SITA is partnering with Taipei Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) to upgrade its passenger processing solutions.

TPE will install SITA’s game-changing check-in kiosk solutions, allowing passengers to fly through the airport and on to their destination faster than ever before.

The deal, which runs until 2033, shows SITA’s commitment to improving airport IT solutions and the passenger experience, through scalable, efficient systems that meet the needs of modern airports.

With the new check-in and baggage handling processes, Taipei Taoyuan International Airport will reduce wait times and improve overall airport efficiency.

TPE has chosen SITA to provide its Local Departure Control System (LDCS), Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) and Common Use Self-Service (CUSS) systems, including a full hardware refresh of 80 check-in kiosks to support all international flights in Terminals 1 and 2.

The purchase of SITA’s technology comes at a crucial time for the aviation industry in Taiwan.

Global passenger numbers are set to double to 10bn by 2040, and TPE needs to meet this growing demand, maintaining the highest level of security while improving overall airport efficiency.

Sumesh Patel, SITA APAC President, emphasized the importance of this partnership, stating: “Our focus at SITA is to deliver technology solutions that help airport operators better manage their infrastructure in a way that is both optimal and makes the journey smoother for passengers.

“Airports around the world are facing challenges on many fronts, from staffing to efficiency, and improving the overall passenger experience.”

“Taipei can become a pioneer in the Asian market in terms of digitalization and innovation, becoming an example for others in an ever-evolving travel industry.

Nelson Wang, Taipei Airport operation committee chairman, expressed his confidence in SITA’s solutions. He said: “As part of our improvement program, the smart use of technology will maximize our existing infrastructure, and provide our passengers with a world-class experience, while supporting our airline customers in managing their operations more efficiently.

“SITA’s CUSS and CUTE systems are key to meeting our ambitions, from managing the flow of passengers through our terminals to making all of our passengers’ journeys smoother and more efficient.”

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Accelya, a global leader in software and technology solutions for the airline industry, today announced the appointment of Gaurav Roy as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Roy succeeds Gianni Cataldo, who has transitioned to Chief Product Officer, with both reporting to Tim Reiz, Chief Product & Technology Officer.

In his new role, Roy will lead Accelya’s technology and AI initiatives, driving innovation within the FLX ONE Airline Retailing Platform and accelerating airlines’ digital transformation.

Based in the U.S., Gaurav Roy, who goes by “Roy” will focus on advancing Accelya’s open, modular platform, which empowers airlines to modernize and take control of their retailing strategies.

Roy brings a wealth of experience from top global enterprises, including HP, Vodafone, and Google, as well as high-growth startups.

His notable achievements include leading the development of HP’s Workforce Experience Platform, Samsung’s Tizen Smart TV platform, and the Android Security Platform, Samsung Knox.

With this blend of enterprise-scale innovation and startup agility, Roy is well-positioned to drive Accelya’s technology forward, ensuring the FLX ONE platform delivers reliable, secure, and scalable solutions that meet the complex demands of airlines worldwide.

In his role, Roy will focus on expanding FLX ONE’s capabilities to meet evolving airline needs, enhancing AI-driven functionalities to deliver optimized, data-driven customer experiences, and ensuring enterprise-grade performance with a robust and secure platform architecture.

Sam Gilliland, CEO of Accelya said: “We’re excited to welcome Roy to Accelya.

“As airlines increasingly adopt the Offer, Order, Settle, Deliver (OOSD) framework, Roy’s deep expertise in delivering enterprise-grade solutions will help us meet their evolving needs.

“His appointment underscores our commitment to transforming airline retailing at scale.”

Roy commented: “I’m honoured to join Accelya at such a pivotal time for the aviation industry.

“I’m passionate to advance Accelya’s modern, open, AI Driven FLX ONE platform to and working closely with our customers to help them achieve their strategic goals”.

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SITA, provider of air transport technology, has announced the formal integration of IPS Intelligent Passenger Solutions into its SITA Airports portfolio.

Under its new name, ‘IPS a SITA company’ delivers a strengthened range of intelligent passenger solutions like self-service bag drop systems, kiosks, touchless scanners and printers, and associated technologies.

IPS a SITA company now sits alongside airport operations, passenger processing and baggage systems in a new gold standard for the Aviation Technology Industry (ATI) and passengers alike.

