The travel experience of tomorrow

Air traffic volumes are expected to double over the next 20 years, with 45,000 commercial aircraft in service in 2040 compared with 25,000 today, and an estimated 7 billion passengers compared with 4.1 billion in 20161. What is being done to plan for this growth? And how will it affect the way you travel tomorrow?

All the players in the air transport ecosystem — industry, airport operators, airlines, air navigation services and controllers — are focused on the same objective at the Paris Air Show today: providing passengers with better service and the smoothest possible travel experience, from ticketing to final destination, whilst having minimum impact on the planet’s resources.

Let's try to imagine a plane trip in the year 2030.

Before leaving home

Your trip actually begins before you arrive at the airport because you can check in from anywhere you like with a transport app on your mobile phone. First your ID document is scanned into the phone and authenticated. Then a quick selfie is all it takes to confirm your identity (artificial intelligence makes sure your selfie matches the photo on the ID, which has already been scanned). And that's you checked in: your ticket is stored on your smartphone and you're ready to go. The same app you used to buy your ticket calculates the best route to the airport — by train, metro, bus, bike, electric scooter or air taxi — and collects the fare in a single transaction.

“Air traffic is set to double in 20 years.”

Your time at the airport

A unique digital identifier has been created from the biometric details of your face that were captured when you checked in on your smartphone. Now, simple facial recognition will be used to authenticate your ID at baggage drop-off, security checkpoints, passport control and during boarding — and even when you're paying for your duty-free before you get to the gate. No more standing in line. Your digital identifier puts you on the fast track.

You can move smoothly and safely through the airport thanks to a smart CCTV system that manages the flows of people and can recognise an individual in real time — again based on their biometric data — whether it's a lost child or a suspect in a security investigation. And the only data retained is that which is strictly necessary; there’s no need to recognise every face when you’re only looking for one.

It all saves a lot of time at the airport — you'll spend 80% less time waiting around than you do today — meaning you can do something else while you're there. You can relax at the gate, stream a video, or buy souvenirs for the family at the duty-free.

A unique passenger experience

Now sit back and enjoy your flight. Since 2022, Wi-Fi has been available on most commercial airliners. So you can use your phone, check your social media, work on a project with your colleagues, watch live action from the game or catch up on your favourite TV series. In a word, you can do everything you can do at home.

If you chose to provide your personal information, you'll get a personalised service — a personal welcome, a menu based on your tastes, and film suggestions based on your, preferences or destination. Each trip becomes a unique experience tailored to the individual passenger.

On arrival

Once your plane lands, you'll want to get to your final destination as quickly as possible. Maybe you reserved an electric air taxi on that transport app during the flight? Half-way between a helicopter and a drone, this autonomous mobility solution could save you some precious minutes!

From fiction to fact

This isn't science fiction. All the players in the aerospace sector are hard at work to make it all a reality.

Facial recognition systems that can identify individuals quickly, for example, already exist and are ready to be rolled out on a large scale. Automated passport control gates using facial recognition are already in service at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Los Angeles international airports. And by the way, all your personal information is automatically deleted when your plane takes off, in line with the latest data confidentiality requirements (EDPR2). As for air taxis, the technology is mature and the economics make sense. Two obstacles now stand in the way of widespread adoption: legislation — the relevant authorities are already on the case — and the acceptability of this new means of transport to passengers and local residents. According to the latest estimates, air taxis could be commonplace by 2030.

Today's technology revolution will let airports, airlines and air traffic controllers unify their efforts. Each of these players is responsible for part of the passenger experience, and by sharing their information optimally (while meeting confidentiality requirements) they will be able to offer the best possible service to passengers and improve efficiency and profitability at the same time.

Today, for example, when the flight crew gets to the cockpit, they receive a pre-defined flight plan that they won't be able to modify — and yet flight conditions, especially on a long-haul route, tend to change constantly. By connecting the plane with the airline and with air traffic control, it will be possible to adjust the flight path at any time to take weather data and air traffic conditions into account. The results? Better on-time performance, optimum fuel burn and more aircraft in the air at any one time (remember there will be more than 20,000 in service by 2040). And for passengers, that all translates into less waiting around in departures and arrivals.

“Digital technologies will allow the stakeholders in the air transport sector to unify their efforts for an optimum passenger experience.”

Aircraft working for the environment

The industry is also working on ways to improve the environmental performance of the air transport sector, which currently produces 2% of the world's CO2 emissions. There are plans to develop electric aircraft and hybrid mobility solutions, and flight trajectories will be constantly optimised thanks to connectivity and AI-based data analytics. Aircraft will spend less time taxiing to the runway, sitting there with the engines running waiting to take off, or circling the airport waiting to land — and these are the times they consume most fuel. As well as optimising air traffic management, further weight savings and possible and electricity consumption can also be reduced. Compared with the systems in service today, the latest avionics suites offer a 30-40% reduction in weight and electricity consumption. Our FlytX3 avionics suite is the culmination of ten years of research and development, and we are very proud to be unveiling at the Paris Air Show this week.

"With artificial intelligence relieving them of dull, repetitive tasks, pilots will be able to focus on critical decisions, which will always be theirs to make."

The Internet of Aircraft Things

Flying is already the safest form of transport, but digital technologies will help the industry maintain this excellent safety record. Artificial intelligence will play a key role in this respect, making suggestions to pilots based on automated analysis of the flows of data generated by all the players in the air transport sector. With artificial intelligence relieving them of dull, repetitive tasks, pilots will be able to focus on critical decisions, which will always be theirs to make.

Ten years from now, the ongoing digital revolution, AI, Big Data and IoT will have radically changed the face of the air transport sector we know today, not only for passengers but for all the other stakeholders in the industry. It's an exciting prospect!

If you want to find out more, visit us at the Paris Air Show!

1 Source: International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade association of the world’s airlines. More than 250 airlines are IATA members.

2 The EDPR (European Data Protection Regulation) was passed on 20 June 2018.

3 The FlytX avionic suite comprises the cockpit equipment (including displays) and associated software needed to fly a fixed or rotary wing aircraft. Built around innovative concepts of simple, intuitive touchscreen interactions, FlytX presents information to pilots in co