Meeting The Sustainability Challenge: How Airports Can Innovate To Stay Efficient

In recent times, technological advancements have transformed airports into intelligent places. Profitability and sustainability are constant problems in its management. To accomplish this, it is critical to optimize the customer experience, and location tracking has become one of the most effective systems for this.

Passenger guiding is a critical technique at major airports. Have you ever considered that these amenities are more than a place to board a plane? They provide several opportunities to enhance your transportation experience, from eating a delicious meal or snack to shopping and taking advantage of juicy discounts.

Airports such as Incheon International Airport in Korea have made proactive measures to ensure that their buildings are not only pleasant and efficient but also have high energy efficiency. Simple solutions such as the introduction of LED flight information displays and the replacement of inefficient air conditioning motors resulted in a 5% reduction in airport power consumption and a 102 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Similarly, the Boston-Logan airport in the United States witnessed considerable savings in energy usage merely by employing smart design and energy-efficient construction. Indeed, the energy savings realized as a result of the company's 2014 refurbishment of Terminal design B more than compensated for the extra energy load required during its construction. Sensible design reduces operating costs and improves passenger comfort.

Airport IoT Solutions: Reimagine User Experience

Airport Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are paving the way for more efficient operations, visualized safety, and hyper-personalized consumer experiences. It isn't designing the most distinctive airports but rather the most innovative.

Old airports, which were frequently criticized for unpleasant delays and inconvenient security wait checks, have been converted into huge centers of urban amenities ranging from hospitality to private shops to live-in concerts. The inflow of new-generation customer technology is further automating and customizing many elements of passenger journeys, much to the joy of travelers.

One such innovation ready to usher in a new age of proactive experience is the Internet of Things (IoT), a game-changing force set to radically alter airport operations via the use of smart sensors, linked devices, and analytics.

Power Usage by the Internet of Things: The Possibilities

Today, more than 96 percent of travelers who visit airports do so using a smartphone. Rising mobile phone use combined with IoT innovation offers airports a strategic opportunity to dig deep into user habits and leverage data to improve customer engagement.

However, refrain from raising your brows just yet. The IoT deployment throughout airports, though patchy, is alleviating age-old annoyances such as unpleasant delays, queuing time, and vexing security checks.

Airports that have invested heavily in IoT have been able to enhance traffic controls and assist passengers with indoor navigation through the use of Wi-Fi beacon-lined maps. Additionally, they are tracking and tracing baggage using electronic tags and sensors, thus lowering the number of misplaced bags.

Facial recognition technology is accelerating the pace of security operations and reducing line lengths. These advances result in considerable cost and operational efficiency savings while also completely changing the consumer experience.

• Passenger Tracking: The Internet of Things is a tremendous force in airports, capable of resolving the problems of passenger management. The use of biometric technologies coupled with an in-built tracking mechanism simplifies passenger monitoring and enables airports to monitor passenger footfall using Turnaround Time (TAT). Additionally, the Internet of Things may be used to build systems that can detect passengers from their stride.

• Tracking of Baggage: The issue of missing baggage has long harmed the reputation of airports in general. However, with IoT beacon technology and its continuing connectivity, it is extremely simple to locate misplaced luggage. These beacons connect to the airport's cellular network and continuously monitor the position of luggage at all touchpoints. It enables passengers to monitor their possessions from check-in to cargo hold, significantly lowering the number of misplaced bags.

• Personalization: Automaton, in conjunction with IoT, enables the revolutionization of online check-in and bag-drop operations. JetBlue, a US-based airline, has given customers the 'auto check-in' facility, which automatically issues a ticket and assigns a seat 24 hours before their trips. Their seats are assigned based on an in-depth analysis of their booking habits and actions.

• Flight delays: These are persistent issues that result in enormous costs. Airports can efficiently monitor weather conditions and avoid flight delays by leveraging IoT. How? By establishing a network of weather monitoring beacons throughout runways, we can keep an eye on weather changes and exchange data with bigger systems. It can aid in-flight asset management optimization and cost savings. Additionally, linked surveillance can inform passengers of delays and cancellations, saving them time and reducing frustration.

• Announcements: Since most airports span a large landmass, locating the right entry and departure points can be perplexing, more so when a passenger is running late for an aircraft about to take off. Digital IoT Beacons may make a significant impact in terms of assisting travelers in navigating airports and arriving at the correct boarding zones in the quickest time possible. They may deliver real-time messages through Bluetooth-enabled digital transformation beacon-linked maps, informing travelers about every element of their airport journeys—from parking to shuttle services and table availability at restaurants.

• Airline Personnel: Diversifying IoT deployment across airports may result in significant economic value in terms of speed, performance, and experience for companies. Airports can gather data and get insights into numerous operations by enabling device-to-device connections over a strong IoT cellular network. This can be beneficial for recognizing trends that exist or are going to occur during airport operations for real-time and predictive maintenance.

In the long run, IoT applications that improve airport productivity may also include automation. When combined with other data sources such as timetables, push-back times, and gate numbers, this data has the potential to completely optimize a tarmac, where robotic systems and autonomous vehicles produce baggage, fuel planes, clear debris, and perform specific tasks faster. Also, they achieve all this with tighter tolerances than humans.

These days, with climate change, most people are deeply concerned about the environmental impact and just how much we contribute to global warming when we fly (or used to fly). However, have you ever considered how much water is consumed with this mode of transportation?

Airports and everything associated with their water management consume a significant amount of water. So in light of the current climatic scenario, we should seek sustainable alternatives to water consumption and maximize water efficiency.

How Airlines May Chart a Course Toward CarbonFootprint

It is evident that the airline sector is concerned about the impact of the Coronavirus on expansion and the health and lives of millions of its employees.

• Environmentally friendly aviation fuel: Alternative aviation fuels may hold the key to sustainable air travel, significantly adding to the industry's emission reduction plan. By substituting alternative fuels for fossil fuels, CO2 emissions may be reduced by around 80%, without requiring substantial modifications to fuel supply systems or engines. Additionally, research is being conducted on fuels with a zero-emission lifetime.

• Technological advancement: Each new generation of aircraft is around 15% to 20% more fuel-efficient, and manufacturers devote over $15 billion per year in research and development to improve efficiency. We may even be able to undertake short-haul trips on electric or hybrid aircraft in the future.

• Enhancements to operations: Relevant entities are reducing emissions by making the present fleet lighter and more efficient and using new air traffic management systems. For instance, landing by a continuous descent into an airport saves at least 150 kg of CO2 every flight. Adding wingtip gadgets to an airplane can result in a 4% reduction in fuel consumption.

• Market-based indicators: Economic measures will continue to be part of the strategy until technology and more efficient operations enable airports to accomplish their objectives. They are collaborating with governments to develop a worldwide market-based approach that accounts for emissions only once, avoiding taxes at several levels for passengers.

As more smart airports are technologically linked, the Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to unleash a slew of new possibilities. Rather than simply increasing efficiency, the Internet of Things has the potential to revolutionize the passenger experience and generate new income.

Conclusion

To summarize, airports are striving to improve their day-to-day operations while also envisioning a future in which they can serve as development hubs in their own right. Efficient operations, supplementary revenue streams, long-term planning, and employing the finest technology available will all be on the survivor's checklist for tomorrow's successful operations.