< PreviousJuly 2020 · AVIATION BUSINESS 40 www.aviationbusinessme.com CONTACTLESS AIRPORT hygienic and seamless travel experience. Contactless biometric technology can be incorporated at the very beginning of the travel process – at traveller check-in. In today’s context, where all travellers are required to wear face masks inside the airport, authenticating and verifying travellers with their iris would be an ideal solution to protect both the airport’s employees and travellers. Contactless biometric technology can also be used with contactless fi ngerprint scanners, for instance, at self-service kiosks that are present at immigration pre-checks. Incorporating contactless biometric tech- nology in place of physical touchpoints around the airport, even at duty free, would have an added travel advantage of eliminating the need to keep showing an ID document at every turn. This achieves a more seamless experience and ease of mind (for those of us who fear losing our documents within the airport) even before we board the aeroplane. In addition to securing borders, the pandemic has spotlighted the important role that key infrastructures such as an airport, have to play in protecting both travellers and employees. Contactless biometric technology looks set to be a fundamental part of this equation with its ability to protect all airport employ- ees and travellers, from the airport curb Immigration and Border Protection trialed a contactless biometric authentication technology that would remove the need for a known traveller to present a physical passport in Australian airports. Recently, the country rolled out its new Enterprise Biometric Identifi cation Services (EBIS) system, which will serve as the back- bone for processing border clearances for legitimate travellers, just in time for its reopening. A core of the EBIS system is its facial biometric matching solution, supplied by IDEMIA. A frontrunner in adopting innovative technology, the UAE is no stranger to leveraging contactless technology for enhancing border security. As early as 2015, Abu Dhabi started on its e-Border project, integrating contactless biometric technology, automation and system in- tegration to secure the country’s borders. The e-Border project was also amongst the fi rst in the world to spearhead iris Richard Mikhael, president, MEA of security fi rm IDEMIA. and face recognition for border control with Iris-at-a-Distance (IAD) cameras. As opposed to touch-based scanners, the IAD cameras off er speed and accuracy, with its ability to capture iris and face simultaneously in under two seconds, and mitigate any hygiene concerns for travellers. Contactless biometric technology is also supporting Dubai’s Terminal to process travellers in a fast, accurate and safe manner. Leveraging IDEMIA’s OneLook multi-biometric solution, the border pro- tection offi cers can eff ectively process legitimate travellers behind plexi-glass panels that are installed to protect their health and safety. It would, however, be short-sighted to think that contactless biometric technol- ogy is limited to high security areas such as passport clearance. In fact, contactless biometric technology should be thought of as the way forward to achieve a secured, 41 July 2020 · AVIATION BUSINESS www.aviationbusinessme.com F&B AND RETAIL Mignon Buckingham, corporate strategy offi cer at Collinson, describes what the new normal might be for F&B and retail at airports, with expectations fi rmly set by frictionless and one-touch off-airport e-commerce experiences. airports and their concession partners need to respond to this new and possibly existential challenge? Travellers will likely be spending more time at the airport. They’ll be reaching airports perhaps four or more hours before departure. Wait times are likely to be lengthy with social distancing and increased screen- ing requirements. Travellers will be looking to research, plan their journeys and pre-book the services they want before they leave home. This suggests that air- ports need to be engaging travellers well in advance of travel. Establishing the In recent years developments in the traveller airport experience have been encouraging. Airport operators and concessions have invested heavily in new services and innovative new dining and retail experiences. Collinson’s Airport Experience research suggests that overall satisfaction with the airport has leapt from 50% in 2018 to 63% in 2019. In the UAE, with four world leading airports, satisfaction was even higher at 75% in 2019. For the airport operator and their concession partners traveller satisfaction is critical. The same research suggests that satisfi ed UAE residents spend on average $28 more per departure than dissatisfi ed or ambivalent travellers. Simply put, happy travellers spend more. Then Covid-19 hit, travel suddenly stopped and travellers are now under- standably cautious about travelling to the airport and getting back on a plane. Beyond addressing the hygiene factors, such as social distancing, health checks and touch free environments, the emerging traveller is looking for a new sort of experience. They are going to need the right support and encour- agement to open