This archive report was first published on 12 June 2020.
Resuming Air Travel with Smart Technology ¶
As airlines across the globe begin to take to the skies again, technology is playing a crucial role in safely resuming air travel. SITA, a technology provider for the air transport industry, is helping airports and airlines implement new hygiene measures to restore passenger confidence.
Speaking at an Aviation Week webinar, Sebastien Fabre, Vice-President Airline & Airport at SITA, noted that recovery from the pandemic would be slow. 'Our industry must transform the passenger experience to increase traveler safety while balancing economic pressures from slow customer demand,' he said.
SITA has introduced solutions that allow passengers to use their mobile devices as a remote control for touchpoints such as self-bag drop and check-in kiosks, removing the need to touch any airport equipment. For example, at San Francisco Airport, SITA Flex enables a full mobile and touchless passenger journey, allowing travelers to print bag tags from their mobile phone on self-service bag points.
Technology will be fundamental in helping airlines and airports to be compliant with new and fast-changing regulations to restore passenger confidence in flying. New preventive measures aimed at limiting risk in the airport and onboard will require a new approach to passenger management.
Sebastien Fabre stated that SITA was rapidly rolling out new solutions that addressed the challenges of safely resuming air travel. These solutions centered on three key areas: distancing, hygiene and sanitation, and health checks.
Jeremy Springall, Vice-President Border Management at SITA, noted that governments would need to take an information-driven approach based on real-time data and responsiveness to handle rapidly changing situations. 'A critical element will be for governments to harmonize the approach to checking the validity of health status and sharing this information effectively,' he said.
Springall highlighted how SITA has helped airports identify passengers arriving from high-risk areas who would then be asked to self-isolate at home for 14 days to prevent the spread of COVID-19. SITA has also adapted operations to identify travelers who were sitting in the rows around these passengers during a flight so adequate protocols could be applied to those passengers as well.
