SITA unveiled the latest evolution in total airport management at this year’s Passenger Terminal Expo (PTE) which took place in Frankfurt Germany from 16-18 April.
The SITA Airport Operations Total Optimizer harnesses AI and the principles of Total Airport Management to optimise holistically across a variety of airport functions. Its official unveiling follows a successful demonstration in 2023 with Canada’s Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA). While airports have managed to optimise individual airport functions in recent years these optimisations are not well synchronised so, the technology company has developed the tool in response to systems, procedures and KPIs conflicting with one another and significantly reducing efficiencies, costing airports millions of dollars per year.
One of the problem today for Airport Operations Centres, is that the tools they are using to manage operations have a static configuration. This prevents the team from dynamically adapting their plans, to consider changes or priorities in the airport environment. SITA’s Total Optimizer allows aiprort teams to set the relative priority of different aspects, such as operational performance, capacity provision, revenue generation, cost efficiency, passenger experience and sustainability.
“This is one of the biggest innovations yet in the sphere of total airport management,” said Stefan Schaffner, VP of Airports at SITA, citing the platform’s impressive ability to leverage AI and data analytics.
Referencing the importance of collaboration in addressing the challenges airports face, Schaffner added: “We regularly interview our customers and other industry stakeholders to find solutions to the complex challenges they face now and in the future. In this respect, our new SITA Airport Operations Total Optimizer is a giant step forward to addressing the needs of our airport customers of different sizes and from countries the world over.”
SITA partnered with Toronto Pearson Airport in Canada to trial a prototype of its airport management tool, which was integrated with GTAA data sources. GTAA staf were able to dynamically optimise stand allocation plans simply by setting the relative priorities of the airport. The predicted savings, operational efficiencies and additional revenues were then demonstrated to the Toronto Pearson team.
