Time-Efficiency: Highlights from Passenger Terminal Expo 2014

(Barcelona Expo Event) Written by Andrew Koubatis, Altran Switzerland , April .2014

Passenger Terminal EXPO & CONFERENCE is the world’s leading

annual international airport terminal event founded in 1997. It combines a 3 day conference

alongside a passenger terminal exhibition showcasing the latest in terminal design,

management, security and technology. This year’s conference included over 250

international speakers covering important trends and developments in the passenger

terminal industry and offering solutions to numerous operational issues.

Topics covered in this year’s conference included:

• Airport Cities & Transport Connections

• Airport Design, Planning & Development

• Aviation Security, Border Control & Facilitation

• Baggage Processing, Tracking & Identification

• Commercial Development, Retail & Media

• Customer Service & Passenger Experience

• Energy, Environmental Issues & Sustainability

• Increasing Airport Capacity

• Management & Operations (AC DM, ATC & TAM )

• Passenger Processing, Check-in & Self-Service

• Technology, Systems Integration, IT & ICT

• IATA Day

As a member of the CATER EU FP7 project, I had the opportunity to attend this year’s

conference as a delegate on the opening day, 25th of March, and to visit the exposition on

the 26th. There were many interesting and highly relevant talks and exhibits related to the

Air Transport Time-Efficiency theme. Since it is not possible to cover all of the pertinent

sessions and exhibitors, rather than a comprehensive coverage, below is a sample of some of

the highlights contributing to Time-Efficiency based on my own observations. Some of the

information was insights gained from conference talks, others were based on visits to

exhibitor stands.

Automation

Automation is necessity rather than a convenience for the modern airport. Replacing manual

steps with automated ones not only reduces operational cost and helps keep up with ever-

increasing capacity demands, but improves the reliability and can significantly reduce delays.

Some of the main areas where automation is firmly established and is demonstrating

benefits for Time-Efficiency are in baggage handling and security systems.

Baggage Handling

Few passengers can imagine the behind the scenes complexity of high speed conveyer

systems, automated scanners, vision systems, contactless identification and robotic handling

equipment that ensures the reliable and speedy delivery of bags between passengers and

aircraft. Today’s airport baggage handling systems increasingly resemble high-speed

automated factories of the future.

Many frequent travelers have no-doubt been faced with waiting unnecessarily at the

carousel for their bags to arrive or stuck on a plane as a late passenger’s bags are remove

from the cargo hold. Better methods of tracking individual bags in real-time can help avoid

such delays. RFID tags have long been discussed as a solution for end-to tracking of baggage.

Despite limited trails of such systems, the cost of individual tags and lack of global

coordination has so far been a barrier to wide-spread use. IATA has has conducted many

trials with RFID and published a standard (RP1740C) for RFID use. RFID is not only limited to

baggage handling but also applicable to catering, cargo, parts and aircraft turnaround.

Although RFID remains limited across multiple airports it can already show benefits within

single airport operations to internally track baggage and other equipment.

1-BGMAPP app Source: Vanderlande

An innovative baggage solution called BAGMAPP by the baggage automation company

Vanderlande allows airport and airline staff as well as passengers to track baggage in real

time on mobile phones and tablets. It is available as apps on the iTunes and GooglePlay

stores. Bags can be traced through the airport individually by being deposited in RFID

tracked bins until they are loaded into the aircraft. When a bag is checked in using the

Vanderlande system, not only are its dimensions and weight recoded, but photos are taken

of the bag which will allow more rapid identification and recovery in case a passenger misses

a connection and the bag needs to be pulled off a flight, thereby reducing potential delays.

The photos also provide evidence which can be used for damage claims management.

Security and Passenger Identification

Security is another area that is benefitting from automation and new technologies.

Biometrics, electronic-IDs, paperless checkpoints and improved security scanning equipment

contribute to reducing waiting time in queues. In a traditional paper-based system, travelers

have several checkpoints where their documents are verified manually by personnel.

Biometrics mainly has the advantage of higher reliability, since border control personnel

checking that faces match ID photos soon become tired and prone to error. However, there

are also important benefits for improving passenger flow.

Biometric passports are the main sources of biometric information stored on a contactless

chip. The majority of countries in the EU and EFTA-zone were required to have facial

recognition data by 2006 and fingerprint data by 2009 (except Ireland, UK, Iceland, Norway

and Switzerland).

