Air travel can be a highly stressful experience for passengers, especially when they end up feeling like they are being processed in much the same way as bags or cargo.
As passengers, we have certain expectations of how we should be treated and we react angrily when we are singled out for exceptional processing.
This additional processing, whether it is to do with issuing tickets, checking in luggage or the need for extra security screening, require interaction with the concerned authorities and can lead to significant delays.
But if that passenger had been smarter and did their pre-processing at home or at the office, they could have been fast tracked at the airport.
And had they used such things as loyalty cards, pre-tagged baggage and recognition as a trusted traveller, they would have been the envy of the other passengers as they speed through the airport.
So what we see is that it is possible for a passenger to be smart and enjoy a good travel experience thanks to a well planned 'smart' airport set up.
These lessons can also be applied to the development of airport cities.
Smart airport cities cannot be built around poorly designed and operated airports. If one were to do so, one would be building a business district around a poorly performing airport with no capability to operate at global standards.
Airport city developments are varied the world over and we see two clearly defined business models for their development; one through modification of an existing airport, the other creating a new airport from scratch:
1. An existing airport can transform itself into a smarter airport that then fuels the development of an attractive airport city.
"ó Existing airports are always under pressure to make ends meet and generate an operating profit from their aviation activities.
It is well known that only a few airports have a profitable aviation business and these are recognised as truly global gateways in their own right.
However, for the other airports they will always need to compete with nearby airports, with high-speed trains and other forms of ground transportation.
"ó An integrated approach to airport and airport city development would provide the best chance of success, when combined with the demand pattern for new business and residential amenities close by.
With this as a demand base, airport and civic planners can give shape to a stimulus package that would bring out the best in the growth potential of the city and the region.
2. Building a greenfield airport from the ground up along with a master plan for development of a brand new city which would stimulate the economy and bring in substantial added value for a host city or region.
"ó Greenfield airports have the advantage of choice of selection of site and most often these are on major trunk roads linking many of the cities in the region. This automatically redefines airport cities as serving a region and not a single city.
"ó To exploit the potential of serving multiple cities and a large region, calls for best in class competitive performance of an end-to-end supply and logistics chain.
This can only be conceptualised and created with automation and integration as a central theme for a true multi-modal integrated transport system, with assured performance and resilience levels. even during adverse conditions, such as weather, security concerns or unrest.
"ó IT is no longer restricted to data centres and desktop devices. Airport IT and system integration encompasses baggage management, end to end passenger experience management, continuous process improvement to keep reducing operational costs and embracing rapid growth with almost no disruption to business.
Passenger journeys extend beyond airports to many cities and a sense of personalisation needs to be overlayed in order to ensure the passenger experience is enjoyable and unique.
Ravi Shankar S N,
Global Solution Leader Airports,
IBM Corporation
