SITA Airport IT Trends Survey Indicates Security Top Priority

SITA's latest airport IT trends survey indicates security will be the main priority for information technology investments across the industry in 2007.

Ninety-seven percent of those airports responding to the 2006 version of the Survey, which was carried out in conjunction with Airports Council International and Airline Business magazine, said security was their top IT investment priority for next year.  Ninety-three percent of those responding said operational solutions to help manage the flow of passengers and aircraft also was a high priority, and 73% said investing in passenger and baggage processing IT systems was very important.

The proportion of airline revenues spent on IT and telecommunications dropped marginally to 4.4% in 2006 from 4.6% in 2005, even though both passenger demand and top-line revenue grew this year.  IT expenditures, meanwhile, remained stable at around $3 billion in absolute terms in 2006.  This compares to expenditures of $2.2 billion when the survey was started in 2004.  Globally, 66% of responding airports expect to increase their IT investments in 2007 while 10% anticipate their IT investments to decrease.

While investing in security-related projects will be important for many airports, the survey also indicates that many airports are planning projects which support passenger self-service such as self-boarding at gates, mobile passenger check-in and kiosk check-in.  In fact, John Jarrell, SITA's senior vice president for airport and desktop services, said SITA is beginning to see a convergence between security and self-service, and that new applications and peripherals will allow this convergence to take place without compromising security or increasing processing time, while keeping it simple for the passengers.

Still, while more than a quarter of respondents plan to use biometric technology by the end of the year to control access for employees.  Similar initiatives at border controls and security checkpoints within airports will only be at the 15% and 9% level respectively by year end.

A major change since last year's survey is the number of respondents (25%) who have deployed CUSS (common-use self-service) kiosks which serve multiple airlines.  This number compares to 9% last year.

Currently, about 30% of kiosks in use globally are of the common-use type with 70% dedicated to a single airline.  This ratio is expected to become 40/60 over the next two years.

Other survey key facts and figures:

• Thirty percent of respondents have already implemented video over IP (Internet protocol) to replace CCTV (closed-circuit television), and 51% intend to do the same over the next two years.
• Eighteen percent have implemented baggage tracking services, while 45% intend to do so over the next two years.
• Fifty-one percent have managed network services for the entire airport campus while 41% intend to implement such a system over the next two years.
• Self-service passenger boarding at gates has been adopted by 16% while 39% intend to adopt it over the next two years.
• Only 5% of respondents intend to deploy dedicated use check-in kiosks over the next two years while 47% intend deploying CUSS (common use self-service) kiosks for multiple airline use.
• Radio frequency identification tags have only been minimally introduced in the following areas: employee ID (14%); baggage (9%); asset management (1%); and cargo (2%).

More information is available in an executive summary available on SITA's Website.  11-15-2006.

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