their wallet and start to en- joy the experience again. What will this new, post- Covid-19 passenger expe- rience look like and how do $28 UAE RESIDENTS SPEND MORE PER DEPARTURE AIRPORT RETAIL: WHAT PASSENGERS WANTJuly 2020 · AVIATION BUSINESS 42 www.aviationbusinessme.com CONTACTLESS AIRPORT Priority services will be important items on the future travellers’ list. With concerns about crowds and distancing top of mind, passengers have indicated that they are prepared to pay more for extra services and diff erentiation. These services include things like, fast track, lounge access, premium dining options, sleep pods or even spa and wellness services. This is a win-win for the trav- eller and the airport. The traveller gets a better experience and for the airport an important source of ancillary rev- enue helping it to recover from expected downturn related shortfalls. Critically however, airports need to off er these services in advance, promoting them the right way not only to give travellers the time and space for these to be booked and purchased seamlessly but so they can effi ciently capacity-manage their assets to drive ROI. Whilst off -airport commerce has be- come almost completely data driven, many airports have lagged behind. With investments in traveller relationships, mobile apps and e-commerce, airports need to catch up and make full use of data. This will become core to the way they run their business. Beyond using big data to target eff ective promotions and personalise and customise the traveller experience, it also off ers the airport op- erator deep insights into behaviour and performance across the airport. These insights in turn need to be used to develop an even better airport experi- ence. More than anything else, airports need to instil confi dence in the returning traveller. Passengers need to feel that the journey is safe, the airport is communi- cating with them in advance and that travellers have the tools and applications they need to take control of their own journeys. As strong and trusted brands, airports have both the opportunity and obligation to lead the way; engaging with passengers early, working with conces- sions and airport service providers to establish a seamless traveller-centric eco-system and easy to use experience. Such an approach will not only encour- age travellers to return but will encour- age them to start to spend and enjoy the airport experience once again. right sort of relationship, providing the right information, answering questions and access to services in advance of travel. The good news is that travellers are almost unanimously open to this idea. The same Collinson research suggests that 95% are interested in a formalised relation- ship with the airport, suggesting that there is a strong sense of loyalty to top airport brands. 95% OF PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN A FORMALISED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE AIRPORT Mignon Buckingham, corporate strategy offi cer at Collinson The new standard for services will be seamless and contactless. This implies a mobile based approach to seamless ac- cess to all the services and facilities. Where passengers have needed to use 4-5 diff erent sources to access the services and information they want, such a fragmented ap- proach will not work for the future traveller. With expectations fi rmly set by frictionless and one-touch off -airport e-commerce expe- riences, airports need to establish a common eco-system across the airport and unifi ed approach to the access and delivery of services. All made simple and easy to use for the traveller. New services such as mobile food ordering and delivery and duty-free ordering and collection are taking hold and will fi rmly become the ‘new normal’ as wary travellers seek a touch free and contact free experience. Even before Covid-19 hit, travellers were telling us this was the way to go. Collinson’s research indicates that 46% of travellers who spend over $200 at the airport would spend even more if they could shop via an app, for exam- ple, from an airport lounge and pick up their purchases at the gate. 45% of these travellers would spend more if the airport off ered a home or destination delivery service for their purchases.FOR SPONSORSHIP ENQUIRIES Anup Nagpurkar Group Sales Manager +971 4 444 3373 + 971 52 895 0931 anup.nagpurkar@itp.com FOR NOMINATION ENQUIRIES Tom Oxtoby Editor, +971 4 444 3419 tom.oxtoby@itp.com FOR EVENT ENQUIRIES Daniel Fewtrell Director of Awards & Marketing +971 4 444 3684 daniel.fewtrell@itp.com FOR TABLE BOOKING ENQUIRIES Anthony Chandran Table Sales Executive +971 4 444 3865 anthony.chandran@itp.com Visit www.mepmiddleeast.com/awards for more information or contact one of the team today SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATIONS TODAY Wednesday 30th September 2020 GOLD SPONSORSPLATINUM SPONSOR The MEP Middle East Awards are an opportunity to highlight the excellence in MEP design and installation underpinning those iconic projects contributing to the evolving construction landscape in the Middle East.Safari Aviation Services Tel: +971 (0) 6 557 9998, Email: tyres@safariaviation.com Distributed by:Next >