do this by the end of 2017, up from 13% today.

High on the airport agenda, in the meantime, are updates on wait-times and local traffic issues: 18% offer them today, with another 55% making plans for this service, according to the latest Airport IT Trends Survey.

Airports are also investing in personalizing their relationships with travelers via mobile apps, as well as providing way-finding services.

IN THE AIRIn flight, the story is evolving faster than ever. “Passengers want to continue their lives in the air just as if they’re

FOR MORE

‘THE FUTURE IS PERSONAL’Coming soon – a new paper about passenger mobile services, including a wealth of survey facts and figures, along with industry initiatives, comment and interviews with airlines and airports worldwide.

www.sita.aero/surveys

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“ UNQUESTIONABLY THE NEW FRONTIER IN PASSENGER MOBILE SERVICES WILL BE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS AND PERSONALIZATION.”

NIGEL PICKFORD DIRECTOR OF MARKET INSIGHT, SITA

relaxing at home or working in the office,” says Pickford.

“There’s now an expectation that’s typified by the phrases ‘my device’ and ‘my in-flight service’,” he adds. “Passengers today want to use their mobile devices in-flight for entertainment and staying in touch.”

Figures cited in the report show that over half of passengers want to use their own device to watch movies, games or live TV. Similarly they want to use their devices to send e-mails or texts and access live flight information.

Pickford again: “For airlines, in-flight personalization opens up opportunities to create a truly enhanced passenger experience.

“The next three years will see a majority of airlines offering onboard connectivity and communications services.”

RECOVERYPassengers say that the ‘personal touch’ is just as important in times of disruption. More and more, they’re expecting airlines and airports to provide a personal alert and response when flights are cancelled or delayed.

“Recovery is the next big focus,” says Pickford. “Smartphones and other communication technologies open up myriad opportunities to provide disruption management services to passengers.”

FOR THE FULL ARTICLEGo to www.sita.aero/air-transport-it-review Or read our tablet issue.


READY FOR THE CONNECTED TRAVELER?

AIRPORT IT TRENDS SURVEY

THE ONGOING REVOLUTION IN PASSENGER SERVICES CONTINUES TO DEFINE AIRPORT INVESTMENT IN TECHNOLOGIES.

BY 2017, A THIRD OF AIRPORTS WILL HAVE INTRODUCED OR EVALUATED BEACON TECHNOLOGY, WHICH IS HAILED AS A GAME-CHANGER IN PASSENGER PROCESSING AND RETAIL AT THE AIRPORT.

BEACONSFrom a standing start, two of the newest technologies are already making an impact.

SITA Lab began trials of beacon technology early in 2014. Hailed as a game-changer in passenger processing and retail, beacons use Bluetooth to transmit a continuous signal and communicate relevant contextual information, according to location, to a passenger’s or airport worker’s smartphone or tablet.

The survey finds that a third of airports expect to have introduced or evaluated Beacons in the next three years. SITA is blazing the trail with major pilot and early projects with Miami International Airport and American Airlines, among others (see page 16), along with setting up a Common Use Beacon Registry for the entire industry at www.developer.aero.

WEARABLESWearable technology is grabbing just as much attention. While it’s still too early to estimate the impact of wearable technology at the airport – such as smartwatches and Google Glass – the excitement and anticipation are palpable, lending further credence to the rising phenomenon and influence of the connected traveler.

Undoubtedly the industry is spurred on by the success of trials run by SITA with Virgin Atlantic in 2014, as almost one fifth of airports are expecting to run pilots or evaluation trials in the next three years.

Virgin Atlantic’s CEO Craig Kreeger has spoken publicly of the airline’s commitment to rolling out Google Glass to further improve customer service on the ground. “We’ve just started to roll Google Glass out now, not as a trial, but permanently,”

Triggered by unprecedented levels of connectivity for passengers, airport workers and other stakeholders, the revolution in passenger services sees the continued embrace on all fronts of mobile communications and self-service.

With those trends comes a rise in airport investment in information and communications technology (ICT), despite a modest fall in 2013. The 2014 bounce-back across the globe underlines the industry’s commitment to focusing massive resources on technology investment for the future, as the phenomenon of the connected traveler increasingly permeates the travel industry.

AIRPORT AGENDAThese are the headlines from the latest Airport IT Trends Survey by SITA and Airports Council International. According to the Survey, more than two thirds of the world’s top 50 airports are preparing for the use of cloud, geolocation and Near Field Communications (NFC) technologies by 2017. By the same date, almost nine out of 10 airports will be using Business Intelligence tools to conduct airport service quality data analysis.

OPERATIONSThe passenger service benefits of mobile technology may be driving a large slice of investment. But the operational opportunities provided by new technologies are also high on the agenda.

For example, 71% of airports will either adopt or pilot cloud technologies over the next three years, while the opportunities for enhanced passenger flow provided through geo-location technologies are set to be introduced by 60% of airports (using Bluetooth) and 52% of airports (using Wi-Fi).

SITA IS BLAZING THE TRAIL WITH MAJOR PILOT AND EARLY PROJECTS WITH MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND AMERICAN AIRLINES.

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THE VALUE OF LEARNING TOGETHER “Technology has always been at the heart of air travel. But in the past 10 years it has assumed an ever greater role in the running and management of airports. They have become intricate and highly advanced technology hubs.

“We’ve seen this evolve in succeeding issues of the Airport IT Trends Survey, to the point where we have today’s sharp focus on helping passengers connect to the airport, their airline and all of the other agents with whom they have contact during their journey.”

Dr Pierre Coutu Executive in Charge, Airport Management Professional Accreditation Programme (AMPAP)

SMART AIRPORT AMBITIONS “At the end of last year, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Chicago Convention, which provided the foundation for today’s global civil air travel industry. The document talked about promoting ‘cooperation between nations and people’ and ensuring growth ‘in a safe and orderly manner’.

“The publication of the 11th Airport IT Trends Survey by SITA and Airports Council International demonstrates once again that cooperation is vital and that airports everywhere share similar challenges, opportunities, pressures and constraints.

Angela Gittens Director General, Airports Council International

he confirmed in late 2014. See ‘Google Glass - the view ahead’.

One potential next step might be wearable technology for agents in busy check-in halls to answer passengers’ enquiries on the spot, instead of making them queue up to see an agent at a desk.

SEAMLESS SELF-SERVICESuch efforts are all part of the industry’s ambition to provide passengers with a seamless journey from home

to arrival, while at the same time removing unnecessary operational costs. These principles continue to underpin airports’ heavy investment in self-service.

The impetus towards self-service is being driven both by SITA’s own innovations in areas such as self-boarding, as well as by SITA’s self-service solutions that enable the realization of IATA’s Fast Travel initiative.

MOBILE The provision of services on passengers’ mobiles continues to grow. Half of airports already offer flight updates via mobile and 90% will do by 2017.

A third of airports are able to provide real-time information to passenger mobiles in the event of disruption, with a further third doing so by 2017. Among the 50 top airports, where the consequences of disruption can have greater impact, the figures are higher.

While other services remain patchy, over the next three years more than half of all airports plan to introduce notifications such as queue-times, opt-in and retail services.

INTELLIGENCEFor most airports, Business Intelligence (BI) remains in its infancy, but almost nine out of 10 say they will be using BI to monitor quality by 2017. The key area is passenger flow, with half of all airports expecting to invest in this area by the end of 2017.

So the industry is preparing for a future of increasingly connected travelers, as they rely more and more on mobile devices that sport dozens of apps to help them stay in touch.

For airports, the ability to tap into that level of connectivity is a potential gold mine for improvements to services, customer commitment and operational productivity gains.


FOR MOREwww.sita.aero/surveys

GOOGLE GLASS – THE VIEW AHEADThe ending of current Google Glass sales does not mean an end to the Google Glass project, which has been moved out of the Google X lab and now has its own dedicated team.

As proven by the Virgin Atlantic and Copenhagen Airport trials with SITA, Google Glass still has great scope for airlines and airports in customer service and operational situations.

HUGE POTENTIAL “We think Google reached the same conclusion as us through our trials in air transport, that Google Glass-like devices are not yet ready as a mass market product, but they have huge potential in the air transport and other industries for professional workforces,” says Renaud Irminger, Director of SITA Lab.

“We see much potential usage in the areas of operations, customer services, security and immigration in the air transport industry. The fact that the current Glasses are discontinued is logical as they were too fragile for professional workforce usage. We hope that Google will quickly release a new version that is more ruggedized, can be folded and will be more suited for our use cases.”

That’s good news for the air transport industry, which has already put into practice use cases that point the way forward for smart glasses to enhance customer services and operations.

“On top of that, we’re seeing a number of start-up companies entering the market with Google Glass-like devices,” says Irminger, “including Vuzix, which recently received major capital funding and with whom the SITA Lab has worked on passport scanning and boarding use cases.”

WHILE IT’S IS STILL TOO EARLY TO ESTIMATE THE IMPACT OF WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY AT THE AIRPORT, THE EXCITEMENT AND ANTICIPATION ARE PALPABLE, LENDING FURTHER CREDENCE TO THE RISING PHENOMENON OF THE CONNECTED TRAVELER.

The use of kiosks is near-ubiquitous: by 2017, more than nine out of 10 airports will operate common-use or dedicated kiosks. From a slow start, passenger use of kiosks is gaining pace, with 17% of airports reporting that more than half of passengers check-in via a kiosk. By 2017, that figure is expected to have shot up to 72%. See ‘The kiosk rises’, page 26.

Attention is also moving to self-service baggage processing. Bag tag printing at kiosks is already available at 35% of airports, a figure that will double by 2017. Over the same period, the levels of unassisted bag-drop will increase from 16% today to 62%.

The industry is clearly looking to reap the kinds of gains cited at Melbourne Airport, with its two stage Common-Use Self-Service (CUSS) and bag drop solution introduced last year.

“We’re pleased to be one of the first airports in the world to introduce international CUSS bag drops,” said Bryan Thompson, the airport’s General Manager for Planning, Strategy & Development. This provides self-service units so passengers can ‘tag and drop’ their bags without queuing for a traditional check in desk.

“The bag drops are proving to be very successful with more than 90,000 bags self-checked by passengers since implementation,” says Thompson. “This process now takes passengers an average of only 30 seconds.”

