Multinational air transport information technology (IT) provider SITA’s ‘Air Transport IT Insights 2021’ report states that 84% of airlines and 81% of airports expect to spend the same or more on technology this year, particularly on automation of passenger processing.

Despite IT budgets having been largely flat in 2021, airport and airlines executives are betting on technology to support their recovery from Covid-19, with spending on digitalisation and sustainability as key priorities to 2024.

The report represents the views of more than 180 IT airport and airline decision-makers across 45 countries.

SITA says companies are prioritising more streamlined and digitally-enabled passenger systems.

AUTOMATING HEALTH VERIFICATIONS

This year’s IT Insights identifies passenger health certificate verification as an area for urgent attention as airlines and airports invest in digitising the process.

During 2021, staff across 81% of airlines resorted to performing manual verifications of health certificates in paper or scanned format. However, airlines want to automate the process over the next three years, with the majority investing in verification using a mobile app (51%) and nearly half investing in kiosk-enabled health checks (45%).

Digital passenger health certification is also an urgent requirement for airports with a need to standardise approaches to verification.

To accommodate growing passenger traffic and anticipated congestion, nearly half of major airports surveyed plan to implement mobile app-enabled verification.

Almost a third have plans for verification through kiosks by 2024.

Airline investment is also increasing in areas such as self-service through mobile services, unassisted bag drop, boarding gates and bag notifications.

Touchless and low-touch technologies – to make the journey easier, quicker and safer – stay firmly in the investment mix, combined with investments in passenger identity management driven by biometrics.

Seventy-four per cent of airports now invest in biometric identity management solutions for passengers to drive safety and efficiency in the era of Covid-19.

SITA Airports and Borders CEO David Lavorel says the industry faces pressure from all sides with an urgent need to reduce costs by optimising operational efficiency, while also adhering to new operational hurdles connected to Covid-19.

In addition, sustainability is a continued concern for the industry, with growing recognition that transformation needs to happen today to achieve the emission reduction goals of tomorrow. Smart technology, automation and digitalisation are the only ways our industry can thread the needle between profitability, safety and sustainability.”

More than half of airlines and airports are implementing new technology to improve sustainability and 32% plan to do so by 2024.

Other solutions to making operations more sustainable are data-driven flight path optimisation, which reduces fuel burn and enhances inflight efficiencies, and solutions related to building infrastructure, such as the use of natural light and renewable energy, recycling and intelligent building automation.

SITA Aircraft CEO Sébastien Fabre notes that airports and airlines can achieve significant emission savings almost immediately, while future-proofing their organisations by investing in the cutting-edge technologies that deliver these efficiencies.