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Airlines, airports eye AI-led solutions to make air travel stress-free: SITA
- SITA, which is working with state-run and private airports for Digi Yatra, plans to facilitate the biometric system at 10 more Indian airports this year. The company is also engaged in a government-led initiative to implement this for international travel.
Air travel can be exhausting and frustrating at times, especially on international routes. The documentation list can be endless, especially if one is transiting via one or more countries. Aviation technology service provider SITA believes this is likely to change significantly.
"On a five-year horizon, we would have reduced 50-60% of that stress level. We see a global rollout of electronic visa services and increasingly, there will be technology and tools that will be led by GenAI (artificial intelligence) to explain in simplified terms what sort of documentation, checks and steps you are going to need when you travel from country A to B directly or via transit," chief executive officer David Lavorel said.
Speaking at a round table in New Delhi, Lavorel said the world is looking at India in terms of use of technology in hassle-free travel with Digi Yatra, an initiative launched by the civil aviation ministry in June 2017. It uses facial recognition to verify passenger identity at various checkpoints, such as check-in, security, and boarding gates, without the need for physical documents.
As of February 2024, Digi Yatra is present across 13 airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Vijayawada, Cochin, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Guwahati and Jaipur.
SITA plans to facilitate biometric system at 10 more airports
SITA, which is working with state-run and private airports for Digi Yatra, plans to facilitate the biometric system at 10 more Indian airports this year. The company is also engaged in a government-led initiative to implement this for international travel.
Separately, airports and airlines are also looking at using AI to reduce airport and airspace congestion by using data in terms of peak periods for passenger flow at airports and immigration to achieve better operational efficiency and passenger experience, Sumesh Patel, president Asia-Pacific, SITA said. He added that airports are also looking at technology to ease language barriers for passengers and provide them solutions in case of a missed flight at an airport in a foreign land.
Also Read: India prepares plan to double airports to 300 by 2047
Overall, SITA is present across 57 airports in India and provides technology solutions across check-in, baggage drop services, airport management system, immigration gates, boarding gates and lounge access, besides others.
The company also sees an increased focus on reduction in carbon emissions by airlines. In October 2023, Vistara became the first Indian airline to deploy SITA's technology solutions leveraging historical flight data to predict fuel burn during the climb phase of an aircraft. This is expected to help the airline to reduce fuel burn and decrease carbon emissions by 15,000 tons yearly.
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"This is something that will be big in focus in future. In India, increasingly as a passenger, the airline industry is going to help you understand how much carbon dioxide you (your flight) are consuming and give you options for compensation. That is something coming on the horizon so that the passenger can make the optimal choice," Lavorel said.
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Business NewsIndustryAirlines, airports eye AI-led solutions to make air travel stress-free: SITA
First Published:17 Jul 2024, 08:51 PM IST
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