AIRPORT IT TRENDS SURVEY


Source: Airport IT Trends Survey 2014

NEW TECHNOLOGY… NEW FRONTIERS

of airports are considering programs with NFC by 2017

49%

NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATION

GEO-LOCATION

60%of airports plan geo-location programs by 2017

IBEACONS

33%of airports plan programs with iBeacons in the next 3 years

TOWARDS A SEAMLESS JOURNEY

THE RISE OF SELF-BOARDINGMORE BAG-DROPFROM HOME TO AIRCRAFT

of airports plan to invest in self-service processes in the next 3 years

86% of airports plan to implement self-boarding by 2017

74% 52%of airports plan to implement assisted bag-drop by 2017

Change is a fact of life for the air transport industry and technology has often been a driver of that change. At SITA, as we look back over the 100-year history of commercial aviation, we are reminded of the company’s contribution to change during as many as 65 of those years. In that time, SITA has stayed at the forefront of the information and communication technologies that have helped to transform the way the industry works.

SITA’s own history is testament to the company’s inextricable link with commercial aviation’s evolution.

AIR TRANSPORT IT TRENDS


SHAPING THE NEXT 100 YEARS OF AVIATION

OWNED BY THE INDUSTRYBeing founded and owned by the industry, SITA took on the mandate in 1949 to deliver common benefits to the global air transport community. It would do this by pooling the industry’s data communication needs, making technology and innovation available for the benefit of its entire community on a shared or common-use basis to reduce total cost of ownership. To this day, the commitment to meeting air transport requirements – as an IT and communications provider totally dedicated to the industry – has not changed. SITA remains driven by the needs of the air transport industry, which is well represented through its 450 or so owner members, steered by the company’s Board and Council.

WIDER COMMUNITYThe pace of change through the years has been relentless, with technology often at the helm, and SITA often in the vanguard.

As aviation grew and evolved, so did SITA. Over the years, the company’s focus broadened to encompass information technology and applications, as well as an increasing customer base of airports, ground handlers, air

navigation service providers, governments, industry bodies and other players in aviation’s rapidly evolving ecosystem.

Once again, technology was to usher in change. SITA notched up many firsts, among them the introduction of CUTE (Common Use Terminal Equipment) in 1984, enabling airlines and airports to reduce costs while maximizing check-in facilities. This led to SITA being one of the first to provide Common Use Self Service kiosks (CUSS) and the first to have a true Common Use Passenger Processing (CUPPS) platform, the latest generation of shared use solutions.

In 1985, SITA launched VHF AIRCOM, the first step beyond ground network services into radio communications. The AIRCOM VHF network has since grown to provide coverage unequalled by any other line of sight radio network run by a single operator.

In 1992, air-ground telephony was introduced through Satellite AIRCOM; in 1995, SITA’s software partner company made e-commerce history with the launch the first website able to complete travel bookings and take payments in real time via the internet; and in 1996, the world’s first electronic

“ LAST YEAR WE CELEBRATED 100 YEARS OF COMMERCIAL AVIATION. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PLAYED A BIG ROLE IN THOSE YEARS AND IS NOW POISED TO DELIVER MAJOR CHANGE IN THE YEARS AHEAD.”

FRANCESCO VIOLANTE CEO, SITA

Once again, SITA is in the vanguard, through ground-breaking work in all of these areas, including myriad strategic and collaborative industry initiatives by the organization’s ‘engine of innovation’ the SITA Lab. Through these technologies and initiatives, SITA will continue to help shape the future of air travel.

As the years have shown, the evolution of air transport and the evolution of SITA cannot be separated. We are traveling, and always will be, on one and the same path – taking the long view and investing for the years ahead, wherever in the world the industry operates.

For more information go to: www.sita.aero/content/100-years-commercial-aviation

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visa system went live in preparation for the Sydney Olympic Games, leading to SITA’s position today as the world’s foremost border management provider.

COLLABORATIONThrough all of this time, SITA has collaborated closely with industry bodies such as ACI, CANSO, IATA, and ICAO to help drive and create the essential standards and services required for the safe and efficient operation of the complex global aviation ecosystem. That includes helping to realize the objectives of major industry programs like IATA’s Simplifying the Business (StB) and Fast Travel, as well as the IATA/ACI Smart Security initiative.

IATA’s 2004 StB program, which helped spark the self-service revolution, massively changed air traveler behavior and expectations. SITA’s self-service capabilities played a huge part in driving that evolution. Spanning nine stages of the journey – from booking and check-in to bag drop, boarding and border control – they continue to do so, including exciting new developments that are bringing yet more change that will shape aviation, in areas such as intelligent baggage and self bag drop capabilities, self-service automated border control, and more.

BRINK OF A NEW ERA Today’s technology has changed beyond recognition, and global air transport has become a US$ 600 billion-plus industry, moving more than 3.1 billion people a year. SITA’s own transformation reflects that reality. SITA today is present at more than 1,000 airports and provides common-use services at almost 400. Some 14,500 aircraft use SITA’s communication services; and 300-plus million passengers are handled by SITA’s government business every year.

Covering communications and infrastructure, airports, passenger, aircraft communications, government and border security, SITA now offers the largest portfolio of IT and communications services to the air transport industry. Investments in new businesses along the way bring further ground-breaking developments, such as in-flight connectivity through SITA OnAir (initially in partnership with Airbus) and the world’s largest cargo management system through subsidiary CHAMP Cargosystems.

Tomorrow’s technology will bring even more change to aviation. While it may seem our digital age promises a revolution every day, we are clearly on the brink of a new digital era, the impact of which may even be likened to the historical enormity of the PC or print press. That era will be driven by vast amounts of data, as air travel increasingly depends

on data for up-to-the-second intelligence and analysis, and as the Internet of Things begins to connect everything that can benefit from a connection, on the ground and in the air. They will combine with the growing impact of technologies like mobile services, cloud computing, biometrics and wearable computing.

Together, technologies like these will bring profound and lasting change to the hugely interdependent aviation ecosystem, connecting its stakeholders and assets like never before, and revolutionizing practices in areas such as the passenger experience, airport and aircraft operations, aircraft e-enablement, air navigation, and a whole lot more.

“ TOMORROW’S TECHNOLOGY WILL BRING EVEN MORE CHANGE TO AVIATION. WHILE IT MAY SEEM OUR DIGITAL AGE PROMISES A REVOLUTION EVERY DAY, WE ARE CLEARLY ON THE BRINK OF A NEW DIGITAL ERA, THE IMPACT OF WHICH MAY EVEN BE LIKENED TO THE HISTORICAL ENORMITY OF THE PC OR PRINT PRESS.”


http://www.sita.aero/content/sita-world-sporting-events

AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW14 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW14

in the 1980s to sophisticated applications and systems of today – including business intelligence, beacons, near field communication and wearable technology, such as Google Glass and smartwatches.”

PACE OF CHANGEUpping the pace of change is the ‘connected traveler’ element of the equation, as the latest Airport and Passenger IT Trends Surveys show. Who could have foreseen even a decade ago that almost every passenger (97%) would be carrying a smartphone, tablet or laptop when they fly, and that one in five travels with all three?

The challenge is that these travelers expect to be connected throughout the entire journey, which is vital to one of the airport’s top imperatives: passenger satisfaction. Airports must

AIRPORT IT TRENDS

THE FUTURE-PROOF AIRPORT

AS THE WORLD’S AIRWAYS BECOME MORE CROWDED AND THE BUILDING OF NEW SITES MORE CHALLENGING, HOW CAN AIRPORTS CREATE A FUTURE-PROOF ENVIRONMENT?

The latest Airport IT Trends Survey cites more investment in information and communications technology (ICT) as the world’s airports prepare for future growth and increasing demand. With airport infrastructure under massive pressure, that preparation is crucial.

By 2034, 7.3 billion people a year will be traveling through our airports, more than doubling today’s number. An additional 37,463 passenger aircraft will be in service, which is over twice the size of today’s fleet, say Airbus statistics.

Eurocontrol forecasts 50% more flights throughout Europe in 2035 than in 2012 – meaning that around 1.9m flights will not be accommodated based on existing infrastructure.

With the lead-time for new airport construction taking anything from five to 20 years, depending on location,

future-proofing airports for ever busier times ahead is a huge dilemma. Clearly the airport sector will continue to encounter testing times juggling to make existing resources work harder and faster as demand grows relentlessly.

THREE IMPERATIVESFocusing on the dilemma, a new paper – one of a series of SITA papers under development – acknowledges the role of ICT as central to meeting the three key airport business imperatives of passenger satisfaction, operational excellence and financial success.

“More than ever, ICT is critical to creating the future-proof airport,” says Matthys Serfontein, Vice President of Airports at SITA, “just as it has helped transform airports over the past 70 years from simply

SEE ALSO:

providing space for airlines to land and take off, to being the massive commercial and social operation that we see today.”

CONNECTEDTechnology’s part in that transformation is addressing the goals of improving passenger and baggage throughput, ensuring the rapid turnaround of aircraft and providing an enhanced customer experience. That may be anything from speeding up passenger check-in and boarding, to optimizing aircraft servicing and loading, or embracing the digitally ‘connected traveler’, and creating a personalized airside retail experience.

“SITA remains at the forefront of this airport transformation through ICT,” says Serfontein, “from the development of shared technology infrastructure such as common use terminal equipment (CUTE)

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THE FUTURE-PROOF AIRPORT

address the expectations of constant connectivity and service improvements – while also keeping pace with growth in demand.

INTELLIGENT BUILD“For that to happen requires the increasing global adoption of the ‘intelligent airport’ model,” says Serfontein, “with a future-proof suite of intelligent technology across the airport.

“It means retrofitting modern airport technology into an existing terminal, or with new builds, realizing the significant cost-benefits of deploying a future-proof suite of integrated technology into a terminal while it’s being constructed.

“That creates the most value and will provide the greatest opportunity to deliver a truly ‘intelligent airport’ terminal,” adds Serfontein.

SELF-SERVICEOne trend fundamental to passenger satisfaction is self-service, as it becomes almost universal – for example, 92% of airports expect to offer self-service kiosks for check-in by 2017, according to the latest Airport IT Trends Survey.

Whether it’s for an existing or greenfield infrastructure, self-service must be incorporated into the design of any future-proof airport because of its impact on passenger flow. That means a thorough understanding of flow will be as important as the technology to enable self-service.

It may be that for greenfield airports or terminals, traditional check-in desks are not an important feature. On the other hand, one growth area is unassisted bag-drop, which is now expected to become mainstream by 2017 with 62% of airports providing this service.

