Passenger automation is the movement of passengers throughout the airport using technology with limited human interaction. The passenger uses their mobile device or technology at the airport to go through many steps of the process – self check-in, baggage claim, boarding and gate information, etc.
The technological innovations that automation creates allow passengers to complete every important step during their travel at their convenience, whether they want to check in online a week before their flight, drop off their suitcase themselves to avoid queues, or eat in the take-off area without having to move to check their flight details every few minutes. And everything that benefits passengers benefits the airport as well. Online check-in reduces queues and congestion, baggage drop-off performs a similar function, passenger flows can be managed to minimize congestion at security, and retail/food and beverage outlets generate additional revenue.
This can and does include biometrics – creating biometric travel tokens for security during boarding and border control. This is another key area of technology development and growth that we have to explore later.
Automation at airports is a response to the growth in passenger numbers and the challenges of capacity constraints. IATA predicts that the number of passengers could double to 8.2 billion by 2037. To cope with the growing number of passengers, airports can use automation to provide flexibility and realize capacity. Check out our recent video
For example, technology such as CUPPS (Common Use Passenger Processing Systems) allows airports to share equipment between airlines and ground handling services. This reduces the need for individual physical check-in or locations for each airline. With CUSS (Common Use Self Service) kiosks, check-in is shared between airlines and passengers themselves take care of most of the administration, benefiting the airport, airline and passengers for ease of use, speed and capacity.
As passenger numbers grow, centralized shared technology gives airports the flexibility to meet large-scale challenges. Depending on the schedule, airports can configure kiosks, gates and check-in equipment to meet the requirements of the number of passengers per day, instead of maintaining the airport at full capacity.