Although travel within Schengen countries in EU does not require border control, airlines

nevertheless can check identification documents to ensure the right passenger is on the

right flight. Furthermore passengers require a valid boarding pass to go beyond the security

control. A further check of boarding pass (and possibly passenger ID) occurs at the gate prior

to boarding. Most of these checks are currently performed with a bar-code scanner of

boarding pass and visual check of ID. However, passengers burdened with carry-on luggage

are often seen fumbling for documents at the checkpoints. This is often compounded when

travelling as a family where multiple documents must be produced. In the worst case it is not

uncommon for this to hold up the line for all behind them. With biometric identification,

efficiency gains are achieved by identifying passengers once via biometric data encoded in

their passports at self check-in terminals, then using biometric recognition to allow

passengers to pass smoothly through checkpoints without having to produce paper

documents. Reliable facial recognition can be achieved in less than 10 seconds according to

Vision-box, one developer of border control and biometrics solutions.

Boarding an aircraft is also often a bottleneck. A leading security technology company KABA

claims boarding an aircraft such as a Boeing 737 can be achieved in 9-12 minutes vs. 20-25

minutes for manual boarding. With biometric systems, boarding a large aircraft such as

Airbus A380 can be reduced from 45 to 20 minutes.

Dangerous items screening

A critical goal of security is to ensure that no dangerous items are brought on-board. Waiting

in line and going through the security checkpoint is one of the least-liked aspects of air

travel.

Passengers removing laptops from hand-baggage, keys, mobile phones, change, belts and

shoes present multiple opportunities for delays at the security checkpoint. New systems try

to speed the process by improving the detection accuracy and reducing the rate of false

detections.

L3’s ProVision2 People Scanner uses safe active millimeter wave (MMW) radio frequency

technology to detect concealed objects made of any type of material – both metallic and

non-metallic — including liquids, gels, rubber, wire, powder, plastics, ceramics, thin and bulk

explosives. It can identify - via graphic user interface - where on a person’s body the suspect

device / material is located, thus speeding up the manual search process.

2- L3’s ProVision2 Source : L3

Scan passed

Further check required

Computer generated graphics, rather than photo-realistic body imaging ensure passenger

privacy.

Another company, C.E.I.A has a multi-zone metal detector. When an alarm

is triggered at the floor-level necessitating additional screening, their SAMD

shoe analyzer can be used to check shoes worn by passengers without

having to remove them. This avoids the inconvenience and unnecessary

delay in the queue caused by removing and putting on shoes.

3-SAMD Shoe Scanner Source: CEIA

Liquids Aerosols & Gels screening

The European Commission developed a roadmap leading to a phased approach for replacing

the restriction on liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) with technological screening. The first

phase of relaxation of earlier restrictions began as of 31 January 2014 with certain LAGs

permitted on board (such as those in security tamper evident bags (STEBs) purchased at

airports and any liquid medicine or special dietary needs such as baby foods), provided that

airports screen them with special liquid explosive detection equipment. LAGs less than 100

ml in transparent bags and those purchased at EU airports in STEBs are exempted. LAGS in

STEBs purchased at non-EU airports must be screened.

The EC will monitor the first phase and depending on the outcome, subsequent phases may

lift restrictions on other LAGs. Phase 2 is expected to start at end of January 2015 and may

allow water and other clear liquids in clear bottles on board, subject to screening. Phase 3 is

expected to start at end of January 2016 and may permit all LAGS subject to screening.

There are different technologies and standards for LAG screening equipment and more

generally Explosive Detection Systems (EDS). The European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC)

defines different types and standards for security equipment including Liquid Explosive

Detection Systems (LEDS). ECAC Type A equipment requires opening and sampling liquids,

which would be operationally inefficient and is not permitted. Type B requires removal of

bottle from STEB and/or packaging and testing one individual bottle of liquid at a time

maintaining the seal intact. Type C/C+ can test LAGS in STEBs with up to 3 items at a time.

Type D/D+ tests LAGs and electronic devices such as laptops inside passenger carry-on bags.

ECAC standards defining detection performance are

also applied to each type. Standard 3 is the most

stringent. Standard 2 is currently the minimum

permitted in the EU for EDS. Standard 3 is required

for new EDS equipment installed as of Sept 2014 and

will completely replace standard 2 equipment by 1

Sept 2022.

