BusinessAirports, Airlines Digital Tech Investments Hit $43.8b

Airports, Airlines Digital Tech Investments Hit $43.8b

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January 31, (THEWILL) – Faced with increased disruptions, baggage mountains and staff shortages, airports and airlines are ramping up their investment in technology to digitalise their operations and speed up passengers’ journeys by offering more self-service options.

In 2022 alone, airlines and airports IT spending globally, rose to an estimated $37 billion and $6.8 billion respectively, a total of about $43.8b.

The above figure was contained in SITA’s latest Air Transport IT Insights report, which equally revealed accelerated digitalisation to help airlines and airports meet rising passenger demands.

SITA is the air transport industry’s IT provider, delivering solutions for airlines, airports, aircraft and governments with their technology powering seamless, safe and sustainable air travel.

In their 2022 Air Transport IT Insights (AL1) report, published on Tuesday, SITA revealed that with the post-pandemic recovery, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) want to ensure operations are as agile and resilient as they are efficient, with IT solutions seen as central to their success.

This has spurred an acceleration of digitalisation, with airlines and airports looking to key technology solutions to fortify their operations against disruption while automating passengers’ experience.

According to the report, the industry’s IT spending is projected to continue its steady year-on-year growth trend since 2020, to support this push for digitalisation, with 96% of airlines and 93% of airports expecting their IT spending to stay the same or increase in 2023 compared to 2022.

Commenting, David Lavorel, CEO, SITA, said, “Air travel has recovered faster from the pandemic than anyone in the industry had initially expected, particularly in Europe and the US. While the recovery is welcome, airports and airlines have found themselves on the back foot with staff and resource shortages. This has put a strain on operations, resulting in an increased risk of congestion, delays, cancellations and mishandled baggage. Digitalisation is seen as key to addressing these challenges, providing more scalability and flexibility.”

As it is, airlines are placing greater emphasis on IT tools to manage irregular operations and provide the best passenger experience possible even amid staff shortages. Over the next three years, 90% or more of airlines are investing in IT service management enhancement and disruption warning systems, as well as business intelligence initiatives for aircraft turnaround management, passenger processing, and baggage processing.

Business intelligence solutions are at the forefront of airport IT investment priorities too, with 93% or more planning business intelligence initiatives for asset management and flight operations by 2025. The emphasis on agility, adaptability to disruption, and prompt communication with customers and stakeholders are clear; by 2025, half of the airports are seeking to implement automated predictive alerts prior to flight disruption events as well as business intelligence initiatives to enable scaling of operations based on demand.

The report has also shown that both airlines and airports are investing in key technologies to smooth passengers’ experience across every step of the journey, to help curb bottlenecks and in turn, allow redistribution of key staff resources to focus on more complex tasks, adding that biometrics and self-service technologies are seeing major emphasis.

“Airlines have identified self-service technologies as key to helping manage irregular operations, and this remained their top investment priority in 2022, with touchless solutions and biometric ID management following closely.

“To support effective baggage management and empower passengers following a period of significant disruption, a majority of airlines plan to provide real-time baggage tracking information to passengers by 2025.

“Airports are similarly prioritizing self-service initiatives, placing strong emphasis on self-check-in and self-bag drop, with 86% planning implementation by 2025. Airports’ implementation of a secure single biometric token across all touchpoints has surged from just 3% in 2021 to 39% in 2022, with over half planning implementation over the next three years. This signals a strong commitment to the next-generation travel experience where passengers can breeze through the airport using their face as their boarding pass,” the report added.

About the Author

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Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.

Anthony Awunor, THEWILLhttps://thewillnews.com
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.

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