Airlines and airport operators urged to improve technology

Manila Bulletin
April 30, 2011, 12:56pm

MANILA, Philippines — For tourist arrivals to increase, Amadeus is advising airlines and airport operators to adopt and implement emerging technologies that will improve the experience of travelers right at the airports.

In the report dubbed ‘‘Navigating the Airport of Tomorrow,’’ Amadeus outlined the changing attitudes of travelers and charts the technologies that over the next 10 years will attempt to solve passenger frustrations.

“We see a bright future for those players that are willing to collaborate in order to overcome the challenges presented by airport operations. Our priority is to help deliver a better experience for the passenger by providing solutions that underpin how airlines and airports better relate to their customers,” Amadeus vice president for airline IT Julia Sattel said.

The report revealed that passengers are still suffering significant problems regularly at the airport including checking-in, collecting and dropping off baggage and passing through security checks.

In the study, 43 percent of travelers ranked disruption management as the single most important area where they would like to see an improvement. Innovations and improvements in baggage handling are important to 34 percent of travelers, and a similar percentage identifying delays when checking-in, depositing or picking up baggage.

Close to 40 percent of travelers want to adopt services that delivered real-time information to their mobile devices including flight and baggage status and directions at the airport. Another 33 percent of respondents want greater self-service options including the ability to purchase additional services at airport kiosks and self-tagging options for luggage.

If travelers are made to queue for longer than 30 minutes in order to check-in, their perception of the airline swings negatively by 10 percent.

Amadeus, which started its Philippine operations in 1997, is a leading transaction processor and provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel and tourism industry.

The company operates a transaction-based business model and processed 850 million billable travel transactions in 2010.