Depending on the airport infrastructure the check-in counters will need to be retrofitted to enable the unassisted bag-drop process such as those in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Singapore Changi airports, implemented by SITA.

UPFRONT DESIGNConnected travelers increasingly expect a digital infrastructure that allows them to use their mobile devices to find their way round the airport, make payments, store ID and tickets. This demands a retrofit for today’s airports, but for new airports and terminals it must be designed in from the outset. This requires not only physical design but also process and service design.

Another trend in airport terminal design where technology plays a role is in providing a ‘sense of place’ for passengers.

Today’s modern airports are keen to deliver a passenger experience specific and quintessential to their locality.

“Whether it’s an interactive display or exhibit, or a customized promotion for a location-specific retail or food and beverage offer, airports are embracing and interacting with the digitally connected passenger like never before to reflect their sense of place,” states Serfontein.

“At the same time, airports don’t want to lose human contact, so staff need to be available to provide help and guidance. They need access to live information at any point in the airport, requiring integration with back-office systems and secure access to the digital infrastructure.”

“ OUR WORK WITH LEADING AIRPORTS ACROSS THE WORLD IS DEMONSTRATING THE VALUE TODAY OF CREATING A FUTURE-PROOFED INTELLIGENT AIRPORT.”

MATTHYS SERFONTEIN VICE PRESIDENT OF AIRPORTS, SITA

REVENUE NOT COSTThe third airport imperative, financial success, relies on real-time integration of accurate data results in faster billing and faster payment. Again, this requires a digital infrastructure fit for purpose today and for growth tomorrow.

With the ‘airport-as-a-city’ analogy in mind, the shared infrastructure, focus on passenger satisfaction and operational excellence will deliver more opportunities for retail. Already airports are learning to analyze retail spend data using BI tools. The 2014 Airport IT Trends Survey records that 80% of airports will do so by 2017.

More than that, the infrastructure itself becomes a potential source of revenue, rather than a cost center. And passengers become a further source of future revenue growth, particularly through the provision of extra services that enhance their experience, delivered through their own personal mobile platform.

While it’s important that the design of the ICT infrastructure platform is incorporated into the airport or terminal design from the outset, there will be fewer requirements for it to be on-site. It’s here that architects and IT specialists can collaborate early in the process.

AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW16 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW16 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW16 AIR TRANSPORT IT REVIEW16

“ MORE THAN EVER, ICT IS CRITICAL TO CREATING THE FUTURE-PROOF AIRPORT, JUST AS IT HAS HELPED TRANSFORM AIRPORTS OVER THE PAST 70 YEARS FROM SIMPLY PROVIDING SPACE FOR AIRLINES TO LAND AND TAKE OFF, TO BEING THE MASSIVE COMMERCIAL AND SOCIAL OPERATION THAT WE SEE TODAY.”

MATTHYS SERFONTEIN VICE PRESIDENT OF AIRPORTS, SITA

FOR MOREDOWNLOAD THE PAPER ‘HAPPY PASSENGERS, SUCCESSFUL AIRPORT’.

Look out for more SITA papers in a series addressing three airport business imperatives: passenger satisfaction, operational excellence and financial success. www.sita.aero/happy-passengers

BLAZING THE TRAIL Airports across the world are blazing the trail in the use of technologies that will become part and parcel of the future airport environment. Here are some of them.

Copenhagen Airport hosted the world’s first indoor augmented reality application, in partnership with SITA and Cisco Systems, using Wi-Fi positioning data. Now the airport is using location analytics to track passenger flow. It’s proving its value through increased flexibility and responsiveness to staffing requirements.

Miami International Airport is the first to have complete and open deployment of beacons in terminals, car parks and on the sky train allowing useful content to be triggered for participating passengers and staff by airlines, retailers and other airport partners.

Melbourne Airport has been working with SITA to provide self-service units so passengers can ‘tag and drop’ bags without the need for a staff member. The process takes passengers an average of 30 seconds.

Airport Authority of India has worked with SITA to deploy CUSS technology across 25 airports, as well as comprehensive baggage management technology that has reduced the number of mishandled bags by as much as 20%.

Orlando International Airport is the first to offer international travelers from visa-waiver countries the option to ‘land, touch and go’ using SITA automated passport control kiosks.

LOSE THE SILOSThe second imperative, operational excellence, can only be achieved by finally getting rid of the silos that characterize many organizations, and fully embracing collaborative decision-making. This can only be done effectively with an agile, connected infrastructure platform that brings people and systems together. Shared infrastructure should follow, including counters, kiosks and boarding gates.

These can be implemented through real-time resource management systems, fully plugged into the airport-wide digital infrastructure, including indoor location technologies for staff and material assets.

If this is linked with an understanding of passenger flow, then resources can be directed to areas of immediate optimal impact, as well as to longer-term redesign of routes, retail layout and so forth, attracting passengers, airlines and concessionaires.

Business Intelligence (BI) solutions for operations and future planning underpin operational excellence too, enabling airports to be flexible, proactive and efficient, dealing with new levels of connectivity and information demands.

AIRPORT IT TRENDS

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FUTURE-PROOF SERVICESSITA offers the broadest portfolio of airport-specific technology solutions, covering all operational areas. They include:

• Passenger processing – including self-service, beacons, passenger flow monitoring and analysis, and common use terminals.

• Baggage operations – complete baggage management systems for single or multiple sites, self-service, the industry standard global tracing system.

• Airport operations – complete planning and resource management tools.

• Aircraft operations – end-to-end platform and service integration across business processes.

• Transportation security – combining pre-arrival risk assessment and true identity management for governments, with speed and accuracy.

• Communications & infrastructure – a global IPVPN connecting 95% of airports worldwide, managed LAN and wireless networks across the entire airport footprint.

• Air Transport Industry (ATI) Cloud – agility and flexibility with on-demand services through SITA’s ATI Cloud, connecting 17,000 air transport sites and 15,000 commercial aircraft.

• Airport master systems integration (MSI) – helping design and implement future-proof airport technologies.

• Professional services and operations support – delivering advice on solutions plus round-the-clock global operational and service excellence.

SMARTER TOOLS“Our work with leading airports across the world is demonstrating the value today of creating a future-proofed intelligent airport,” says Serfontein.

“If you provide a communications and technology platform that can handle smarter processes, more self-service and offer high quality mobile connectivity, then you have a string of tools suitable for delivering a fast and smooth end-to-end journey from curbside to airside.

“That will cut stress out of traveling. And passengers will repay your investment many times. Airlines will become partners in delivering the stress-free journey and the airport ecosystem will flourish.”

LOOKING AHEADWhat’s clear is that it’s very difficult to predict what will happen in 10, 20 or 50 years. Although on average airport master plans have a planning horizon of 20 years, technology changes more rapidly.

Consider the main drivers of change in the airport IT infrastructure in the next 5-10 years. We’ll see passenger-centric business models combined with the ‘Internet of Things’, which will continue to demand more self-service, mobility and connectivity. Then there’s the rise of BI and big data

SEE OUR ONLINE FEATURES

AIRPORTS BUILT TO LAST Are architects now consulting IT specialists about future technology so they can design future-proof airports that remain flexible? By Matthys Serfontein, VP Airports, SITA.

GO WITH THE FLOWPassenger flow management tools are creating powerful opportunities to enhance the movement of passengers through the airport, says a new paper.

Go to www.sita.aero/air-transport-it-review Or read our tablet issue.

for improved planning and decision making, which has still a long way to go.

“The reality is that no one knows what the future will hold but airport architectural design must align with IT planning so that airports can manage the rollout of IT solutions mapped against clearly defined business objectives.

“Forward-planning at this level will surely deliver lasting benefits to airports and their stakeholders.

“No one pretends it’s easy,” concludes Serfontein. “But by investing from the outset in a future-proofed technology infrastructure platform, there are opportunities to be seized.”



AIRPORT MANAGEMENT

THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE

As for tomorrow, how we use technology is going to be vital. We’ve identified three areas of focus: unlocking capacity, increasing resilience, and of course improving the passenger experience.

What progress have you made?

We’ve made a lot of improvements to the way passengers move through the airport. Eighty percent now rate their experiences as excellent or very good. Our ASQ (Airport Service Quality) score has improved dramatically – and we’re now in the top quartile with European carriers.

Resilience is a key area where technology can help us, through the use of information-enabled decisions, or collaborative decision-making (CDM).

We have the technology infrastructure to enable this.The challenge is how we as a community work together to use that technology.

Can you start by telling us about your most pressing challenges?

We’re the world’s busiest two-runway airport. We have a take-off and a landing every 45 seconds. But since we’re limited both by the number of runways and the number of movements we’re allowed to handle a year, we’re running at over 98% of runway capacity.

Within those constraints, we manage to handle more than 70 million passengers a year, serving 184 destinations for 84 airlines. With such a constant flow of aircraft, it’s obvious you need the capacity to handle all those passengers.

What’s IT’s role?

Technology is playing a critically important role in determining where and how we handle continuing growth. Today it’s at the heart of pretty much everything we do – whether the passenger journey, baggage processing, security or asset maintenance.

TECHNOLOGY IS HELPING HEATHROW AIRPORT BUILD RESILIENCE AND IMPROVE PASSENGER SERVICES IN THE FACE OF CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS, SAYS NEIL CLARK, HEATHROW’S CIO.

FIND OUT MOREIntelligent Airports www.sita.aero/IA


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“ WE THINK THE TECHNOLOGY’S ALL THERE NOW. WE’VE CERTAINLY GOT THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE. NOW WE NEED TO START TRIALING AND THINKING ABOUT HOW WE CAN BRING THIS TECHNOLOGY TOGETHER, AND START ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS.”

Can you provide examples?

Late in 2014 we opened a new operations centre. It’s based on the philosophy of operating the airport every day according to a single plan with multiple stakeholders. Everyone sharing one view of the data, one shared version of the truth.

It means we can see the complete picture for Heathrow. We can see problems before they happen and we can make sure we take the right decision for the airport rather than for one particular silo or department.

We’re committed to the concept of the intelligent airport. We’re working on a better understanding and a better prediction of flow through the airport.

We think the technology’s all there now. We’ve certainly got the infrastructure in place. Now we need to start trialing and thinking about how we can bring this technology together, and start answering these questions.

If we get it right, the result is improved punctuality for departures, which contributes to better arrival punctuality, less taxiing time and a better experience for our passengers. If we collaborate around the intelligent airport, then we really can deliver against the three areas of core focus: capacity, resilience, and an improved passenger experience.