SITA completed regulatory formalities and legal procedures to acquire IPS in July and, now combined, is supporting an acceleration of global aviation industry digitalisation, streamlining check-in, baggage handling, security, and airport operation processes alike.

Travellers can expect to see reduced wait times, smoother journeys, and a new era of personalized and easy to use digital services.

Nathalie Altwegg, SVP of Airports at SITA, said: “Airports worldwide need to adopt technologies that can remove unnecessary bottlenecks at pinch points like check-in, security and embarkation.

“The addition of IPS a SITA company combines the best of our market-leading SITA and IPS products and expertise to deliver seamless travel experiences.

“This unrivaled gold standard portfolio will enable our airport customers to deliver the solutions that will ultimately ensure passengers worldwide enjoy an easier and frictionless travel experience, devoid of frustrating and lengthy queues.

“By combining CUTE and CUSS kiosks with biometric and facial recognition technology, and our IPS portfolio, SITA is at the forefront of developments that will ultimately reshape the future of airport travel.”

Dr. Georg Oschmann, CEO of IPS a SITA company, adding: “Together, we are setting a new standard in automated passenger handling for the aviation industry.

“By connecting our expertise, we are positioned to deliver even greater value to airlines and airports worldwide.

“Our integration enhances our ability to streamline the passenger journey and drive innovation that meets the evolving needs of the industry.”

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Sabre Corporation, a software and technology provider, today announced the launch of New Distribution Capability (NDC) content for Air India, the country’s flagship airline.

As part of Air India’s strategic modernization efforts, the introduction of NDC offers through Sabre will enhance the way Sabre-connected travel agents shop, book and service Air India reservations.

Sabre’s NDC capabilities, a core component of its multi-source content platform, will provide agencies with rich content and real-time offers from Air India, ultimately, giving travellers greater transparency, choice, and flexibility.

Nipun Aggarwal, chief commercial officer, Air India, said: “At Air India, our aim is to deliver superior customer service through innovative technologies.

“By continuing to enhance our partnership with Sabre, we’re able to advance our NDC journey to meet the evolving needs of travel agencies and passengers, providing an enhanced experience.”

Sabre and Air India already have an agreement in place to distribute Air India’s traditional content, both in India and globally.

With the launch of NDC offers through Sabre, Air India aims to further optimize its distribution strategy, providing travel agencies with a broader range of real-time offers.

By using Sabre’s technology, the airline will be able to offer a more streamlined, efficient shopping experience that meets the dynamic needs of the modern traveller.

Kathy Morgan, senior vice president of product management, distribution experience, Sabre Travel Solutions said: “We’re energized to extend our collaboration with Air India by launching their NDC content and helping to enhance their distribution capabilities,” .

“India is a key market for Sabre and for the travel industry overall as it fuels increased demand for travel.

“It’s important that the airline can distribute its NDC content easily to third party sellers and, in turn, that travel agencies can shop, compare, book and service multiple types of air content to provide the travellers they serve with a compelling experience.”

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Riyadh Air has announced a new partnership with Panasonic Avionics Corporation as its official partner for inflight entertainment (IFE) at the APEX (Airline Passenger Experience Association) EXPO in Long Beach, California.

This collaboration uses Panasonic Avionics’ Astrova IFE solution which is set to enhance Riyadh Air’s guest experience by providing an immersive entertainment experience on board.

The partnership will see Panasonic Avionics’ Astrova IFE solution installed across Riyadh Air’s entire Boeing 787-9 fleet facilitating a broad range of innovative solutions for guests that include prior browsing and selection of content, continuous viewing from flight to flight and pairing of smart devices.

The airline’s research has shown that guests demand USB-C port charging technology, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s mandate for mobile phones to have USB-C charging ports by 2025, while seeing less value in dated hardware such as corded handsets and slower wireless charging.

Anton Vidgen, vice president of guest experience at Riyadh Air, said: “Our partnership with Panasonic Avionics represents a significant step forward in our mission to redefine the guest experience.

“By equipping our fleet with Panasonic Avionics’ advanced in-flight entertainment systems, we are ensuring that our guests enjoy a seamless, immersive, and world-class experience from takeoff to landing.

“This is truly groundbreaking in many ways as it brings together many different elements of IFE innovation in one platform and by not having a legacy, we are able to take advantage of the latest generation in hardware and software to deliver a similar experience to what we’re used to at home.”

Hernan Abbes, vice president of global sales at Panasonic Avionics, said: “We are excited to be Riyadh Air’s IFE partner.

