Thinking about an airport immediately portrays a vivid, busy picture, including inbound aircraft, the ones waiting to be fueled & impending departure, a huge terminal, information displays, long lines, and baggage claim conveyors. The tight flight schedule at airports includes managing workers, screening passengers, paying attention to every last detail, and much more. Airport automation expedites the procedures and raises the level of customer care. Let's look into some of the popular airport technologies of today and tomorrow:
Automation and Robotics
According to a survey by Mordor Intelligence, the airport robot market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 15 percent by 2025. Investments in robotics and automation, which come under the general category of smart airports, will likely encourage further growth in this sector. Because they can provide passengers with information and guidance whenever and wherever they need it, intelligent robots are vital for replacing human-staffed desks. Additionally, enhancing floor management, baggage handling, and security screening contributes to better airport operations. Robots with automation are especially helpful for those with disabilities.
ChatGPT to Revolutionize Customer Experience and Enhance Industry Functions
Since ChatGPT's launch in late 2021, its use has grown significantly, with many users developing inventive and original ways to use the linguistic paradigm. But the true tipping point came with Air India's statement that it will add GPT4 to its website to improve user experience. It won't be gimmicky to use this linguistic model. Instead, it will be implemented to enhance the airline's operations.
Several significant market participants, like Morgan Stanley and American payment processor Stripe, have already stated their intention to implement GPT4. The fact that so many companies are investing in this technology is a strong signal that language models will be used in numerous industries in the future, including airports. Flyers will soon be able to create personalized itineraries without the stress and hassle that typically come with this activity. Airports now struggle to manage data that isn't entirely current and doesn't take geolocation into account. ChatGPT can completely transform the industry by addressing one of the main issues that airports all over the world have been working to solve.
Unmanned and Sustainable Aviation
According to survey findings from McKinsey, there was a significant amount of curiosity when the general public learned about Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) in 2021. Record-breaking investments were made, numerous AAM firms went public, and manned AAM aircraft were more in demand than ever. As 2023 comes to a conclusion, the finance for AAM will mostly shift to unmanned AAM and sustainable aviation. A new supply chain emphasizing certifications, quality assurance, and low volumes will emerge to speed up the manufacture of futuristic AAM. As Advanced Air Mobility moves closer to commercial production, there will be a growing interest in optimizing infrastructure, training, and maintenance to enable a smooth transition for AAM clients and the industry as a whole.
Autonomous Systems in Airport Operations
Advanced autonomous systems (AAS), the newest kind of self-driving technology, are ideal for testing around airports. These AAS eliminate the need for active physical control or in-the-moment observation by utilizing cutting-edge technologies like Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), computer vision, and AI-powered object detection. AAS can handle a range of airport use scenarios with ease. To grasp the legal and regulatory requirements of AAS and establish their application for use cases that are complicated in both deployments that are within airport control and those that are not, however, may be challenging for airport executives. Airport operators can gain a competitive edge by investing in advanced autonomous systems, even if these technologies are still in the early stages of development.
Advanced-Data Analytics and Location Intelligence
Data and technology will heavily affect decision-making at airports in the future. Despite the abundance of data available, present methods of managing the vast amounts of data frequently fail to identify and fix problems, resulting in inaccurate projections that fail to offset the costs of delays that have an impact on the entire system. But things will start to change starting in 2023. Despite the fact that delays occur regularly in airports, they can be readily avoided with the right approach. Data can offer valuable information on passenger flow, flight schedules, taxi times, airport capacity, operational behavior, and the impact of weather, even while it is insufficient on its own to give a complete picture that permits quick responses. Therefore, predictive analytics are necessary for improvement.
Utilizing cutting-edge technologies can effectively solve this specific issue. Using cutting-edge positioning technology, transportation hubs can better comprehend traffic patterns, analyze people and assets in real time, and plan arrivals and departures. Location analytics platform uses cutting-edge insights to forecast operational situations in the future.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
It is anticipated that by 2025, the aviation augmented and virtual reality market would be worth USD 1,372 million. In the aviation industry, AR and VR have a variety of applications, including training, maintenance, and spotting potential hazards. These technologies may integrate the aviation ecosystem in a way that boosts the productivity of various vocations, leading to more efficient operations and lower costs. Customer happiness can be raised, expenditures can be reduced, and training and maintenance can be done in a safer environment thanks to the use of XR and Metaverse in aviation. It's projected that airlines will swiftly practice these technologies to revolutionize ground and air travel.
IoT, 5G, and Cloud
Two of the major issues with air travel are the aging infrastructure and the continual struggle to handle the expanding passenger load. Overbooked flights, longer lineups, and an abundance of vacant floor space place undue strain on airport infrastructure each year and go beyond what stakeholders and travelers as a whole consider acceptable. The average terminal in the United States alone is four decades old, but by 2037 it is predicted that there will be 8.2 billion passengers traveling around the world, highlighting the large gap between passenger growth and infrastructure readiness. As a solution to this issue, airports and airlines have collaborated to upgrade their terminals to accommodate future demand.