Can you tell us more about your experience of CDM?

We introduced CDM at Heathrow and it’s been a huge success. It’s a real example of how everyone working together can deliver beneficial change. There’s a lot of technology involved, but it’s more about process change.

We know it works. For example, as much as 25% of airspace over Europe is wasted because of inefficiencies in schedules and flying. CDM links airspace with what’s going on at ground level, and some of the results have been dramatic. We’ve seen 20% improvements in aircraft departure delays, we’re getting ATC slot compliance up at over 90%. We’re also seeing less taxiing time and more fuel saving for the airlines.

The benefits are not just being seen at Heathrow. Apparently, our implementation of CDM is impacting across Europe. I understand that the Director General of Eurocontrol said that when Heathrow introduced CDM, there was immediately a 10% improvement in airspace use across Europe.

How can IT maximize asset efficiency?

One of the things we’re looking at on the airfield as well as in the terminals is how can we combine our private 4G network with mobile devices, with really high accuracy GPS and digital maps. Then engineers can pinpoint specific assets on the runway. They can inspect them, record them and integrate them into back-end systems.

We’ve done some trials on this and it’s immediately showing us that there are efficiency improvements to be had. That’s not all. If we can maintain our assets better, if we can predict what’s going to be happening

to our assets across the whole of the airport – then we can improve operations.

So by enhancing the use of our assets, we can directly unlock capacity, increase resilience and of course improve the passenger journey.

We’re a hub airport – which means that up to 40% of our passengers are transferring from one flight to another. In terms of baggage, we have about 70 million bags traveling through Heathrow every year, of which about one third are transfer bags.

Technology allows us to think of the four baggage systems we’ve got across five terminals as one virtual system. So we’re building some fantastic new baggage facilities and linking them together physically – spending £900m to create the world’s largest integrated baggage system.

Passengers today want real-time access to more information. What has your experience been?

Historically we’ve all held our information in silos. It’s worth noting that 72 million people travel through Heathrow and I have no idea who they are before they come to the airport. And we pick up only minimal information about those passengers as they travel through the airport.

So it’s not surprising that, armed with an unprecedented volume and quality of information, passengers can start to see the joins between our organizations. The opportunity’s there from a technology perspective to provide passengers with truly personalized information, geared to their expectations and requirements. But that’ll only happen if we change the way we work and if we work together.

It’s not just about the technology. The technology will drive us to all think differently. But through collaboration we must break down years of information silos and adapt our engagement models. We’ve got to work faster to create the standards. There’s a lot of good work going on but as an industry we’re not moving fast enough.

Our customers are changing. They’re changing fast, we know that. We’ve got to evolve even faster. Airports need to drive faster than they are at the moment. The biggest dilemma we face is that our passengers, the airline customers, can see the joins between us and they expect us to fix it. That’s our ultimate challenge as a community.

FOR THE FULL INTERVIEWGo to www.sita.aero/air-transport-it-review Or read our tablet issue.


BAGGAGE MANAGEMENT

WE KNOW WHERE YOUR BAG IS

THE LANDSCAPE FOR BAGGAGE MANAGEMENT AT AIRPORTS IS SET FOR DRAMATIC CHANGE WITH THE REQUIREMENT BY 2018 FOR AIRLINES TO KEEP TRACK OF EVERY ITEM OF BAGGAGE FROM START TO FINISH.

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WE KNOW WHERE YOUR BAG IS

But what must be remembered is that meeting IATA’s requirements still demands intelligent tracking capabilities such as those offered by SITA’s BagJourney, which makes tracking data available to airlines and airports, to be conveyed to passengers. See ‘Smart baggage’.

As an industry, June 2018 is a fast-approaching deadline that the community of airports, airlines, ground handlers and suppliers will have to work together to meet.

The Resolution requires IATA members to “maintain an accurate inventory of baggage by monitoring the acquisition and delivery of baggage” – in other words to keep tabs on every item of baggage from start to finish.

IATA Resolution 753 stipulates that members must be able to:

• Demonstrate delivery of baggage when custody changes.

• Demonstrate acquisition of baggage when custody changes.

• Provide an inventory of bags on departure of a flight.

• Be capable of exchanging these events with other airlines as needed.

WHO’S AFFECTED?Taking effect from June 2018, the Resolution is mandatory for IATA airlines. But it will also require airports to have the IT systems and infrastructure in place to support airline compliance. This will involve a range of different parties at different points of the process.

Bags will need to be tracked by either automated readers or staff using mobile handheld devices. Other technology, such as GSM/GPS-enabled devices and beacons, may also be used to track each and every bag along its journey.

GOOD EXAMPLESSome airports already have a high level of tracking throughout their terminals.

For example, London Heathrow Airport has installed scanners and lasers across the whole airport.

At Italy’s largest airport, Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport Rome, SITA has installed readers to track bags and has implemented the airport’s bag reconciliation, messaging and management systems.

The investment has paid off: over two years, mishandling rates for airlines using the airport were reduced by 70%, with 360,000 fewer bags mishandled. This delivered estimated savings to the airlines of US$ 36m.

SITA has also worked with several airports to install baggage systems into new terminals – including Heydar Aliev International Airport’s new Terminal 1 in Baku, Azerbaijan and St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, both of which use the SITA BagMessage and BagManager solutions.

INNOVATIVEOne of the most innovative baggage solutions installed at a new terminal was at Dublin Airport T2. SITA developed a sophisticated solution that enables US Customs and Immigration pre-clearance to be carried out in Ireland.

The first of its kind, it captures images of bags from the moment they are checked in and tracks them throughout the airport so that the US Customs and Border Protection officials can immediately locate and retrieve a bag for inspection.

EVERYONE WINSThe aim is to reduce mishandling by determining custody of every bag during each phase of the baggage process. This will increase passenger satisfaction while at the same time the possibility of baggage fraud can be reduced by knowing exactly what bags you should have when.

There are benefits for all parties – airlines, airports and passengers – because accurate information not only reduces mishandling but can help to speed up reconciliation and flight readiness for departing flights and help measure performance against service level parameters.

THE RECENT ADOPTION OF IATA RESOLUTION 753 IS NO DRY TECHNICAL ISSUE. IT’S A MAJOR ADVANCE THAT EVERY PASSENGER WILL UNKNOWINGLY WELCOME. BY NICK GATES, DIRECTOR BAGGAGE PORTFOLIO, SITA

SMART BAGGAGEEnhancing customer service

More passengers want to use their mobile devices as a self-service tool to track their baggage while traveling from one destination to the next. A mobile app will alert them to the location of their baggage.

SITA is in the vanguard of the air transport industry’s progress towards giving passengers more access to information about their bags, taking full advantage of mobile capabilities. This will enable the self-processing by passengers of delayed bag claims. At the same time, the industry will be more able to deal with mishandled bag claims.

Services include BagConnect, BagSmart and BagJourney, along with self-service bag drop and more as part of SITA’s comprehensive baggage portfolio.

Find out more at www.sita.aero/air-transport-it-review

MISHANDLING RATES FOR AIRLINES USING THE AIRPORT WERE REDUCED BY 70%, WITH 360,000 FEWER BAGS MISHANDLED. THIS DELIVERED ESTIMATED SAVINGS TO THE AIRLINES OF US$ 36M.

FOR MOREwww.sita.aero/baggage


ADVANCES IN BIOMETRICS AND MORE USE OF E-PASSPORTS MAKE A COMPELLING CASE FOR AUTOMATED BORDERS. SO WHY NOT LET LOW-RISK PASSENGERS PROCESS THEMSELVES, FREEING BORDER AGENCIES TO FOCUS ON THOSE POSING A GREATER RISK?

BORDER MANAGEMENT

LET’S MAKE BORDERS SMARTER

AUTOMATION PORTFOLIOSITA’s iBorders® Border Management is an integrated border security solution that greatly improves the efficiency of borders by targeting resources at higher-risk travelers while speeding up processing for the low-risk majority.

SITA has deployed automated border crossings worldwide, using both kiosk and e-gate technology, with benefits including increased passenger throughput and improved security.

iBorders® BorderAutomation offers a secure self-service alternative to traditional resource-intensive manual border controls for travelers holding biometric travel documents.

It includes automated border control gates (ABCGates) and kiosks (ABCKiosks) to speed up border crossings for travelers presenting biometric travel documents. This frees up skilled resources to focus on the higher-risk minority.

Both ABCGates and ABCKiosks support all ICAO recommended biometrics and a wide range of different biometric technologies.

They integrate with iBorders® TravelerData, SITA’s advance passenger information (API) and passenger name record (PNR) solution. This includes integration with government watch lists, identity management and pre-travel systems.

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LET’S MAKE BORDERS SMARTER

AUTOMATE THE FRONTLINESo, how to be smarter at the border? Poised to usher in a new era at border lines around the world, automated border control gates and kiosks are shining a light on the way forward.

The magic of automated border control gates and kiosks is their ability to automate the frontline, removing the need for a border guard to manually check the travel document and identity for each and every traveler. So says a new paper from SITA, ‘Smarter Borders: Using Automation to Increase Security and Efficiency’.

Qualified border agents can then be redeployed to focus their attention on potential high-risk travelers, improving security yet enhancing efficiency for the benefit of passengers.

TRAVEL PROGRAMSAutomated border control relies on a number of prerequisites. They include the use of e-passports and biometric verification, such as face, iris or fingerprint, combined with a risk assessment of the traveler.

Automated border crossings are already widely used in trusted, or registered, traveler programs. Passengers register, physically enroll their biometric data and voluntarily submit themselves

“The right play off between border management and facilitation remains a difficult balancing act,” says Dan Ebbinghaus, VP Border Security, SITA. “We want borders to be as open as possible for legitimate visitors, but firmly closed to those deemed undesirable.

“We’re happy to welcome tourists and those coming on business, but equally aware of the need to deal effectively with security concerns. At the same time, as passenger numbers and political pressures keep growing, budgets remain under stress.”

DAUNTINGNo wonder keeping people moving through the airport and national borders has become such a daunting task. Existing systems frequently struggle to cope – while future increases threaten to stress already overloaded processes and systems to breaking point.

It’s not only an issue for border agencies but also for airports and airlines. As their own resources are increasingly stretched, they too feel the pressure to improve passenger services. It matters little to passengers if baggage delivery is the best in the world if they have to spend two hours in immigration getting through border control.