One LAG screening system complying with Type B

Standard 3 is the Cobalt Insight 100. Individual

bottles can be screened in 5-8 seconds. The system

uses a laser source and Raman spectroscopy to identify

dangerous materials. Opaque and coloured plastic can be screened as well as clear and

coloured glass. The false detection rate is typically less than 0.5%.

Another technology uses nuclear magnetic resonance to identify dangerous liquids by

applying a radio-frequency magnetic field tuned to the resonance frequency of the element

4-Cobalt Insight 100 Type B, Standard 3

Source: Cobalt

being detected. The technology is a variation of magnetic resonance used for medical

imaging (MRI). Compared to Raman spectroscopy, light does not need to penetrate the

material, therefore completely opaque bottles can be scanned. Additionally there is no need

to remove bottles from outer packaging. Currently ORS has a product called MobiLabTM

BLS

that can scan all glass, plastic, ceramic, or paper wrapped containers in 4 to 15 seconds.

Larger screening systems intended for hand-baggage such as Nuctech’s XT1080 use

computed tomography and dual energy to detect

explosives and narcotics automatically without

opening the baggage. Computed Tomography allows

visualization in 3 dimensions avoiding hidden objects

due to overlapping projections in traditional systems.

This therefore has benefits of avoiding re-scanning

and potentially opening of luggage to verify

unrecognized items, thereby speeding passenger flow

through the security check.

These are only a few examples of new technologies

with potential to enhance security while facilitating passenger flow. In the near term many

different systems are being evaluated and will be used concurrently. Some systems provide a

first pass scanning, others for more detailed analysis when a potential threat is detected, or

for specific applications such as liquids screening.

Self-Service

Self-service is an accepted fact of our daily existence. On the subject of transportation, this

year marks the 50th anniversary of the first self-service automotive fueling station which

opened on June 10, 1964 in Westminster, Colorado and lead to today’s pay at the pump and

contactless payment systems which now allow drivers to avoid waiting in line to pay. Today

we are witnessing an increasing use of self-serve checkout counters at retail stores and

supermarkets. This trend is already firmly established at airports with self check-in terminals

and increasingly self-bag-drop-off is being used around the world. It is predicted that the

traditional check-in counter will disappear within 5 years.

Currently most passengers print their own boarding passes either at home or via self-check

terminals at airports. A variety of self-service bag-drops now allow passengers to avoid long

lines to the check-in desk only to drop-off their bag. The self-service bag-drop systems

weigh the baggage and takes dimensions. If the bag is outside the permitted dimensions, the

passenger is immediately notified and may need to take the oversize item to a special

counter. If the bag is overweight, the passenger can have the option to pay via credit or

debit card at the machine or remove items from the bag before trying again. Self-check-in

has operational benefits because more machines can be located in a smaller area increasing

Baggage Scan

Source: Nuctech

capacity. Depending on the system being used, passengers can either print their baggage

tags at a check-in terminal, or directly at a bag-drop station. The system can be set up as a

one-step or 2-step process for improved efficiency, e.g. first with kiosk for automated

document checking and boarding pass printing, if needed, and tag printing, then with bag–

drop machine, ICM Airport Technics mentions that a capacity increase of over 300% is

possible with a 2-step process.

Further enhancements to the passenger process include printing bag-tags at home and

folding them into standard size tag holders or eliminating printing altogether.

IATA is in the process of working on a new

initiative for a future permanent tag including

a 10-digit license plate. It is part of IATAs InBag

program with the goals of reducing

mishandling, improving efficiency and enabling

innovation. With permanent bag-tags,

mismatch between the physical bag and the

baggage data will be avoided thereby reducing

process interruptions. Moreover, passengers

will not need to print new tags for each flight

eliminating one process step, saving time, and

inconvenience. Together with self-bag-drop

terminals this will speed the check-in/bag-drop

process.

Once a bag is tagged, passengers only have to scan it with a hand-held scanner, similar to the

type used for reading bar codes at self-service retail payment terminals. Vanderlande’s

Scan & Fly bag drop solution, for example, helps passengers to tag, scan their bag with a

portable scanner and drop their baggage within 60 seconds. Bag-drop alone takes no more

than 15 seconds.

