Technology trends for airlines and airports in 2018

Blockchain is very much a buzzword at the moment and while it is still relatively early days for the technology, many in the air transport sector see a great deal of potential. The technology is most closely associated with cryptocurrency, but blockchain is about much more than Bitcoin. As blockchain essentially provides a secure digital ledger of transactions and agreements, it holds potential in any project that involves the sharing of data.

In late-2017 a few interesting case studies came to light. Lufthansa announced a partnership to explore blockchain-based distribution; Air New Zealand revealed that it is exploring blockchain for baggage, retail, distribution and loyalty use cases; and British Airways, Heathrow Airport, Geneva Airport, Miami International Airport and SITA Lab teamed up to look into how blockchain technology can help to create a “single source of truth” for flight data.

While it is likely to be a long time before blockchain is at the heart of the air transport industry, the early excitement suggests that it certainly does have a role to play. You can expect to hear about more airlines and airports taking their first steps into the world of blockchain over the next 12 months.

2017 was the year that artificial intelligence (AI) really came to the fore in the air transport industry. After years of being labelled “the next big thing”, a large number of airlines rolled out AI-focused products. Chatbots that can answer the more basic questions are now becoming commonplace, with airlines ranging from Air New Zealand to Aeromexico and Icelandair to Lufthansa now offering their customers support through such a channel.

Beyond chatbots, some of the more forward-thinking airlines are already implementing AI in other areas. KLM, for example, is using the technology to complement the efforts of its social media service agents. Automated answers to straightforward questions can be provided by AI, which frees up the human agents to deal with the more complex enquiries.

AI also holds potential in a number of other areas, such as real-time predictive pricing, predictive aircraft maintenance and operational efficiency on the airfield, further highlighting its broad appeal to airlines. Airports also stand to benefit from the AI advancements, as is highlighted by the fact that Beijing Capital International Airport will soon be making use of Alibaba Group’s AI-enabled “Aviation Brain” to help ease congestion. As more carriers follow in the footsteps of the first-movers, and the use cases for AI mature, the technology will play an increasingly important role throughout 2018.

Robotics

Technological advancements are also helping to bring about a revolution in the baggage space. Self-service bag drop is now widespread but a new wave of developments is starting to entirely redefine baggage handling as we know it. Airports around the world are having to process more passengers and bags than their terminals were originally designed to handle. Referring to this capacity crunch, IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac recently stated: “We are headed for an infrastructure crisis.” Clearly, new solutions must be developed in order to support future growth.

Some stakeholders are already taking action. Lufthansa Group, for example, has partnered with BAGTAG in a move that allows passengers flying with Lufthansa (which was also the launch customer of the RIMOWA Electronic Tag), SWISS and Austrian Airlines to purchase a re-usable, electronic bag tag, instead of having to have traditional paper bag tags attached to their suitcases every time they fly.

In late-2017, it was announced that American Airlines’ passengers flying from London Heathrow Airport can now make use of the AirPortr end-to-end baggage delivery service, which removes the need for them to transport their own luggage from the hotel to airport. British Airways also offers this service in and around London. Elsewhere, Fiji Airways has launched Resort Check-in, which allows passengers to check in their bags in the hotel lobby before they travel to the airport. As well as offering convenience to passengers, each of these services can also help to reduce check-in queues and the number of bags being brought into the airport terminal, therefore freeing up some much-needed capacity.

2018 is also a big year as IATA Resolution 753, which is all about baggage tracking, will come into effect in June, so airlines and airports must ensure they are ready to provide real-time, accurate baggage tracking throughout the process. Without doubt, 2018 will be a significant year in the baggage space.

Startups and scaleups

The likes of Lufthansa, San Diego International Airport, SAS, WOW air, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Emirates and Changi Airport Group all have innovation labs or programmes, each of which places a big focus on exploring possible collaborations with startups. Furthermore, the likes of IAG, Qantas and JetBlue Technology Ventures play an active role in incubating and/or accelerating startups and scaleups. The thinking is relatively straightforward: the more forward-thinking airlines and airports are keen to work with the agile, fast-moving startups that could reshape the industry in the years ahead.

In 2018, you can expect more airlines and airports to take the plunge into the startup scene as part of their efforts to improve customer experiences and enhance overall business efficiency.

We could have squeezed this one into the “artificial intelligence” category but such is its potential, we decided it deserves a mention in its own right. The travel experience can be daunting when you’re in an unfamiliar environment and don’t speak the local language but this could be solved thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning technology.

The Google Pixel Bud Bluetooth earphones support live translation between 40 languages and this has already caught the eye of Air New Zealand, which is trialling the technology in the airport terminal and onboard aircraft. Also, at FTE Asia EXPO 2017 last November, Airport Authority Hong Kong’s General Manager Smart Airport, Chris Au Young, outlined the merits of smartphone-based signage translation in the airport environment.

A number of the technology giants, including Microsoft and Facebook as well as Google, are investing heavily in translation technologies, and airports and aircraft could provide ideal environments for these technologies to flourish.

Augmented reality

Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) were all hot technologies in 2017, with use cases ranging from immersive IFE to airport wayfinding and remote airport operational control centres. While all three technologies are likely to grab headlines in 2018, augmented reality has perhaps the most immediate potential in the air transport space.

As an example, Gatwick Airport unveiled blue dot navigation and augmented reality wayfinding last year, which allows passengers to use the camera function on their device to view AR directions to wherever they need to go within the terminal. Airport Authority Hong Kong has been paying close attention to AR wayfinding too, while Copenhagen Airport was a trailblazer in this space and launched the first version of its own AR wayfinding tool a full seven years ago. The technology has advanced since then, though, and with the likes of Apple making a big play in the AR space, it is likely to gain more traction over the coming year.