Smart Airport Operations with A.I.

What will you say the core objective of airports is? To all intents and purposes, it is facilitating passenger and cargo movement… but many more aspects have now “entered the chat.” Airports need to look after the seamless execution of operations with low to minimal manual intervention, enhancing safety and health protocols, optimizing the use of facilities, preventing wastage, becoming sustainable, and most importantly scaling up scrutiny and security, and, enriching passenger experience. And so, we have been blessed with ‘smart airports’, which along with location intelligence are using advanced technologies like IoT, GPS and sensors so that we can relish operational efficiency and a glorious passenger experience.

We have already seen Airport 2.0; these were digital technologies integrated into some of the airport operations and the introduction of partial self-service facilities such as the Wi-Fi technology and check-in process. But when all passenger services on the various level of airport processes are equipped to provide full self-service, we transcend to Airport 3.0. Think operational controls being entirely automated, with the addition of predictive and mobility solutions employed in passenger terminals as well as airside. AI can be applied at every juncture of a passenger's journey from arrival to the boarding gate. 

The magic of smart gates, facial recognition, biometric identifications, airport terminal navigation through mobile devices and data mining to study passenger behavior as well as other operational quality enhancements are already being felt at the busiest and best airports around the world. The main mission of airports is to garner a 'man-machine integration' by hinging the operations and processes on IoT, AI and big data. Airports equipped with these smart technologies will make marvelous feats in facility management and asset management, thus granting passengers a picture-perfect journey - shorter check-in queues, better-streamlined security procedures, smoother wayfinding and real-time updates.

 AI is used in every aspect of aviation, from facial recognition at borders to self-service check-in points. However, the pressing concern for airports right now is security. In recent years, airports have significantly intensified their security procedures in response to emerging threats. In parallel, rising passenger expectations are turning on the heat on major transport hubs to strengthen traffic capacity, ditch the long lines and make the journey from the entrance to the departure gate as seamless as possible.

Airport Security

Since security is the apple of the airport's eye. Machine learning can be used to analyze data and identify threats faster than a human could. Who doesn't dread the most frustrating part of security, having to take out all your gadgets like laptops or Ipads and even your AirPods. With AI, articles that previously needed to be scanned individually will pass through security checkpoints without the need to dig them out of your bags. This way, not only will AI-powered systems boost security but will also relieve wait times at bustling airports.

Your face. That’s all you need. Advanced biometrics presents to you, entry and exit from the airport in, well maybe not a jiffy, but definitely a reasonably short period of time. From security checkpoints to baggage claims, biometric technology will be a red carpet for travellers. Passengers will be overjoyed to spend a limited amount of time going around and around the airport. AI is becoming a favourite across the entire aviation spectrum, from self-service check-in robots to facial recognition checks at customs. Machine learning will even be deployed to detect threats faster and more rigorously than a human could. Items that previously needed to be scanned separately, such as laptops, can be kept in passenger luggage as they pass through security checkpoints.

In addition to checkpoints, AI could fine-tune security at the landside area of airports. Backed by a combination of cameras, facial recognition and millimetre-wave technologies, it will scan people walking through a portable security gate. In this way, the gates will automatically analyse data for potential or imminent danger, including explosives and firearms, while ignoring non-dangerous items such as keys, loose change and belt buckles. Factually, this modality will be famously faster than a traditional X-ray scanner.

SITA in 2022 declared that 77% of airports were deliberating on rolling out biometric identification systems over the next five years. In the forthcoming years, fingerprinting, facial recognition and retinal scans are envisioned to become a staple for security purposes at airports.

It is not long before behavioral biometrics will become a thing. Researchers are running tests in this area of biometrics. Airports might be able to measure how a person walks, talks, jots down their signature or click clacks at a laptop. Researchers at the University of Manchester recently created a system that has the ability to measure an individual's gait or walking pattern when they step on a pressure pad. This will be just the pixie dust airport security systems need.

Geospatial Information Systems

By incorporating geospatial intelligence, challenges such as infrastructure planning, monitoring, and security will be unriddled. No wonder, location-based insights are cherished when it comes to providing a secure passenger experience. A larger spatial picture helps in allocating resources on the landside and airside. When put to use correctly, landside resources pave the way for smoother passenger movement and curb congestion, while the resources on the runway increase aircraft uptime. Allowing a wider view of operations, GIS enables airports to devise a systematic procedure that works. Geospatial data will be able to facilitate airspace efficiency through airspace planning and routing, flight monitoring, and real-time flight tracking.

Airside Operations

Let's talk airside. A.I. employed in airside operations is a godsend. It can tackle plane maintenance and airside inspection apart from ground and airport operations. For instance, AI-powered products can inform foreign object debris removal on runways, APRONs, and other areas where it may cause damage to equipment and/or injury to personnel. In fact, FOD represents the highest costs of all for the entire aviation industry.

AI is eager to please with fuel management and routing, allowing flights to save fuel, which is the central idea of sustainability in the industry and also a giant cost saver, with fuel being the largest expense for the aviation sector. AI can estimate on the dot which route the aircraft should take and how much fuel will be consumed. In every aspect of airside operations, from baggage screening to air traffic control and foreign object detection on runways, automation and industry 4.0 is reforming airside operations. A successful airside operation requires effective baggage handling. A growing number of airlines are automating the process of transferring passenger baggage through check-in and onto and off of aircraft, leading to more efficient staffing and operations.

All in all, customer experience and airport operations have both improved with the deployment of these AI-enabled endpoint devices. It is not a shot in the dark to claim that the future of airports will be one of efficiency, comfort, and luxury.