Airports in China are investing in the latest
technology to manage growth and changing passenger expectations.
Over the next three years, 50% of airports in
the country will invest in systems to predict
potential disruptions before they occur, and invest in emerging
technologies including the Internet of Things, beacons and mobile
services.
This is according to the 2016 Airport IT Trends
Survey, the extensive annual study of IT trends within the global
airport industry co-sponsored by SITA and Airports Council
International (ACI). The 2016 survey included responses from
mainland China representing 67% of the total passenger traffic in
China.
The technology central to improving operations and
reducing travel disruption at world-leading airports is
Collaborative Decision Making (CDM). Its goal is to improve
overall efficiency of operations by working with different
stakeholders to integrate processes and systems to reduce delays
and better manage airport resources.
Today, only 16% of airports
in China have fully implemented CDM integrated with air traffic
management (ATM) systems, but over the next three years a further
68% plan to implement it. These plans are ahead of the global
trend. Worldwide only 55% of airports expect to implement this
technology by 2019 compared to the 84% of China’s airports.
May Zhou, Vice President, SITA China said, “The first step for
improved airport operations is to implement an integrated airport
operational control center and today these are in place at 65% of
airports with plans to reach 83% by 2019. By this time China’s
airports will also have fully embraced CDM, enabling them to
effectively manage the surge in flights expected over the coming
years. The commitment to new technology by China’s airport
operators is hugely encouraging. There is a clear acknowledgement
that smart technology can support the country’s growth in air
transport over the coming years.”
China’s airports are
recognizing the potential of new technologies including the
Internet of Things (IoT) where their investments are set to
overtake their global counterparts. Today, 29% of Chinese airports
have fully included the IoT in their strategy, rising to 82% by
2019 higher than the 75% of airports globally.
Not
surprisingly, given the high penetration of mobile devices among
Chinese passengers, interest from airports for sensor technologies, including beacons, is also high with 89% of airports
deploying them as part of a major program or a trial over the next three years.
The focus of these deployments will be at the early
steps in the passenger journey: bag-drop (33% of airports),
check-in (28%) and security (26%), to support a better passenger
experience. In addition, a majority of airports (68%) will have
major programs for passenger mobile applications by 2019 with a
further 26% planning pilots and trials. This makes mobile the
number one information technology (IT) investment initiatives in
China for passenger services.
China’s airports interest in
new technologies is high and the top three growth areas over the
next five years are ‘context and location aware apps’ (61%
implementing), robots (48%) and artificial intelligence (37%).
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