Air.Go Bag-drop is another self-service baggage drop

solution for airports by DSG Systems developed with the

design company Marcus Pedersen in order to be

ergonomic and user-friendly. The following hardware and

options are available: Touch screen with modern user

interface for the passengers, RFID antenna, boarding pass

scanner, NFC, payment terminal, bag-tag printer, receipt

printer, boarding pass printer, passport scanner,

fingerprint scanner. Benefits of the system are cited as up

to 75% reduction in operational costs and check-in capacity AIR.GO Source: Markus Pedersen

5-Examples of future permanent tag Source: IATA

increased by 78% compared to traditional check-in desks.

Other Companies active in Self Bag-drop and check-in solutions include: IER, ICM Airport

Technics, Materna, Siemens, and many others. Self-service not only reduces cost and can

enhance operational efficiency, but it has been shown to improve customer satisfaction as

passengers feel they are more in control. If they are actively involved in a process, the time

that they spend performing simple tasks for themselves passes by quicker than if they are

watching someone else do it for them. With self-service systems, customer service agents’

roles change from handling each bag and issuing boarding passes to facilitating passenger

flows by providing information and aiding particular passengers that need extra help such as

the elderly or inexperience travelers.

Other IATA programs focusing on self-serve are Fast Travel program which includes

optimizing check-in, self-tagging, document check, re-booking, automated boarding, and

bag-recovery.

Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) & Data sharing

Collaborative Decision Making is an important tool for improving the efficiency at airports

faced with increasing passenger flow demand. CDM is based on sharing information among

airport, airline and passenger stakeholders in order to improve operational efficiency.

Airport resource planning is often done months or weeks in advance based on airline

schedules and historical patterns. However, delays caused by unforeseen events such as

poor weather or cascading flight cancellation effects can cause havoc for personnel and

passengers, not to mention the impact of usual flight delays.

At the core of CDM is the need for accurately understanding passenger flows and the status

of all operational equipment and personal at all times in order to meet rapidly changing

demands. CDM applies to data at both the landside as well as the airside of the airport. By

feeding current passengers flows, available resources and up-to-the minute information on

flight status into analytical models, personnel and resource allocation can be optimized and

re-allocated at short notice to effectively deal with peaks and unplanned situations.

One challenge is collecting the data on passenger flows in the first place. Future

opportunities for monitoring passenger flows may be via RFID tags or other sensors. Current

tracking via mobile devices WiFi or Bluetooth signals is possible and is already implemented

in some airports. Another method of tracking flows is by sharing information about

passengers through specific checkpoints in the airport.

Another challenge is data sharing. Not all stakeholders are accustomed to sharing data and

different entities use different data systems at an airport, including individual airlines which

may each have their own system and data formats that are not compatible. A first step is to

raise awareness of the operational benefits for all. Further steps are to start to agree on

common standards. IATA is working on an XML based Industry Data Model to speed up the

development and maintenance of data exchange standards and improve the general level of

interoperability among industry systems.

CDM is definitely a growing trend. The benefits of CDM are numerous and include improve

predictability, improved on-time performance, lower cost, and reduced congestion.

Multi-modal transport

Multi-modal transportation and the need for efficient connections to ground transportation

was another theme at the Expo Barcelona 2014. Examples of best practice and innovative

solutions were presented in several conference sessions.

Logan airport in Boston, USA, for example, which has limited capacity for parking and no

possibility to add new parking must rely on an efficient and coordinated public transit

system. High Occupancy Vehicles are promoted such as express buses, fixed rail and bus

rapid transit help prevent congestion and have a positive environmental impact. The Silver

bus line offers free boarding at Logan to avoid queues caused by passengers who would

otherwise need to buy tickets. Strategically located park-and-rides also help reduce traffic

congestion to the airport.

Another innovative solution is a drive-through check-in at Palm Springs where passengers

can leave their bags and check-in before parking. Attendants retrieve bags from the car and

tag them for passengers and even print boarding passes if needed.

Barcelona El Prat airport (Spain) has addressed the connectivity issue by providing a bus-on-

demand service at night intended primarily for airport workers, connecting the Iberia hangar

and Aeronautical centre to the long-term car park. Passengers can call a bus by pressing a

button in the station or by logging in to the website via mobile device, after which a bus is

routed and the passenger receives information on how long the bus will take to arrive.

Rail links to the airport and multimodal hubs are becoming increasingly important means to

reach the airport as described in several talks focusing on transport connections.

