The airline industry is growing across every region in the world, and airports are the most important factor in the growth of the airline industry. This is necessary to provide every facility to passengers in airports that enhance their experience and also enhances the operational efficiency of airports. There are over 40,000 airports in the world, with only 9,000 served by commercial airlines. And the number of private airports around the world seems to be steadily increasing each year to cater to the rising demands of travelers. So maintenance and advancement of airports are very necessary.
IoT and Automation in Airport Solutions (Statistics)
To ensure the advancement of airports and the airline industry, there are various technologies that offer airport solutions. IoT and automation are technologies that can serve airports in a very advanced manner, and there are a lot of airports that have implemented smart airport system using IoT solutions. IoT and automation-powered airport solutions can enhance the monitoring of machines in real-time, smart check-in, automated robot-powered operations, air traffic management, etc. These beneficial terms have the potential to take the airport industry to a new height where it never could be with the conventional system.
As mentioned earlier, various technologies have been implemented in the airport industry as the airport technologies market size has grown strongly in recent years. It will grow from $13.02 billion in 2023 to $13.74 billion in 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5%. The global aviation IoT market size was estimated at USD 8.33 billion in 2023. The global aviation IoT market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 23.3% from 2023 to 2030 to reach USD 36.20 billion by 2028. Where the airport automation industry is expected to grow from $5.8 billion in 2023 to $7.7 billion by 2028.
So we have looked at many stats and statements that have provided a clear idea about the introductory part. Now we will move forward and look at some interesting details. In the end, we will provide you with a conclusion in case you miss something.
What are Smart Airport Solutions with IoT and Automation?
Airport solutions refer to services and technology that can boost operational efficiency and enhance the traveler and employee experience. IoT in airport solutions can offer various benefits, as it can be used in airports to improve passenger management, equipment monitoring, and operational efficiency. On the other hand, automation can also play an important role, as IoT and automation are two sides of a coin. Automation-powered airport solutions can increase overall safety, lessen pilot workload, and facilitate better decision-making.
Also Related: Streamline Airport Parking With A Web-Based Reservation System
Benefits of Smart Airport Solutions with IoT and Automation
It’s time to see some breathtaking and key benefits of smart airport solutions with IoT and automation. Here are a few mentioned below.
Luggage handling
Luggage handling is a crucial aspect of airport management, as there are many cases of theft or mishandling of luggage. This can be shameful for the airport management. But with the airport solutions with the IoT, real-time monitoring and tracking of luggage can be obtained with the integration of RFID tags. RFID solutions help to maintain the reputation of the airport organization and also enhances customer experiences.
Autonomous robots
There are many tasks, such as cleaning, guiding passengers, and more repetitive tasks that are time-consuming and take manual labor too. After all this, there is still no guarantee to do such tasks with accuracy. Wherewith automation-powered robots can do all these as they are capable of cleaning floors, guiding passengers in the right direction, etc.
Smart response during an emergency
There could be a high chance of an emergency at airports, like fire, electric short circuit, or any other emergency condition that cannot be detected in the initial stage. With IoT-powered airport solutions, it is possible to detect any type of emergency condition, like fire, short circuit, and smoke, that prevent big incidents, lives, and damage to assets too.
Biometric check
There are many airports that have contact checks, as this is a time-consuming process and also takes a lot of human labor. Where automation-powered biometric checks can replace the conventional method of checking it. Automated border control and biometric self-boarding gates can make travel safer, smoother, and contactless.
Enhances feedback methods
Feedback is very important for any organization that helps them to make improvements to their system and method. With the IoT and automation-powered airport solutions, real-time feedback can be obtained by analyzing the passenger’s movements, behaviors, sitting postures, etc. This can help airport management to make improvements to their system which could be a great thing for the future.
Also Read: Implementation of RFID in Baggage Operations at Airports
Challenges of Smart Airport Solutions while Integrating with IoT and Automation
We have gone through some furious benefits of smart airport solutions while integrating with IoT and automation. But every pro has its cons too; here are a few cons mentioned below of airport solutions with IoT and automation.
- Every airport has to follow some standards that are made by ICAO. So there can be a high chance that integrating new technologies cannot match such standards, and that can be an issue.
- This is not an easy process to implement IoT and automation at a large scale for airports, as it takes permission from different bodies, which can be a time-consuming process for organizations.
- Interoperability can be another challenge, as IoT and automation devices come from various regions and have different standards to work with making them incompatible for some time.
Also Read: Uses of RFID System to Improve Baggage Handling Efficiency
Final Words
There are various technologies across the world, like AI, blockchain, IoT, RFID, etc., as there are several benefits to all of them. For airport organizations, IoT and automation-powered solutions are much more capable of evolution, as with the implementation of these two technologies, there can be many beneficial terms that can be achieved. It is possible to make real-time monitoring, advanced check-in processes, proper guidance, enhancement in operational efficiency, increased cost efficiency, reduced manual labor, etc.
On the other hand, there are many challenges too, like compatibility issues, standards, scalability issues, etc., but benefits have the potential to outweigh the challenges. Overall, IoT and automation-powered airport solutions can enhance the way of managing airport operations and help to build a strong base for the upcoming future.