“ THE BENEFITS OF GETTING BORDER AUTOMATION RIGHT CAN MAKE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE CONTINUING BATTLE TO SMOOTH THE END-TO-END JOURNEY FOR PASSENGERS WHILE PROVIDING A SECURE ENVIRONMENT FOR TRAVEL AND FOR HOST COUNTRIES.”

DAN EBBINGHAUS VP BORDER SECURITY, SITA

to a background check in order to use the automated border control system. Often targeted at frequent travelers or migrant workers, these programs can be transnational.


AUTOMATION IN ACTIONAs the proven global leader in border security and identity management, SITA provides solutions for 36 countries and over 60 government entities who use iBorders® technology to process over 100 million passengers annually. Self-service border control gates and kiosks are a growing area.

USA DRIVE SITA’s self-service border control kiosks were first seen at Miami International Airport in 2013. Then, in 2014, SITA was first to market with the new Phase III Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks, working with the Greater Orlando Airport Authority.

APC is the US-specific directive to introduce passport control kiosks across the country, which has seen SITA’s self-service border solutions embraced by many of the country’s airports.

In addition to Miami they include other international airports in the USA, such as JFK New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Tampa – a growing list of airports who all now have biometric immigration kiosks provided by SITA.

At the end of 2014, automated passport control (APC) kiosks went live at JetBlue’s new international arrivals hall at JFK International Airport, New York.

A JAMAICA FIRST Jamaica is the first country in the Americas to allow passengers arriving from any international location to use kiosks for self-service immigration border clearance.

iBorders® BorderAutomation ABCKiosks are expected to increase passenger throughput at Jamaica’s borders by 60%. Passengers arriving at the airports in Kingston and Montego Bay can look forward to faster border clearance with the launch of ABCKiosks.

Jennifer McDonald, CEO of Jamaica’s Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) said: “It is important that we welcome all our visitors to Jamaica in the best way we can and with SITA we had the confidence to offer this self-service to all passengers, and not just those who enroll in a trusted traveler program.

“SITA’s kiosks use biometrics and work seamlessly with our existing border management systems to offer this great service - fast and secure border processing for everyone.

“It was SITA’s extensive border security experience combined with its unique solution of kiosks, biometrics and border management that made it the ideal supplier to implement the system and provide the ongoing support that we need to ensure its smooth operation in the years ahead.”

See also: ‘The kiosk rises’, page 26.

WHEN IN ROME – ABCGATESEurope is in the throes of adopting border automation too. For example, following installation of iBorders® BorderAutomation ABCGates by SITA, more than 3,000 passengers a day are clearing customs and immigration at Rome (Fiumicino) International Airport.

The ABCGates verify each passenger through facial recognition and fingerprints. They also quickly verify the passenger is the passport holder and is authorized to enter the country.

This process enables low-risk passengers to use self-service facilities, reducing wait times. At the same time, it allows Customs and Immigration agents at the airport to focus their limited resources on potential high-risk passengers.

E-GATESFor those taking the automation route, the two main options to consider are e-gates and kiosks, though both can be used in different combinations, according to the SITA Paper.

E-gates have been widely adopted in Europe as a direct replacement for the manual border counter. Travelers queue up for the e-gate, then enter a secure and private enclosure with barriers either side of them.

Once the document and biometric checks are completed successfully, the front door opens to let the passenger through. Typically,

CRITICAL MASSDevelopments over the last few years have made the business case for border entry automation increasingly compelling. Technology has matured to minimize error rates in detection, standardization has helped countries adopt a common approach, the use of e-passports is widespread, and travelers are enthusiastic about using self-service technology.

“But perhaps most importantly, e-passports have reached critical mass, helped by adoption of the ICAO standard,” says Ebbinghaus. According to analyst firm IHS Technology,

113 million e-passports were in circulation in 2013, a figure due to rise to 175 million by 2019. Over 100 countries have implemented e-passports. That represented around 60% of all passports in circulation in 2012.

“There’s also the important massive advance made in biometric matching – particularly in face recognition,” he adds. Results from a recent trial of SITA e-gates, which use class-leading biometric technology, show that 92% of eligible travelers were processed successfully with no operator intervention. That includes both the document and biometric checks.

BORDER MANAGEMENT

one border guard supervises a bank of several e-gates and deals with those passengers that need further processing.

KIOSKSKiosks are more appropriate where the goal is to automate most of the process but the traveler still has to speak to a border control officer for a final check. Kiosks can automate the travel document checks, identity verification and customs declaration as well as integrating with back-end systems that perform a risk assessment.

Once that’s done, a printed receipt shows the traveler’s details, including face image and a status indicator.

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‘BIG AREA OF DISATISFACTION’• Most passengers (78%) are generally satisfied with their

travel experience, according to the 2014 SITA Passenger IT Trends Survey by SITA and Air Transport World.

• But after complaints about baggage, the second biggest area of dissatisfaction is the security and border control procedure.

• A quarter of passengers said that it needs significant improvement, with a further 44% saying it needs some improvement.

FIND OUT MOREDownload ‘Smarter Borders: Using Automation to Increase Security and Efficiency’.www.sita.aero/abc

THE MAGIC OF AUTOMATED BORDER CONTROL GATES AND KIOSKS IS THEIR ABILITY TO AUTOMATE THE FRONTLINE, REMOVING THE NEED FOR A BORDER GUARD TO MANUALLY CHECK THE TRAVEL DOCUMENT AND IDENTITY FOR EACH AND EVERY TRAVELER.

In most implementations the traveler then takes the receipt to a border control officer stationed at the exit of the immigration hall who performs the final vetting. See also: ‘The kiosk rises’, page 26.

THE ‘SOFT SIDE’It’s not just about technology choice. Softer factors also come into play – such as queue management, signage and passenger education – and they’re critical to the successful deployment of automated border control.

“Getting travelers to the right area and using the technology correctly requires planning and preparation,” concludes Ebbinghaus.

”But the benefits of getting it right can make a significant impact on the continuing battle to smooth the end-to-end journey for passengers while providing a secure environment for travel and for host countries.”

See also: ‘Smart moves at the border,’ issue 3 2014.


AIRPORT IT TRENDS / BORDER MANAGEMENT

THE KIOSK RISES

IT’S ALMOST 18 YEARS SINCE SITA INTRODUCED ITS FIRST SELF-SERVICE KIOSKS. TODAY THEY’RE RELIED ON FOR MYRIAD TASKS, FROM CHECK-IN TO BAG TAGGING. BUT ONE OF THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES NOW LIES IN THEIR USE FOR BORDER MANAGEMENT.

Cited for ever more uses at the airport, the kiosk is on the rise. So say recent consulting firm reports. Among the latest trends is the growing and successful use of kiosks at the border, a move which is proving itself in the industry through smoother and faster passenger flow, fewer frustrations and more efficiencies.

Airport kiosk evolution is endorsement of the passenger’s embrace of self-service. SITA’s check-in kiosks were first introduced by Air Alaska in 1997, designed to improve the journey for passengers by reducing queuing and to test the appetite for self-service.

Six years later, the first common use self-service kiosks made their appearance at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Today, thousands of kiosks provide services in airports across the world.

And airports continue to invest in them. The latest Airport IT Trends Survey finds that 60% of airports plan to increase common use kiosks over the next three years for check-in and other, new, uses.

KIOSK DRIVERSBorder management is an area of increasing interest, with growth in demand for automated border control gates and kiosks creating a significant market for change.

According to a new Acuity Market Intelligence study – ‘The Global Automated Border Control Industry Report: Airport eGates and Kiosks’ – two trends are driving the kiosk’s rise at the border:

• Global trends reflecting advances in technology, the competitive environment, and a broad-based consensus in how 21st century airport operations will evolve.

• Unique regional and local policies and priorities that define specific programs and shape the progress of gate and kiosk deployments.

PROMPT RECEIPTBoth automated border control gates and kiosks enable passengers to self-clear border and passport control by using an approved e-passport or Registered Traveler pre-enrolment program.

The kiosks prompt passengers to answer questions by using a self-service touch screen. Then passengers are issued with a receipt which they take, along with their passport and travel information, to a border agent for final clearance.

Kiosks are being increasingly used in North America to clear both US citizens who are not required to submit biometrics, as well as third party visa waiver nationals who must submit biometrics.

Says the paper: “The challenges will be overcome and by 2025 an extraordinary transformation of the international air travel experience will occur; a transformation that will mostly go unnoticed as it progresses along with traveler expectations.

“The ‘ordinary’ travel experience in 10 years time will be as extraordinary and unimaginable today as the billion smartphones that shipped last year were a mere decade ago.”

See also: ‘Let’s make borders smarter’, page 22.

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THE ULTIMATE 21ST CENTURY ‘HOLY GRAIL’ FOR IMMIGRATION AND PASSENGER PROCESSING IS TO PROVIDE A TRULY SEAMLESS AND ALMOST UNNOTICEABLE AIRPORT EXPERIENCE.

FIND OUT MORE The new papers:

‘The Global Automated Border Control Industry Report: Airport eGates and Kiosks,’ Acuity Market Intelligence.

‘2014 Border Control and Biometrics Market Assessment,’ Frost & Sullivan.

Also go to: www.sita.aero/abc

SITA kiosks and gates in North America are present in a growing number of airports, including Miami, JFK New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa and more.

SELF-CREATEDAcuity note that e-passports evolved as a response to mandated requirements defined by governments. On the other hand, the air transport industry itself created the automated border control gates and kiosk market. It responds to the specific needs and requirements of airports and their host countries.

That’s resulted in development influenced but not bound by international requirements, which has created a degree of tension and has resulted in a fragmented market.

But the consulting firm suggests that industry collaboration, shared expertise and a willingness to develop formal and informal standards across the sector “will inevitably lead to the development of integrated, interoperable, and universally accessible border management solutions”.

‘HOLY GRAIL’Acuity’s data-driven analysis of the current and future state of the market discusses how a more complex border management IT infrastructure will both facilitate global travel and provide more effective sovereign security capabilities.

It continues: “The ultimate 21st century ‘holy grail’ for immigration and passenger processing is to provide a truly seamless and almost unnoticeable airport experience.

“One that increases total passenger capacity and throughput while freeing travelers to enjoy leisure activities and freeing security personnel and border control authorities from resource intensive routine screenings to focus on identifying and evaluating authentic security threats.”

EXTRAORDINARYClearly, trends in border management are gathering pace at an astounding rate. Accuity notes that airlines and airports will increasingly push passenger self-service outside the airport to fixed and mobile internet-connected devices. At the same time security and border control authorities will push to strengthen the link between individuals, travel credentials, and travel reservations.


