Back to Air Transport IT Review - Issue 3, December 2009

Airport IT Trends Survey 2009

Investment stable despite recession

Airport investment is long-term by nature, with projects sometimes running over decades. So while recession and the worst credit crunch on record may create real difficulties for airport revenues, investment levels tend to remain relatively unaffected.

That has been the case in the past. And according to the latest Airport IT Trends Survey, which this year drew 106 responses from airports, it remains the case today.

The survey found that IT budgets in the full financial year 2008 on average accounted for 2.9% of revenues. During 2009, the focus for airports remained set on continued investment, despite economic conditions. In particular, investments were expected to increase for IT solutions that can help airlines improve organizational productivity / efficiency (67%), consolidate IT infrastructure (66%) and help achieve lower enterprise cost (63%).

Project delays and optimism

Very few airports expected to reduce the cost of IT. Only 13% anticipated any reductions in IT headcount, for example. Nevertheless, some airports plan to delay individual IT projects (45%). This could be due to recent declines in passenger traffic levels, and changes in short-term IT priorities. It is more likely a ripple effect caused by airline spending reductions in 2008.

Yet overall, the outlook in terms of IT investments remains optimistic for airports: 45% of this year's respondents expect an increase in budget in 2010. Only 14% expect a lower budget.

Investment priorities

When it comes to investment, the highest priority (61%) goes to passenger processing and services. Also scoring among the highest priorities are passenger security (56%) and aircraft operations (51%).

Baggage processing and management remain among the highest ranked investment areas for the top 100 airports (51%), but this area is a lower priority for less congested, smaller airports.

Self-service - primary role

Self-service will be the primary means for passenger check-in, according to almost half of airports worldwide who now plan to use them. This year's survey found that 40% of the top 100 airports already use self-service as the main channel for check-in, and almost 80% are planning to do so by 2012.

In contrast, airports outside the top 100 are trailing behind: only 21% currently use self-service as a primary channel for check-in. But they do plan to match their larger counterparts by 2010 (24% increase in 2010). Overall, 76% of all airport respondents plan to process the majority of passengers via some form of self-service check-in by 2012.

Self-service via kiosks may reach almost 100% of all airports by 2012. Over 63% of all airports already have check-in kiosks. The survey found that this will further increase to 90% by 2012. When asked about their strategy for kiosk usage, most airports plan to increase the number of kiosks for check-in (44%), yet today only 9% are considering kiosk use in new areas.

Kiosk expansion

Self-service check-in has already delivered large savings and efficiency improvements to the industry. IATA's Fast Travel initiative is promising further savings of US$ 1.6 billion, which includes self-boarding, flight re-booking and bag-recovery.

The early focus will be on leveraging investments by extending the capabilities of existing self-service kiosks. However, airports will explore new functionality, such as passport self-scanning and bag-tag printing. Implementation of self-scanning functionalities will grow from 32% today to 58% by 2012. Bag-tag printing is used by 17% today and will grow to 51% by 2012. (More on self-service in our Passenger Self-Service Survey highlights.) [Link to IT Review article]

Mobile phones pick up

The world is clearly going mobile. New mobile services will have the greatest impact on airport IT infrastructure over the next three years. Mobile services for passengers dominate, with the majority of airports citing mobility as one of the top three trends influencing airport IT infrastructure in the short-term.

Plans to expand self-service to passenger mobile phones are gaining traction. The focus today is to improve passenger processing or to provide new revenue opportunities. But most airports plan to implement flight status notification services on passenger mobile phones. Today, 32% of airports already provide this service - and this will rise to 64% by 2012. European and Asian airports are particularly ahead of the game, with three-quarters of services currently provided in these two regions.

The biggest areas of interest for new mobile services for passengers depend on bar-coded boarding pass (BCBP) standards. Usage will depend on the speed BCBP of adoption - although the survey suggests a firm intent to use BCBP on passengers' mobile phones (as discussed in our BCBP article - 100% BCBP by 2010). [Link to IT Review article]

Bottlenecks and efficiencies

More than half of respondents to the Survey rated the introduction of 'electronic documents' as the technology that will have the most significant impact at airports in the near future. However, airports also recognize that passengers by-passing check-in counters may be faced with new bottlenecks and queues at baggage drop-off and security screening areas.

As a result, airports are turning to new technologies such as various automation tools to track wait times at different checkpoints such as security and immigration. Out of the near-40% of respondents who said they will monitor wait times in the future, 60% will use video analytics, 43% will use RFID and 27% plan to use Bluetooth technology.

Other critical areas will be influenced too, such as aircraft maintenance, while collaborative decision-making tools rank highly as well. They are cited by half of airports as the technology trend with the highest impact, resulting from the drive for more efficient airport operation, and the need for greater data and information transparency among process stakeholders.

And while only 35% of the IT budget is set aside for airside operations, such as on the ramp and apron, airports are beginning to improve efficiencies in this area through technology investment. This year 11% had invested in Wimax and Foreign Object Debris (FOD), for example, compared to just 4% and 7% respectively last year.

Overall, the airport sector demonstrates a robust confidence in the future of the industry, through commitment to tightly focused investments. At a time when many in the industry are struggling to keep an even keel, this good news is welcome.

About the Airport IT Trends Survey: now in its sixth year

The Airport IT Trends Survey is now in its sixth year. Co-sponsored by SITA, Airports Council International (ACI) and Airline Business, it is the most authoritative research of its kind, tracking the key information technology trends in the airport industry. This year's high response rate of 106 airports and airport groups illustrates the continuing importance of this kind of survey to the industry, providing the global benchmark on the strategic role of IT.

The research surveys senior IT executives at the top 200 airport operators, and the response represents views of over 172 airports. 56 of the 106 replies came from airports within the Top 100 in terms of revenue, representing 69% of revenue within the Top 100.

Get your copy

You can buy the complete research results of the 2009 Airport IT Trends Survey on CD, priced at US$ 000. It includes responses to all survey questions, together with commentary. Individual replies remain confidential, but results are broken down by geography and airport size, with results also weighted by revenue. All 2009 survey respondents receive the CD for free.

For details, email airline.business@flightglobal.com or go to www.flightglobal.com/airportit.