Airport 4.0 -- How digitization at each step is enhancing travel experiences

As per DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) data, domestic air passenger traffic in India reached 12 million in February 2023, growing 56.82% over the same month of last year. Soaring passenger traffic presents intrinsic challenges in operating airports efficiently, cost-effectively and sustainably.

Other major concerns at airports relate to the safety and security of passengers and staff on the premises. Since airports are one of the most complex public facilities where people mingle and interact with one another, safety, security and operational efficiency parameters are all critical.

As one of the most-frequented places globally, airport infrastructure covers extensive areas across terminals, runways, ATC, cargo complexes, fire stations, and more. Each of these areas has distinct needs in driving greater operational efficiencies while ensuring easy and safe access to passengers and other users.

For instance, between December 2022 and January 2023, several major Indian airports faced unprecedented passenger congestion, leading to increased pressure on airport infrastructure to manage the rush, which ultimately caused passenger inconvenience.

It is in this context that Airport 4.0 (or the digitalization of airports) assumes great significance. Digitalization facilitates paperless operations that promote sustainability, and enhances operational efficiencies, while simultaneously curbing costs to make airports more competitive.

To this end, an integrated building management system is essential to provide actionable insights that can enhance building management, engineering efficiency, and cybersecurity measures. The current market offers collaborative IoT-enabled solutions that can establish intelligent and futuristic airport infrastructure.

By combining smart technologies with big data and advanced analytics, these systems ensure optimal airport functionality and adaptability to varying conditions thereby resulting in enhanced airport infrastructure efficiency, increased comfort and productivity, and improved customer value.

Some key advantages of innovative building management systems include:

Enhancing operational efficiencies: A well-managed, seamlessly-functioning airport leaves positive impressions on passengers as they can navigate the premises with ease – be it entry, security check, bag drop, boarding and eventual exit. A vital aspect of building management entails ensuring a smooth flow of passengers.

By using real-time data and smart technology, airports can boost passenger flow, curb congestion and restrict waiting time. The screening process can also be streamlined for faster processing of passengers.

Controlling temperature: Passenger comfort is contingent on maintaining a cosy temperature and healthy air quality within the terminal. This is particularly important in hot, humid or cold conditions when passengers must be comfortable even as they wait to board flights. However, comfort is affected if the indoor air quality is not maintained at requisite levels.

Smart systems constantly monitor the ambient air quality, adjusting the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) equipment to maintain ideal temperature and humidity levels. Smart systems also detect and eliminate smoke, dust, allergens and allied pollutants, providing passengers, visitors and airport staff with a healthy indoor environment. Similarly, smart systems increase ventilation by anticipating peak passenger arrivals via historical flight data.

Driving energy efficiency: Worldwide, most airports operate 24x7, relying on extensive equipment networks that need to maintain peak performance throughout the year. But legacy means of powering the premises are both expensive and wasteful. For example, operating HVAC systems at full capacity and having the lights on across all airport areas dramatically raises energy consumption, strains the building systems, and inflates an airport’s carbon footprint.

With smart, energy-efficient systems, HVAC control creates a pleasant indoor environment even as it keeps the airport’s carbon trail in check. Smart systems trigger heating and cooling functions as per the indoor occupancy data. The sensor-based systems also ascertain that lights are turned on or off as per natural light conditions.

As airports are energy-intensive structures that consume considerable electricity for lighting, HVAC, and related operations, minimizing energy usage with smart systems can reduce the overall carbon footprint of airports while reducing energy expenses. Modern airports also minimise downtime with digitalized hardware and software solutions.

Ensuring safety and security: Maximum airport security is indispensable in ascertaining the safety of passengers. Here, smart security systems provide maximum protection by integrating diverse access control mechanisms, CCTV cameras and fire safety equipment. Therefore, any security breach is detected and managed immediately. Moreover, smart systems can check the behavior of passengers and visitors to detect suspicious movements and pre-empt or reduce security threats.

Leveraging data analytics: Given the growing passenger volumes, airlines and airports have realized the criticality of using data analytics in promoting greater passenger safety, security, and comfort. But airports with on-premises data platforms noted that as their needs grew, they only had limited ability to scale operations or add new services. But by migrating from on-premises to cloud-based data platforms, airports have driven greater scale and higher agility while supporting almost real-time data consumption.

The role of data platforms in resolving specific problems is commendable. For instance, an American airport had issues with taxis linked up in its temporary parking lot as this meant passengers had limited space to park. In turn, this led to revenue losses for the airport. To address this problem, the airport partnered with a web services platform to establish a data forecasting model based on historical weather, flight and taxi-passenger data for predicting the demand for taxis.

As a result, taxi services could be requested only when needed. Consequently, the parking lot space was freed up, leading to better passenger experiences. Thereafter, the improved operations helped the airport in adding around $5 million in revenue.

Thanks to these advantages, smart building management systems now constitute a core component of airport operations, boosting seamless passenger experiences, lowering energy consumption and driving sustainable practices. All of which benefit both the environment and the bottom line.

-- Ashutosh Shukla, Director, Transportation & Mobility, Schneider Electric India.