A fast growing airline must place big demands on the IT function?

Yes, of course. Our level of growth is very welcome. It’s energizing and set to continue – and our IT strategy must help enable it. By 2020 we plan to have about 400 aircraft in our fleet, carrying 120 million passengers a year. But we won’t have enough space at the airport in Istanbul – so another airport is being built.

As well as dealing with the growth of the airline, it means we’ll also have to manage the

AIRLINE IT TRANSFORMATION – INTERVIEW

AT THE HEART OF GROWTH

THE IT ORGANIZATION IS AT THE HEART OF AN AIRLINE’S ABILITY TO COPE WITH DRAMATIC GROWTH AND EXTERNAL CHANGE. SO SAYS KEREM KIZILTUNÇ, SVP & CIO AT TURKISH AIRLINES.

move of our hub. Anything on this scale is a major challenge for any company – and it places particular demands on technology.

Can you tell us about your transformation program?

We started it in 2010, with a two-phased approach – the first from 2010 to 2013 and we’re now in the middle of the second phase, from 2013 to 2017.

In the first wave, we worked our way through a number of large-scale projects as well as hundreds of small improvements and medium-sized projects. We concentrated initially on flight planning – an area where we could get operational efficiency and cost management results.

We launched a mobile application in 2009, overhauled our website in 2011 and introduced two major implementations around revenue accounting and a real-time revenue management system – both went live in 2013.

Next we changed our fares and pricing infrastructure, crew planning and transfer, and passenger management at the Istanbul hub. A large scale

ERP transformation program started in 2010 and has been completed in three phases. We also completed Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) work for ancillary revenues infrastructure.

The second phase is essential to our customer offer and passenger experience, including the possible replacement of our in-house Passenger Services System (PSS). Before that, we’re pushing through a further overhaul of our website, including enhanced mobile applications.

We’ll then look at changing our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) infrastructure. We’re currently using an in-house loyalty program, and we’re adding multistep campaign management capabilities, e-mail marketing, direct marketing and more.

Our cargo team is also changing their infrastructure as well as reservation, sales and revenue accounting systems. On top of that we plan to add cargo revenue management and B2C portals to allow some channel shifts.


Where are you heading with the use of mobile in operations?

We’re looking at multiple options here. In June last year we announced a mini iPad application for cabin crew. We launched our Electronic Flight Bag in August in the cockpit. We’re working on another project for instructor pilots, so they can do all of their paperwork during their flights.

We’re also looking at options to reduce congestion at Istanbul airport, caused by the massive increase in arriving, departing and transfer passengers.

In the back office we’re also investing a lot on mobile technologies simply because the workforce is becoming more and more mobile. We rolled out electronic signatures last year and now we’re looking at mobile signatures for all internal approval cycles. We’ve even implemented a mobile ERP application to improve small but essential details such as vacation requests.

These are all areas where we think the IT organization can help the growth of our airline. We have large scale programs but there’s always a new disruptive technology approaching from around the corner. We need to have the flexibility to take them into account, to evaluate them.

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AT THE HEART OF GROWTH

Finally, we’re working on a digital flight initiative that includes tablets both for the cockpit and crew on the aircraft – and we’re building a new data center! So our IT organization is doing a lot to enable continued growth for Turkish.

What lessons have you learned?

It’s important to start a project with the assurance of the relevant business team’s strong sponsorship. Then we try to ensure that executive sponsorship continues during the complete project life cycle. We try to keep that rhythm with executive committees and continuous reporting, as well as constant prioritization. That’s because, as a growing airline, a problem that wasn’t hurting three years ago might become a US$10 million cost-saving opportunity just three years later and you may want to prioritize that now.

All of these complexities and incoming demands need to be managed – so we focus on planning and constant communication. The fact that individuals now talk to other individuals rather than interacting with a machine is fundamental to the post-industrial society.

We call it ‘social’ these days because now it involves customers and us, and then suppliers and IT, and IT vendors, and so on. In reality, this has been true for the last 40 years. But today it’s more and more important – and part of our daily lives.

IT staff are still sometimes seen as the technology nerds who like to buy hardware, PCs and laptops. But we’re not just technologists – we’re making a major contribution to addressing the airline’s business needs by using the capabilities of IT. Of course we’re tech savvy, but we’re also acutely business-aware.

In other words, we see ourselves as the experts who are joining the two worlds together. But we bring another dimension to the business as well – good old project management. We have extensive practical experience because of our own recent history. For instance, any successful IT project requires a mastery of project management skills such as risk management and change management. So, yes we can we find a technology solution to a particular business issue. But more importantly, we have the experience to see it through.

Say a particular business has a two-year project. We have business analysts, architects and project managers with relevant experience. We can warn of potential risks, how they can impact the entire organization, how the business needs to consider organizational change management. We can warn of issues that might pop up unexpectedly and how these can be anticipated from the outset.

Are colleagues willing to take on board your experience?

Most key decision-makers have been through organizational change before – and they’ve seen the

“ WE’RE WORKING ON A DIGITAL FLIGHT INITIATIVE THAT INCLUDES TABLETS BOTH FOR THE COCKPIT AND CREW ON THE AIRCRAFT – AND WE’RE BUILDING A NEW DATA CENTER! SO OUR IT ORGANIZATION IS DOING A LOT TO ENABLE CONTINUED GROWTH FOR TURKISH.”

advantage of collaborating. For all long-term projects lasting up to a couple of years and more, we find that people learn to use each other’s capabilities to the maximum – not least because the very nature of the project forces all sides to collaborate.

What are your plans?

Given the continuing focus on technology as a key enabler of future growth, we’ve given a name to the theme of the second wave of activity: ‘Digital Aviation’.

The ‘digital customer experience’ is an area where we’ll try to deliver better experience to our passengers at each and every touch point. ‘Digital operations’ is another area where mobile and wearable devices will have a huge impact on how airlines operate.

The digital customer experience will be defined by two large scale projects. The first is a project we call Web 3.0 whereby we’re aligning our web and mobile platforms. We’ve agreed to use a single personalization engine, a single user experience design and even a single vendor to see if we can explore other options in the mobile. The second is a sizeable CRM project which will address a comprehensive set of functionality.

FOR THE FULL INTERVIEWIncluding more about the IT organization and outsourcing, go to: www.sita.aero/air-transport-it-review Or read our tablet issue.

AIR TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE


A NEW ERA OF CONNECTIVITYTHE AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY’S CONNECTIVITY DEMANDS ARE INCREASING EXPONENTIALLY. AS A NEW NETWORKING ERA BECKONS, IT CALLS FOR NEW MODELS, MORE BANDWIDTH AND THE ULTIMATE FLEXIBILITY.The connectivity demands of airlines and their industry partners are evolving radically with the continued adoption of new generation aircraft and applications.

Within four years, the industry will see as many as 2,000 new generation aircraft in operation. By 2020, 25% of commercial aircraft will be connected, or in the industry’s parlance, ‘e-enabled’. That means monitoring 440,000 parameters on an Airbus A350, for example, or 1,400 software parts on a Boeing 787.

In just two years’ time, more than 75% of airlines will have deployed crew tablets. The bulk of this connectivity will happen at or through the airport. It will require a massive rise in resource to satisfy an insatiable demand, on demand.

At the same time, over the next 15 years, a further 500 airports will be commissioned. Existing

airports will see capacity growth of more than 40%. “Powerful trends like this will drive requirements not just for greater bandwidth, but also for connectivity on demand,” says Rukmini Glanard, VP Communications & Infrastructure Solutions at SITA.

NETWORK NEEDS“Airline and airport networks will need far greater flexibility too, so that communication services can support fast route changes and sudden peaks in demand, along with seasonal variations as a result of holiday services.

“And as cloud services disruptively change the data environment – both corporately and for passengers – our industry will need agile and cost-effective approaches to exploit the cloud’s major potential for the future,” she adds.

GLOBAL, LOCAL To cater for air transport’s fast emerging and future connectivity needs, SITA has embarked on a transformational program to deliver new levels of global and local network services specifically for the industry.

Already the industry’s leading network services provider, SITA uniquely covers 220 countries and territories, as well as 95% of all international destinations. That includes 13,500 air transport sites and over 15,000 IP connections.

“New agreements with global network partner Orange Business Services, as well as with leading regional providers around the world, strengthen our unrivalled geographical coverage for air transport,” says Glanard.

“At the same time, with our new network offering SITA customers have access to

the best suppliers in every corner of the globe, able to offer them the best value, competitiveness, service and capacity.”

EVOLUTIONThat’s important for the fast evolving air transport industry, which by 2030 will see 18,000 potential communications users at airports, along with 500 new airports (a 30% increase), and a 40% capacity growth in existing airports.

SITA’s new agreements will enable this evolution, building on the company’s already unrivalled airport footprint of 1,200 different airports served by 700 airlines. This represents 9,000 cumulated international destinations, 95% of which SITA is currently able to serve.

As aviation becomes increasingly connected, these evolved network services will prove to be critical.

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Orange Business Services’ CEO Thierry Bonhomme believes that such “connectivity is key to the digital transformation that the air transport industry is undertaking.”

ON THE GROUNDThe integration of regional third-party operators will ensure even more ‘expertise on the ground’ due to the long-standing relationships these operators have with local access providers and governments.

“With flexible connectivity around the world, we will provide airlines with reduced lead time to connect, connectivity on demand and improved application performance,” says Glanard.

SINGLE POINT SERVICESITA’s new communications program is backed by a single integrated service, delivery and operations. This brings the advantages of a multi-partner approach, using key regional partners and including the provision of ultra-flexible services.

These services will include seasonal bandwidth and bandwidth on demand to cater to the various business models of low cost carriers, hybrids and full service carriers. This will enable airlines to test new routes, or operate seasonal destinations more cost effectively.

NEW SERVICE CENTREAccording to Thierry Bonhomme, Orange Business Services’ CEO: “We are also making available an expanded range of value-added communication services such as contact center solutions or unified communication services. This will further support the transformation of SITA’s air transport customers beyond connectivity.”

A new SITA Network Services Delivery and Operations Center marks a major transformation in the partnership model between SITA and Orange Business Services.

The center will be dedicated to air transport industry customers and run by industry specialists. It will operate 24/7 to deliver, integrate, manage and support all network services globally.

“For the rapidly emerging aviation markets of Africa, the Middle East and Latin American, SITA’s regional partners bring particular strengths in terms of offering airlines and airports more value and greater capacity.