Nevertheless, there is still much room for improvement in Europe and the US. According to a

study cited in a presentation by Etienne Berthon, Urban Planner for IAU Ile de France, public

transit accounts for less than 25% of travel to the airport on average in the USA. In Asia more

that 50% of travel to the airport is by public transport, and Europe is somewhere in-

between. This highlights a need to further develop public ground transport solutions and

connectivity in the EU and even more so in North America. There is much we can learn by

looking more closely at intermodal solutions in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, and other Asian

cities.

Not only high-tech solutions

One more interesting observation is that not

all solutions to increasing Time-Efficiency are

high-tech. Technological solutions such as

remote check-in, bag-drop, self-boarding can

contribute to faster and optimised processes.

Michael Eggenschwiler, CEO of Hamburg

Airport, described some solutions that

improve the passenger experience by

providing a personalized touch at the airport.

One innovative low-tech solution improves

passenger flow by avoiding delays caused at

security and last-minute loading of awkward

items into the plane’s cargo hold. Hamburg

airport has implemented a service requiring families with strollers to check their buggies

with baggage rather than bringing them to the gate then handing them to airport personnel

to load as cargo. Then what to do with the kids? The airport offers free-of charge strollers

that fit easily through the walk-through security check and the standardized buggies do not

need to go through the x-ray scanner. Parents can then leave the buggies at the gate upon

boarding. The service improves passenger flow and punctuality of departing flights as well

as provides stress relief to families. The solution was devised from an employee suggestion

program.

FP7 Programs represented

Several members of FP7 programs relevant to Time-Efficiency were represented at the conference

and the exposition:

INTERACTION

Representatives of the FP7 INTERACTION project consortium partners Athens International

Airport and Aegean Airlines gave a presentation on the first day of the conference. They

identified the need to improve monitoring of passenger and baggage processes. They discussed

how coloured Petri-nets are being used to model complex concurrent processes involved

such as cleaning, boarding, loading baggage, etc. and to identify potential bottlenecks

among processes. In a later phase, improved process will be developed to reduce the turn-

around time. The INTERACTION project launched in October 2013 involves a consortium of

12 members including Airbus and aims to introduce and apply new procedures and

technologies for enhancing time-efficient turnaround operations. Coordination and

6 HAM-Airport-Buggy Source: M. Eggenschwiler

integration of process carried out independently such as aircraft processes, passenger

processes and baggage processes should lead to reduction in time, cost, and increased

environmental efficiency. More information is available here.

Source: INTERACTION.

ABC4EU

Security automation systems had an important presence at the BCN Expo 2014 and included

several companies involved in FP7 projects dedicated to the Security theme among exhibitors. At

their stand, Vision-Box demonstrated how their computer vision, biometric and electronic security

systems can enhance passenger flow and reliability of passenger identification. They are a

consortium partner of the FP7 project ABC4EU which proposes the study and implementation of

an innovative system for the automated border crossing (ABC) of EU countries. Other partners

exhibiting at the expo included consortium coordinator Indra, and face recognition technologies

developer Cognitec Systems.

During the last years, many ABC Gates have been deployed in the main European airports, most of

them as pilot projects intended to test their capability to improve the border crossing processes in

aspects such as speed, security, automation and false rejection reduction. ABC4EU is focusing on

the need for a harmonised approach as one of the most urgent issues to be solved.

ABC4EU will identify the requirements for a flexible, integrated and interoperable ABC system at EU

level. The study emphasizes citizen rights, privacy and other related ethical aspects.

FASTPASS

FASTPASS is another FP7-Security project that shall establish and demonstrate a harmonized,

modular approach for Automated Border Control (ABC) gates.

Other companies : Gunnebo Entrance Control Ltd, MODI Modular Digits GmbH, secunet Security

Networks AG, were among the consortium partners with security related exhibits at the Expo.

The FASTPASS project focuses on issues which currently exhibit major technological challenges in the

following areas:

1. the document checking technology,

2. the biometric identification technology,

3. the intelligent surveillance of the pre-border and border area,

4. the interoperability and adaptability of the system architecture and

5. the gate technology for convenient and fast transit.

Source: FastPass

That is all for this year’s summary. There were of course many other relevant topics at

the event. I hope to see more interesting developments at next year’s Passenger

Terminal Expo in Paris!