IT Initiatives aid efficiency
Jane's Airport Review - Jan'10
In a vigorously competitive landscape, airports and airlines must find innovative ways of providing services for their passengers. IT systems are playing an increasingly important role in this process - in the rise of e-ticketing, for example, or through online check-in and technology driven security measures. Clear challenges confront airport operators who need to balance the upfront price of new IT functionality against the potential operational and customer service benefits.
Whereas airlines recognise that investment in IT and telecommunications is critical to their survival, the recession has hit spending hard. According to the SITA Airline IT Trends Survey 2009, operational spend for IT and telecommunications will only comprise 1.7% of airline revenue - the lowest share since 2002. However, most industry experts agree that the scope for further cuts appears limited and it has probably reached its lowest point. In fact, interest in new technologie such as mobile check-in is growing apace.
John Cunningham, director of business markets for ntl:Telewest Business, tells Jane's that most airports either alerady have the appropriate IT infrastructure in place of are moving in that direction. "They're working hard to get the right systems in place, or second-guess what they're going to need in terms of future requirements, given that this this is such a dynamic and fast-moving marketplace," he says. "Air[port managers are trying to plan based on predicatbility of capacity, and the fact that airports and airlines are fairly unique businesses in their external pressures, market conditions and levels of governance.
Time is money
IT systems must work harder and more effectively to support operational efficiciency and aid passenger flow. "If you look at an airport, like any business it has to sweat its assets but, inlike some, the peaks and troughs it experiences are either very high or very low - take the holiday seasons for instance," says Cunningham. "Everything at an airport is interlinked and compressed into real-time operational environment."
He points our that the knock-on effects of delays at check-in can lead to delayed or missed flights. "I think the adage 'time is money' applies more to aviation than any other industry," he says.
"You're looking for price performance and cost control, but the last thing you want to happen is a blank screen confronting 300 holidaymakers waiting to go through check-in, due to a single point of failure within the airport IT architecture."
Airports are seeking next-generation Ethernet networks to underpin their passenger processing technology - but Cunningham remakrs that performance of these networks can vary according to the intensity with which they are used. "It is not just the capability of the network that matters but also the capability to design a product that minimises latency. You don't want people trying to print e-tickets and have an airport IT network that is congested owing to high latency levels. So design capability matters as much as the technology itself."
To read the rest of this article and find out how on365 assisted NATS in optimising the physical infrastructure at Heathrow Air Traffic control click here.
Power for the Tower - NATS Case Study