GAME CHANGER“Full service carriers, hybrids and LCCs – as well as almost any airport around the world – will all be able to take advantage of SITA’s unique footprint of the highest quality network services available, enabling them to embrace the opportunities offered by the data revolution,” says Glanard. “It’s a game changing development for the air transport industry worldwide.”

“ AIRLINE AND AIRPORT NETWORKS WILL NEED FAR GREATER FLEXIBILITY, SO THAT COMMUNICATION SERVICES CAN SUPPORT FAST ROUTE CHANGES AND SUDDEN PEAKS IN DEMAND, ALONG WITH SEASONAL VARIATIONS AS A RESULT OF HOLIDAY SERVICES.”

RUKMINI GLANARD VP COMMUNICATIONS & INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS, SITA

FOR THE FULL ARTICLEIncluding an outline of the agreement, go to: www.sita.aero/air-transport-it-review Or read our tablet issue.

AIR TRANSPORT SERVICE MANAGEMENT


The world is connected as never before. More and more people are traveling for business, for holidays, to meet with other family members. The world is on the move, and increasingly throughout the journey the world’s travelers want to be constantly connected.

INTERCONNECTED The idea of being ‘always-on’ is infectious, and as it becomes ubiquitous there are major opportunities for stakeholders in the journey to be a part of each individual’s ‘always-on’ environment.

‘ALWAYS-ON’ AVIATION

“ FOR THE CIO, ENABLING AN ‘ALWAYS-ON’ ENVIRONMENT IS A STRATEGIC ISSUE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. YOU’RE FACED WITH MORE DATA, MORE USERS, HIGHER EXPECTATIONS AND THE NEED FOR INCREASINGLY HIGHER LEVELS OF RELIABILITY.”

ROB WATKINS SVP, SITA GLOBAL SERVICES

AN ‘ALWAYS-ON’ WORLD IS SMOOTHING THE PASSENGER JOURNEY BY DELIVERING BETTER OPERATIONS AND RICHER PERSONALIZED SERVICES. IT REQUIRES SERVICE EXCELLENCE, EVERY TIME, LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY.

Air transport is the perfect example of how everyone and everything is becoming interconnected, real-time and personal.

It’s not just passengers, but crew, operations staff, engineers, caterers – they’re all players in the ‘always-on’ air transport environment.

Add to that the evolution of the Internet of Things, where everything that can benefit from a connection will have one, and the complexity grows: continuously connected consumer gadgets along with constantly linked in business assets and equipment.

24X365, 100%The IT communications, systems and applications that power the 24x365 air transport ecosystem are required at no less than 100% availability and reliability.

For airports and airlines, ensuring 24 hour access to services places huge strains on the industry’s communications and data infrastructures. Capacity, volume, speed and resilience are all being tested to new limits that are themselves expanding exponentially.

“For the CIO, this is a strategic issue at the highest level,” notes Rob Watkins, SVP SITA Global Services (SGS). “You’re faced with more data, more users, higher expectations and the need for increasingly higher levels of reliability.

“The challenge is to deliver against business needs, support stakeholders, manage a wide variety of vendors and a growing mix of applications and technologies. All the while


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striking the optimal balance of cost versus scope of service versus the level of business risk you are prepared to accept.

“It’s a major task which SITA is helping CIOs to address through major investment in global and local infrastructure, service and support,” says Watkins. “That includes transforming our support models, first among them a new Airport Support Model.”

UPTIME UPThe foundations for SITA’s service and support are investments made in state-of-the-art Command Centers, Next Generation Data Centers and Service Desks, capable of delivering the highest levels of availability and reliability for SITA services, and handling the vast amounts of data on which the industry relies.

Application and infrastructure availability rates have continued to improve to record levels. At the same time, SITA has significantly reduced the total downtime for major incidents, driving down the operational impact on both the airlines, airports and passengers.

Levels of service continue to deliver ‘best-in-class’ ratings and SITA sits firmly in the top quartile among IT service organizations globally.

‘5 DIMENSIONS’“We’re focused on ever higher levels of intensity of support for the always-on aviation ecosystem,” says Watkins, “with continuous investments in what we call a ‘5 dimensions’ service model.” That model addresses customer experience, operational excellence, elevated efficiency, service expansion and capability enhancement.

Watkins again: “The initiative includes investing in new managed services through an evolving Service Catalog and the launch of a breakthrough Airport Support Model, bolstering SITA’s unrivalled global footprint and service at airports.”

AIRPORT MODELSITA’s transformation of its service model is taking service and support beyond proactivity and towards prevention, as well as from labor-based to automated, value-driven services.

It involves the convergence of ways by which SITA can enhance its service and support capabilities for the benefit of customers. As centers of gravity where the air transport community interacts, airports are the initial focus.

The new Airport Support Model includes the deployment of technology to improve system

administration, remote support capabilities, local field engineer mobility and increased service desk first call resolution. It enables SITA to offer increased value to customers through support and service management of more of their IT infrastructure.

SERVICE MANAGERS Roll-out to airport customers is well underway, including the introduction of Airport Service Managers – at 18 airports by the end of 2014 – as the customer-facing owner of all SITA services at airports.

“As part of the introduction of Airport Service Managers,” comments Watkins, “we’re broadening the operational responsibility of our staff to cover all SITA products and services within the airport.

“This will remove some of the fragmented support arrangements that have evolved over time between different parties.”

FOR MOREWatch our video introduction and find out more about SITA Global Serviceswww.sita.aero/sgs

MOBILE WORKFORCE“We’re also mobilizing SITA field engineers, providing remote access to SITA tools via a smartphone app. They can open, update and resolve an issue remotely rather than in a SITA office – making resolution faster and overall service levels sharper.

“We’ve achieved this so far for 50% of our engineers. The app includes incident and proactive monitoring tools, corporate databases such as knowledge management and corporate collaboration tools.”

With the major components of the Airport Support Model now in place, during 2015 the airport transformation will continue to combine local presence with global capability.

“It’s all part of the continuing transformation of our support model and our drive for service excellence in a highly demanding and interconnected 24x7 air transport ecosystem,” says Watkins.




And it shouldn’t just be passengers who are counting down the days. Airlines will also benefit from broadband connectivity to their aircraft.

IN THE CABINCabin crews will use tablets, such as iPads, to interact with passengers and offer services in a more personalized manner, driving new ancillary revenues and higher satisfaction levels.

With the tablets connected to back-office systems there will be three benefits for airlines.

First, cabin crew will be able to provide passengers with up-to-date information concerning their travel, such as baggage status or connecting flight status, and even re-book passengers if necessary.

Second, airlines can digitize paper processes, such as form filling, in areas like on board inventory or fault reporting.

FLYING DATA CENTERS TAKE OFFTHE LATEST AIRCRAFT WILL FEEL LIKE AN EXTENSION OF THE CONNECTED HOME OR OFFICE. FOR MANY REASONS, BOTH PASSENGERS AND AIRLINES SHOULD FEEL EXCITED.

Today, 81% of travelers fly with a smartphone, with 45% also carrying a tablet for entertainment purposes. Airlines have joined the party too, deploying personal electronic devices for operational use.

The hugely sophisticated equipment on board new generation aircraft allows airlines to exploit this proliferation of connected devices. Connectivity now serves passengers and crew, as well as the aircraft itself.

DIGITAL WORLD Sometimes referred to as flying data centers, these new generation aircraft will be connected for aircraft health monitoring, IT aircraft operations, and digital maintenance, on top of the passenger connectivity we see today.

The digital world has infiltrated airline operations, benefiting both passengers and the airlines themselves.

TIME OF ARRIVALThe good news is that the technology is ready. While flying data centers are still a relatively rare sight in the sky (of the 5,000 connected aircraft operating today, only around 300 aircraft are capable of transmitting the vast quantities of data to qualify as a flying data center) that looks set to change.

“Make no mistake,” says Ian Dawkins, CEO of SITA OnAir. “The number of next generation aircraft in the skies will rise dramatically.

“New aircraft are gradually going to replace older models, because they’re more environmentally friendly and cost less to run. There’s a strong business case for airlines to put them into service.”

CONNECTED AIRCRAFT

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“ NEW AIRCRAFT ARE GRADUALLY GOING TO REPLACE OLDER MODELS, BECAUSE THEY’RE MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY AND COST LESS TO RUN. THERE’S A STRONG BUSINESS CASE FOR AIRLINES TO PUT THEM INTO SERVICE.”

IAN DAWKINS CEO, SITA ONAIR

IN THE COCKPITElectronic Flight Bags (EFBs), which are essentially laptops or tablets with pre-loaded flight documentation, have been in use in the cockpit for over 10 years.

The latest version of EFBs introduces a new level of sophistication thanks to full integration into an airline’s IT systems, both on board the aircraft and on the ground. They will help pilots make smarter decisions by giving them access to up-to-the-minute data, such as weather reports.

This will improve operational efficiency, enhance safety and save fuel thanks to better route planning.

This provides actionable information to ground staff preparing for aircraft arrival, speeding up turnaround times.

Third, wireless tablets will also give cabin crew the opportunity to offer new services to passengers that can generate ancillary revenues. These might include providing access to premium in-flight entertainment (IFE) content or even making onward travel reservations, whether by public transport or taxis.

With credit card authorizations possible in real-time rather than post flight, the incidence of fraudulent transactions should decrease.

MAINTENANCE, WELL-BEINGAnother significant benefit that airlines can expect from their investment in new generation aircraft is a marked improvement in maintenance operations and aircraft well-being. Aircraft will spend more time in the air and less accruing costs on the ground.

Onboard IT systems will be able to relay information on the condition and performance of aircraft parts to ground staff during the flight.

In addition, maintenance staff will be informed of any issues recorded in the pilot’s EFB logbook in real-time.

Receiving advance notification of a defect on an incoming aircraft allows the ground crew to update planning schedules and have the replacement procedure in place by the time it lands.

Dawkins believes this is just the tip of the iceberg. “Ultimately airlines will be able to use data from the aircraft to build models on the lifecycle of parts and take action to replace them before a problem occurs.


“This type of predictive maintenance will further cut aircraft downtime and increase the efficiency of MRO operations,” he predicts.

NEW MINDSETBut it’s not as simple as turning on a switch. Technology intensive aircraft require new processes and applications to deal with the connectivity and data, both on the ground and in the air.

Access to reliable and secure IT infrastructure will be required not just at hub airports, but also at outstations dotted around the world. Each airport and each country might have a different infrastructure.

