The airline industry recovered from the pandemic swifter than expected. While this caused certain disruptions, service providers turned to digital solutions to tackle them.
The most recent “2022 IT Insights Report” from SITA (digital IT provider of the travel industry) says that airlines and airports are looking for key technology solutions to automate passenger experience while strengthening their operations against disruption.
According to this, the industry’s IT spending is expected to carry forward its steady year-on-year growth trend since 2020. This will be focused towards supporting the push towards digitalization. These funds will be used to improve operational efficiencies and make the passenger journey more comfortable through biometrics and self-service.
Airports and airlines are turning to increase the use of technology to speed up passenger journeys through more options for self-service and digitalizing operations. This will be done to tackle a myriad of lost baggage and increased flight disruptions led by global staff shortages.
According to the findings of SITA, 96% of airlines and 93% of airports anticipate that their IT spending will remain the same or increase in 2023 in comparison to 2022 to support digitalization.
IT expenditures at airports and airlines increased to an estimated $6.8 billion and $37 billion, respectively.
SITA CEO David Lavorel stated, “Air travel has recovered faster from the pandemic than anyone in the industry had initially expected, particularly in Europe and the US. While the recovery is welcome, airports and airlines have found themselves on the back foot with staff and resource shortages. This has put a strain on operations, resulting in an increased risk of congestion, delays, cancellations and mishandled baggage. Digitalization is seen as key to addressing these challenges, providing more scalability and flexibility.”
SITA discovered that airlines are emphasizing IT tools to manage irregular operations and deliver the best passenger experience possible despite staff shortages.
At least 90% of airlines are expected to invest in business intelligence initiatives over the next three years. These investments will be focused on aircraft turnaround management, passenger processing, and baggage processing, as well as disruption warning systems and IT service management enhancements.
Airport IT investment priorities include business intelligence solutions, wherein 93% or more are planning to invest in asset management and flight operations by 2025.
As per SITA, half of the airports are willing to deploy business intelligence solutions to enable demand-based operating scaling and automated predictive alerts before flight disruptions.
Key technologies are being invested in by airlines and airports for smoother passenger experience at every step and reduced bottlenecks. Moreover, key staff resources will be redistributed to enable their concentration on tedious tasks.
According to SITA, self-service technologies are essential in assisting the management of irregular operations and have been priorities of airlines in 2022. This will continue to be their top investment priority, followed closely by biometric ID management and touchless solutions.
Most airlines plan to provide real-time baggage tracking information to passengers by 2025, according to SITA. The purpose of doing this is to empower passengers and support efficient baggage management after the recent significant disruptions.
Self-service initiatives at airports are also high on the priority list, with 86% planning to implement self-check-in and self-bag drop by 2025.
From just 3% in 2021 to 39% in 2022, the deployment of a secure single biometric token at all touchpoints saw a significant surge at airports. And over half of the airports are planning to do the same within the next three years.
This refers to a firm commitment to the next-generation travel experience for passengers allowing them to effortlessly navigate airports wherein their faces will replace the boarding passes.