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The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the vast majority of industries worldwide, with the aviation sector suffering one of the biggest blows. Mandatory quarantine and social distancing measures have greatly disrupted air travel as some airports report a 95% reduction in passenger traffic. In addition, airports are having to limit the number of onsite personnel, adding further complications in managing day-to-day operations. To help sustain operations, airports have found the use of Airport Management Software (AMS) to be critical during this global outbreak. With AMS solutions, airports have been able to maximize their limited personnel and resources as well as provide a tool to allow for remote collaboration on airport business.

To maintain efficient operations, airports are utilizing AMS solutions to manage property, safety, maintenance, airside operations and other critical processes. As some airport personnel continue to work remotely, AMS solutions provide the capability to easily retrieve and/or submit documents/forms from anywhere using a mobile phone, laptop, tablet or any other internet-enabled device. This has been crucial in maintaining efficient operations as airport personnel easily access and submit airport data while they work remotely. Furthermore, airports are maintaining effective communication as they are able to automatically share pertinent data through automated alerting and real-time analytics dashboards. An additional area where AMS solutions have helped during this crisis is in optimizing utilization of an airport’s aircraft parking stands. Research shows that 62% of passenger jets worldwide have been grounded, leaving airports with complex aircraft parking challenges. Utilizing AMS, airports have been able to quickly and efficiently optimize use of their aircraft parking spaces. These solutions have provided the capability of enhancing the visibility of aircraft parking spots as well as help utilize airport facilities to the fullest.

With the various benefits that AMS solutions provide, airports have been able to sustain their operations with their limited resources and personnel. Although the global pandemic has greatly disrupted the day-to-day operations of airports worldwide, airports have luckily been able to get through this difficult time through leveraging AMS.

Sources –  https://aci.aero/news/2020/04/01/economic-analysis-shows-covid-19-is-an-existential-threat-to-airport-business/

https://www.internationalairportreview.com/article/114585/aviation-industry-covid-19-pandemic/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-04-16/coronavirus-travel-what-happens-to-planes-grounded-by-covid-19

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One of the biggest challenges that airports currently face is long-term environmental sustainability. According to a recent study, airports are one of the major contributors to the world’s global carbon emissions. Considering that air traffic is expected to nearly double by the Year 2037, airports will continue to be one of the world’s major contributors to carbon emissions, unless proper sustainability initiatives are taken.

Investing in technology, such as digital solutions can be a great first step in making an airport more sustainable. An airport’s operations, safety management and training processes have traditionally been very paper-intensive. Considering the amount of required inspections, operations reports, daily logs, training records, safety reports and investigation findings that are documented on paper, it is easy to see how the digitization and automation of these processes can help airports significantly decrease their carbon footprint. Thus, making themselves more sustainable.

In addition, some airports heavily rely on the use of paper to document important information for their leases. Airports typically need to document and monitor lease terms, lessee information, plots, insurance requirements, security deposits, rent, etc. Utilizing digital solutions to electronically document this information can increase an airport’s sustainability.

More than reducing paper usage, the use of a Resource Management System can also greatly decrease an airport’s carbon footprint. Resource management systems offer airports various benefits such as optimized gate utilization, increased efficiency and maximization of current infrastructure. More importantly, it can reduce an airport’s carbon footprint by reducing jet fuel usage. By fully optimizing the gate assignment process, airports will limit the amount of time aircraft spend taxiing on the runway. One study suggests that 18 tons of CO2 are released into the atmosphere during taxiing operations alone. Lastly, one additional benefit of optimized gate utilization is increased customer satisfaction by reducing time spent on the tarmac.

In conclusion, investing in digital solutions can greatly align with an airport’s sustainability goals by decreasing CO2 emissions and eliminating the need for paper usage. Certain government agencies are also willing to offer funding for certain projects that assist with long-term environmental sustainability efforts.

Sources – https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49349566

https://www.greenaironline.com/news.php?viewStory=2342

https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2018-10-24-02/

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data. This evolving technology has been adapting into the airport space since the FAA launched the Airports GIS program in 2009 for the gathering and storage of airport data. This put the spotlight on GIS as an available data tracking platform to improve how airports currently store and manage various data sets for a range of reasons.

GIS has many benefits with present technology and will continue to become even more valuable with future advancements. Investing in GIS is critical to optimizing an airport’s operational processes and in doing so now will not only improve current procedures but also set an airport up for success in the future.

GIS allows airports to improve a range of processes including asset tracking, lease management, maintenance management, and everyday operations. GIS provides a unique way for airports to map/visualize any important assets as well as visualize airport properties.

GIS is extremely helpful for airports due to the “drill down” capabilities. Not only are you able to map and visualize assets and properties using GIS, but the added benefit is associating helpful data which provides insights into the particular property/asset. With a single click, one could pull up information such as:

• Lease records regarding a specific plot.
• Manuals and maintenance records associated with a particular asset.
• Current inventory of specific parts associated with an asset.

Currently, GIS is an incredibly useful tool for an airport’s operations and, with future improvements, will be even more critical to further enhancing an airport’s operational efficiencies. Aniruddha Banerjee, Ph.D., an expert in GIS technology, explains that advances in predictive digital mapping will help to provide more in-depth operational insights than is currently possible. This technology could potentially analyze GIS data to identify and notify airport stakeholders of problem areas/assets at airports. For example, if an asset needed to be continuously replaced, in a non-random fashion, GIS would be able to identify that there may be underlying issues that are causing this issue and then notify airport personnel of the problem.

Another prospective innovation of GIS is its simulation/modeling capabilities, otherwise known as Simulation GIS.  Advances in Simulation GIS will allow for more accurate modeling of various airport specific scenarios. One relevant example would be the modeling of air or ground transport systems. With the potential for mass drone usage at airports, airports will have to prepare for new safety concerns regarding organizing operations for not only manned but unmanned aircraft. Specific safety scenarios through Simulation GIS will be more easily predicted and will assist with informed decision making and strategizing.

When put into action, Simulation GIS can assist an airport in implementing new and improved policies/procedures, an example being the decision on what wind speed should trigger a no-fly zone aided by simulating different wind speed scenarios with Simulation GIS. This technology can also be used for optimizing of ground transport to maximize resource usage, like finding the most efficient routes for taxiing aircraft to their gates.

Additionally, the advancement of light detection and ranging technology, also known as LIDAR, will help provide an accurate 3D measurement of factors that can become part of GIS maps.  Many studies, like the LIDAR Deployment for Airport Obstruction Survey from 2010, have shown that using LIDAR technology to map trees allows an airport to accurately plan maintenance, such as tree trimming, using growth simulations. Adding trees, fences, new construction, etc. can allow an airport to have a precise look at every part of the airports’ dynamics.

Utilization of GIS maps supports airport procedures in a variety of ways. Being able to associate data to specific layers and future improvements in predictive mapping and simulation add a resource that increases not only an airports efficiency but also reduces cost. Utilizing GIS is not just critical for present-day functions, but it is essential for future productivity.