There are bandwidth costs, network quality and political/legal factors to consider, as well as managing coordination with third parties. The ‘last-mile’ connectivity options at airports can also be different, including hard-wired IP, as well as wireless based options, such as Gatelink, Wi-Fi and cellular.

DATA MANAGEMENTAnother consideration is how to handle and make sense of the sheer volume of data that a connected aircraft is capable of delivering. Estimates put the figure at up to several terabytes on a single transatlantic trip.

Bearing in mind the number of aircraft in the air at any given time and ever increasing fleet sizes, it’s easy to see how data storage and processing represent a major challenge for airlines.

Dawkins says today’s airlines handle the issue by offloading only a subset of critical performance data from onboard systems for use by the OEMs, but this limits the potential benefits.

“Airlines will need to adopt scalable cloud-based solutions to secure an efficient approach, but they will also need new tools to filter and perform predictive analytics on their data,” he believes.

PROCESSESAs well as offloading all the data from aircraft, airlines will need to put new processes in place to upload software updates to the onboard systems.

The advanced capabilities of new generation aircraft require significantly more complex software changes than current aircraft.

The Boeing B787, for example, has more than 280 Loadable Software Aircraft Parts (LSAPs) with more than 1,400 instances, some of which require updating on a monthly basis.

CUT RISKS AND COSTS Getting an aircraft digitalization strategy up and running has inherent risks and poses certain challenges for airlines. The complexity of managing the different airport technologies across a route network and a mixed fleet of aircraft is further complicated by the need to engage and collaborate with multiple stakeholders.

SITA ONAIRSITA and OnAir have created a new venture, SITA OnAir, to help airlines realize the full potential of the connected aircraft.

SITA OnAir will simplify the handling of data from new generation aircraft. Modern aircraft generate vast amounts of data in flight giving airlines a headache on how to distribute, process and use it to improve operational performance.

“The connected aircraft is nothing unless it is fully integrated into an airline’s IT infrastructure, which is a highly complicated undertaking,” says Francesco Violante, SITA Group CEO.

NOSE-TO-TAIL: A FIRSTThe venture brings together market leading expertise and capabilities in cabin and cockpit communications, with in-flight connectivity services already provided to nearly 400 airline customers operating over 14,000 aircraft.

For the first time, nose-to-tail connected aircraft solutions will be available through a single supplier, regardless of fleet size, route structure or aircraft type.

A VIABLE REALITY“It’s a win-win for passengers and airlines, connecting people throughout their whole journey and reducing costs by improving turnaround times and on-time performance,” says Violante.

Ian Dawkins, CEO of OnAir has been appointed to lead the new SITA OnAir business organization. “The connected aircraft is probably the most important development in aviation IT in a generation,” he says. “We are the only supplier with the range of expertise to make it a viable reality.”

SITA OnAir was launched on 1 January 2015 as part of the SITA Group.

FOR MORE SITA OnAir’s Connected Aircraft vision www.sitaonair.aero www.sita.aero/insight-papers

CONNECTED AIRCRAFT

“ SITA ONAIR AIMS TO SIMPLIFY AND STREAMLINE IT MANAGEMENT OF CONNECTED AIRCRAFT WITH A NEUTRAL PLATFORM USING INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES.”

IAN DAWKINS CEO, SITA ONAIR

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Dawkins points out: “SITA OnAir’s approach can cut project risks and costs. SITA OnAir aims to simplify and streamline IT management of connected aircraft with a neutral platform using industry standards and best practices.”

Such an approach offers a clear way forward for airlines in terms of cost-effectiveness, flexibility, security, and scalability. It is an approach that can be ramped-up both globally and across a multi-fleet environment.

COMMONALITYSITA OnAir’s ability to integrate an airline’s connected aircraft into an airport’s ground infrastructure is key.

It can also offer other advantages including the delivery of a common set of integrated connectivity and e-service applications spanning the cockpit, cabin and aircraft maintenance.

And it could utilize shared infrastructure to manage the different communications technologies both on the

ground and en-route, including VHF/VDL, satellite, wireless Gatelink, 3G/4G and WAN connectivity.

In addition, the platform could standardize, process, filter and deliver the data and content flows to and from the aircraft based on the different needs of each stakeholder, whether an airline, airframer, OEM, air traffic management or even supplier of charts and weather data for EFBs.

As Dawkins says: “When you look behind all the complexity around introducing connected

aircraft there’s a lot of commonality, in terms of data, applications and connectivity, en-route and at airports.

“It makes sense to exploit the economies of scale of that commonality by using shared infrastructure and industry standards.

“Airlines and OEMs would no longer need to embark on complex individual IT projects, dealing with regulatory constraints, multiple aircraft types and different airports.”

AIRCRAFT TRACKING - A VITAL NEED

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 underlined the need for airlines to track flights end-to-end in real-time.

All tracking systems except primary radar depend on aircraft systems. Equipping fleet with a system that cannot be switched off will take many years. But to better detect emerging problems more use can be made of aircraft systems already available and deployed on most aircraft.

With expertise in this area, SITA is introducing AIRCOM®

FlightTracker, a ground-based software system that provides airlines with regular updates of any flight’s position – and it requires no modifications to existing aircraft systems. We spoke with Philip Clinch, VP of Aircraft Solutions at SITA.

How do we track aircraft today?Today’s flight tracking systems fall into two categories. First, there are air traffic control (ATC)-owned surveillance systems whose primary function is to ensure safe separation of aircraft.

These systems include secondary radar systems that interrogate aircraft transponders and listen for their responses and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) stations that monitor messages from transponders that contain the aircraft position.

The second type of surveillance system is a Future Air Navigation System (FANS) application called Automatic Dependent Surveillance Contract (ADS-C).

ACARS data link communications uses this system to replace the legacy process pilots follow in oceanic and remote airspace, reading their position via HF voice radio. FANS is currently fitted on roughly 4,000 long-haul planes and is standard on all new Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

How is AIRCOM® FlightTracker an improvement?It provides airlines with a system to establish ADS-C to receive position reports from the systems originally designed to be used by ATC. FlightTracker can also use data from ATCs who provide a feed of their ADS–B data. By using a combination of ATC data, ADS-B data and FANS, among others data sources, FlightTracker can guarantee positional data of an aircraft throughout its entire flight across the globe.

What are its benefits?FlightTracker can reliably raise the alarm if an aircraft stops responding or deviates from the expected route.

It does this while minimizing the amount of ACARS traffic generated as it only starts using FANS when the aircraft goes out of coverage of our extensive ADS-B (terrestrial) tracking network. This keeps costs to a minimum. The solution also utilizes existing infrastructure and capabilities. This makes it both more cost effective and quicker for airlines to introduce across their fleet.

What has the industry reaction been to FlightTracker?We’ve had a very positive response from the industry. The ICAO High Level Safety Conference in February 2015 recommended adoption of a standard for normal tracking that airlines can comply with by using FANS avionics and FlightTracker.

There has also been strong interest from the airlines. The solution is being tested by a number of selected major airlines in the Asia Pacific region and preliminary results are positive. Once the full results are known we expect to make further announcements.

For more Search the SITA Online YouTube channel for ‘FlightTracker’.

MEMBER AWARDS

SITA has boosted its industry representation in the Asia-Pacific region with three new members joining in 2014. TATA SIA Airlines Limited, the company behind new Indian full service carrier, Vistara, were welcomed. So were Thai Airways subsidiary Thai Smile Airways, while Chinese technology company Relax Hong Kong Aviation Technology Ltd also joined from the region.

This year we will be holding more membership recognition events around the world, including at our Annual General Assembly (AGA) in June, where long-time members Ethiopian Airlines, Lebanese Air Transport and Royal Jordanian Airlines will receive special awards.


SITA MEMBER AND CUSTOMER UPDATES


L/R: Dave Bakker (SITA), David Bulman (Virgin Atlantic), Jappe Blaauw, (SITA Council President)

L/R: Dave Bakker (SITA), Ihor Vetokh (Boryspil Airport), Jappe Blaauw, (SITA Council President)

MEMBER ANNIVERSARIESSITA members attending our European Aviation ICT Forum in Amsterdam late last year were in a celebratory mood as two long-standing SITA members were presented with recognition awards at an exclusive member-only luncheon.

Receiving a 30-year anniversary award was David Bulman, Director of Information Technology at Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Boryspil Airport, Ukraine, received an award for 20-years of membership, with Ihor Vetokh, Head of Information Systems, collecting the plaque on behalf of the company. The awards were presented by SITA Council President Jappe Blaauw, CIO of KLM Group.

New Members 2014 Business Area Country TierAutomated System Co. Technology provider Kuwait IHermes Aviation Ltd. Airline Malta IIRelax Hong Kong Aviation Technology Ltd. Technology provider China ITATA SIA Airlines Ltd. Airline India IThai Smile Airways Company Ltd. Airline Thailand II

Members MilestoneEthiopian Airlines 60 YearsLebanese Air Transport 50 YearsRoyal Jordanian Airlines 50 YearsP.T. Pelita Air Service 40 YearsRoyal Brunei Airlines 40 YearsUniversal Airways Inc. 40 YearsLAM Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique 40 YearsLinhas Aéreas de Angola 40 YearsMonarch Airlines 40 Years

New Members 2014 Business Area Country TierAutomated System Co. Technology provider Kuwait IHermes Aviation Ltd. Airline Malta IIRelax Hong Kong Aviation Technology Ltd. Technology provider China ITATA SIA Airlines Ltd. Airline India IThai Smile Airways Company Ltd. Airline Thailand II

Members MilestoneEthiopian Airlines 60 YearsLebanese Air Transport 50 YearsRoyal Jordanian Airlines 50 YearsP.T. Pelita Air Service 40 YearsRoyal Brunei Airlines 40 YearsUniversal Airways Inc. 40 YearsLAM Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique 40 YearsLinhas Aéreas de Angola 40 YearsMonarch Airlines 40 Years

Some of SITA’s long serving members will be celebrating anniversaries in 2015.

In addition, another 43 members will be receiving commemorative plaques during 2015. Among them will be a number of aerospace companies that joined SITA in 1990, including Boeing, Jeppesen Sanderson, Rolls Royce and United Technologies Corporation.

In total SITA welcomed five new members during 2014.

39ISSUE 1: JANUARY 2012

THE 2015 AIR TRANSPORTIT SUMMIT16-18 JUNE 2015BRUSSELS

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