“From the moment of launch, they have shown a clear desire to innovate and we are confident that our Astrova IFE solution will deliver an engaging and immersive inflight experience for their guests.

“Astrova also reimagines the ownership experience and its modular design will enable Riyadh Air to keep up with market trends by easily upgrading components and making software updates, thus reducing lifecycle costs.”

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AI technology used by airports and airlines during the aircraft turnaround, the time between an aircraft landing and departing again, is proven to increase operational efficiency and reduce delays, according to the 2024 Turnaround Benchmark Report from Assaia.

Contributing significantly to airline and airport profitability, these efficiency gains lower operational costs, improve customer satisfaction and maximize aircraft utilization and airport capacity.

Key findings from the report, which offers detailed analysis of turnaround performance data from global airports where Assaia’s ApronAI technology was active in 2023 and 2024, show that despite an increase in overall traffic at the airports observed, ground delays dropped by 6%, and turnaround time by 4% in twelve months.

This reduction is vital for airlines, as it leads to fewer costly delays – which directly impacts passenger satisfaction.

Additionally, the report highlights an increase in the number of aircraft arriving and departing at each gate, with the median number rising from 4 to 5 ‘turns’ per day.

This change optimizes existing airport capacity, allowing more flights without the need for additional gates, which in turn increases efficiency and boosts potential revenue.

Christiaan Hen, Assaia CEO, says: “With the aviation industry facing ongoing headwinds such as delayed aircraft deliveries, increased air travel demand, higher fuel costs and growing public pressure around sustainability, it has never been more important to prevent inefficiency issues leading to delays and other operational problems.

“The perfect turnaround, which is what Assaia strives to enable, doesn’t just save time, it drives down costs, reduces environmental impact, and enhances the overall passenger experience.

“It is, however, a highly complex and finely balanced process comprising dozens of variables working together to ensure an aircraft lands and departs as efficiently as possible.

“The data in this report is exciting, because it clearly highlights the powerful role AI plays in streamlining airport processes, not only by reducing ground delays, but also by optimizing gate productivity to significantly improve profitability for both airlines and airports alike.”

Assaia’s report also notes a difference between European and North American airport gate utilization performance, mostly attributed to differing gate operation models.

According to the data, European airports manage gate capacity more efficiently, achieving more turns per gate each day, but perform worse in terms of delays.

This highlights a tradeoff between maximizing capacity and maintaining on-time performance (OTP).

Hen comments, “As the demand for air travel continues to grow, the question arises of how much longer the North America model will be sustainable, with capacity wasted due to the constraints of airline-operated gates.”

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Global aviation training provider CAE has become the first to develop an immersive pilot training app for Apple Vision Pro.

CAE’s Apple Vision Pro app, currently showcased at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, Nevada, could be a game-changer for pilot training.

By using spatial computing to bring true-to-life precision to flight deck interactions, the app will allow pilots to remotely complete training activities that are currently only available in training centres.

As part of CAE’s training ecosystem, the app will not only further increase the effectiveness and speed of training pilots safely but will also enable pilots to train anytime from anywhere.

Emmanuel Levitte, CAE’s chief technology and product officer said: “This Apple Vision Pro app developed by CAE will allow pilots to familiarize themselves with the flight deck, practice critical procedures, and develop muscle memory for key functions from anywhere.

“It will allow pilots to engage with realistic flight deck environments to further ensure they are ready for their full-flight simulator sessions and become even better prepared for any situation.”

Alexandre Prévost, CAE’s division president, business aviation training said: “The power and unique capabilities of Apple Vision Pro, combined with CAE’s training environment, will give pilots more flexibility and better prepare them for the transition from ground school to the simulator.

“With CAE’s Apple Vision Pro app, we are not only providing our customers more convenience but are also enhancing training efficiency at a time when the aviation industry faces an increased need to train new pilots.”

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Air Canada has transformed its disruption management, reducing the time taken to re-accommodate disrupted passengers from an average of 12 hours to just 10 minutes.

The airline is able to do this by using Amadeus’ Passenger Recovery solution. The technology automatically finds recovery solutions for 90% of passengers, leaving only the 10% most complex cases to be managed manually by the operations team.

Nairy Chamelian, Senior Director, Network Passenger Planning, System Operations Control said: “At Air Canada we operate a global ‘hub and spoke’ network that spans six continents and is served by a diverse fleet of aircraft.

