Aviation looks to tech-driven makeover

Ritika Sharma / Emirates Business

E-trolleys, inventive biometrics, smart baggage movement and cloud based e-bookings — the future of airports seems really exciting. With more and more technology-inspired solutions and services being rolled out every day, experts believe the industry is moving towards a huge transformation.
Passenger comfort and luxury are set to define the aviation industry as technologies like face recognition, automated security services and innovative access controls are expected to bombard the industry in the next few years. The Airport Show 2016 is acting as a platform for various technology companies to showcase their latest inventions and also gauge their acceptance by airports and aircraft companies.
“This exhibition is worth a visit for anyone who is in any way related to aviation industry. It is in fact an eye-opener as it mirrors to the pace with which technology is about to change the air travel experience,” Rahen Zin, an aeronautical engineer with a Chinese aircraft design company, who has flown to Dubai from Shanghai to attend The Airport Show, told Emirates Business.
“There is no dearth of awe-inspiring technology that promises the face of aviation sector. Some key aspects that attracted stakeholders’ attention include innovative services like intelligent trolley and trolley security scanner by Exruptive, airport runway cleaning systems by Cyclone Technology, smart tray cargo and baggage handling systems by Siemens and the face recognition technology by
Rockwell Collins. There is no doubt that we are moving towards a completely tech-driven aviation industry,” Zin added.
The center of interest during the event remained the smart trolleys services exhibited by Denmark based technology company Exruptive.
Morten Pankoke, Chief Operating Officer of Exruptive, said, “The smart trolley is introduced to enable airports to generate non-aeronautical revenue and profit. We are in talks with many airport authorities to introduce the smart device. Our intelligent trolley and trolley security scanner technology offers an enhanced security at lower cost, better flow and increased revenue and efficiency in airport commercial areas.”
Marvarek Peters, who works as analyst with a research firm in Britain told Emirates Business, “The most innovative technology in the event is biometrics, cloud-based technologies and automated solutions. They are all focused on creating an improved experience for travellers. The face recognition technology captures a traveller’s identity using biometrics and matches it with the passenger’s passport and boarding pass information to make the scrutinising procedures easy.”
Peters added, “The next big thing in Airports is going to be automated passenger processing which will also comply by the highest security standards. Companies are offering tailor-made solutions like configurable airport identity management solutions in the show. Many airports in this region are showing interest in these innovative technologies in this event.”

GCC airports
lead the way for ‘smart’ structures

ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business

Airports in the GCC, especially United Arab of Emirates, are leading the bandwagon of smart buildings in the region. When compared with buildings from other industries including hospitality, medicine, commercial and residential structures, education and retail, airport buildings markedly surpassed them in all crucial benchmarks — eco-friendliness, safety and productivity.
In one of the recent survey-research, this region’s airports scored the highest in all parameters scoring an average of 80 out of a possible 100. The study, which highlighted the future potential and the current progress of regional airports, was done by Honeywell, researchers Nielsen and global advisors Ernst
& Young.
“This region’s airports have every opportunity to lead the way for the industry on a global scale, when it comes to embracing and deploying smart building technology,” said Pete Costa, vice president for Honeywell’s Automation and Control Solutions, Middle East.
According to the industry experts, airports in the region can be made smarter through the improved integration of technology assets, as well as increased capability, availability and uptime.
“To improve safety, integrated security management systems that recognise cyber threats such as potential internal and external attackers will be of huge benefit. To make airports more productive, the availability and strength of wi-fi can
be increased along with improvements in the coverage of emergency power systems,” said one of the experts, who is participating at The Airport Show.
Airports are also warmly embracing the tenets of smart technology in a bid to achieve the vision of the ‘connected airport’. This vision has been the main highlight of the ongoing Airport Show 2016 in Dubai.
Siemens, which has implemented more than 300 logistics systems at airports all over the world, is showcasing its latest baggage handling system; prominent among them is ‘smart tray’ or SmartTilter.
Siemens offer solutions for the dynamic tilting of tray conveyors, which help get baggage to its destination as quickly as possible. Depending on throughput and system layout, a SmartTilter can serve one chute or several chutes in a row and the chutes lead to a belt system.
This makes the SmartTilter a crucial part of any baggage handling system, enabling it to take over sorting functionalities.
The Honeywell Smart Building Score, the first-of-its-kind global index designed for the assessment of any building, evaluated 620 buildings across seven major Middle
East cities: Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait City and Riyadh.
The study evaluated a building’s use of 15 technology assets to find out which systems are in place to make them green, safe and productive — the three main indicators of smart buildings. The systems’ overall capabilities, coverage of the
facility and uptime were then factored in.
“Honeywell’s fully integrated building solutions promote safe, efficient and comfortable passage throughout an airport terminal, and enhance passenger experiences while promoting a smarter, more secure and more pleasant environment,” pointed out Costa. Besides showcasing the overall “smartness” of the region’s airports, the study also revealed great opportunities to drive improvements.