“Despite our best efforts, like any airline, sometimes our operations and our customers face disruption.

“That’s why we decided to work with Amadeus to apply modern technology to this challenge, so we can re accommodate customers more quickly and effectively.

“I’m pleased to say that our standard KPI for offering Air Canada customers an alternative option when their flight is cancelled is now within 30 minutes, with most travellers rebooked just 10 minutes after receiving their cancellation notification on average.

“That’s down from about 12 hours when we managed cancellations more manually.”

When flights are cancelled, Amadeus’ Passenger Recovery tool now does the heavy lifting.

The tool is able to propose optimal solutions for passengers quickly, even when a significant number of flights are disrupted.

In a typical month, the tool proposes solutions for roughly 90% of disrupted passengers, with the remaining 10% of very complex cases handled manually.

Being able to automate the recovery process was instrumental to reducing internal KPI for offering customers a new flight option within 30 minutes or less.

If the recovery flight proposed isn’t quite right for the customer, they have the option to self re-accommodate on aircanada.com.

Chamelian added: “With Amadeus Passenger Recovery, we know about these missed connections in advance and the tool can either proactively rebook passengers onto later connecting flights from Toronto or move them to an alternative flight from Tokyo that gets them into Toronto early enough to make their original connection.

“Perhaps the most significant benefit Amadeus Passenger Recovery has brought to Air Canada is a complete end-to-end view of disruptions.

“That’s something we’ve never had before and it’s helping us take a much more strategic approach when managing irregular operations.

“With technology in place, we’re able to run simulations on potential recovery plans very quickly, which means our planning managers in the Systems Operations Control centre have a clear view of the potential implications for the decisions they may take.”

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Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, is rolling out Skypad, a digital tool designed to enhance the inflight experience for passengers.

Developed in-house by Etihad’s Digital Transformation and Innovation team, Skypad represents a significant step forward in personalised, efficient air travel service.

Cabin crew serving in premium cabins have begun receiving tablets equipped with the Skypad application and other key tools.

These devices enable crew members to access real-time flight updates, ensuring each guest’s needs are anticipated and addressed promptly.

Turky Alhammadi, director of product development & hospitality at Etihad Airways said: “At Etihad, we’re committed to embracing technology that enhances our guests’ journey,” .

“Skypad embodies our dedication to excellence, blending innovation with our world-renowned hospitality.”

Skypad’s Meal Order Taking feature allows cabin crew to take and complete orders with minimal steps, ensuring a smoother dining experience for passengers.

The system’s real-time inventory tracking enables precise management of onboard resources, reducing waste and improving sustainability efforts.

Alhammadi added: “The introduction of Skypad marks a new chapter in our service evolution.

“We’re continuously working on new functionalities to make this tool even more effective, always with the goal of providing an unparalleled guest experience.”

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iCoupon, intelligent vouchering provider has signed a deal with Flair Airlines to introduce their digital meal vouchers across the Canadian carrier’s network.

Flair will implement iCoupon’s software, which allows the airline to transfer meal vouchers directly to passengers’ boarding passes in the event of disruption.

The deal adds another North American partner to iCoupon’s ranks and follows the introduction of recent changes in Canadian passenger care legislation which tightens airlines obligations for distribution of welfare to passengers.

In line with these stricter regulations, airlines now require more robust systems, as previous solutions struggle to meet the demands – iCoupon guarantees distribution of welfare vouchers to 100% of passengers.

Following a successful trial period with the airline in May, the contract inked between Flair and iCoupon started from the 1st of September and is now live.

Leena Lalli, director of customer support at Flair Airlines said: “By offering passengers easy-to-use vouchers through iCoupon, we can make any disruptions to their travel more seamless, convenient, and flexible,” .

“This partnership allows us to go beyond compliance with regulations and focus on creating a more positive experience for passengers, even in challenging situations.”

Richard Bye, CEO of iCoupon, said, “We’re excited to welcome Flair Airlines to the iCoupon family, and we appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with such an innovative airline.

“This partnership continues to grow our presence in Canada and reinforces our ability to support passengers at airlines of all sizes.

“Working with Flair aligns with our mission to provide effective solutions that improve the travel experience, particularly during disruptions.

“We recognize the growing demand for technologies that streamline operations and enhance passenger support, and we are proud to play a role in this important evolution with Flair.”

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