SITA has secured a landmark deal with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to provide technology to 43 of India’s biggest airports.
SITA, a travel and transport industry technology provider, will roll out cloud-based technologies for passenger and baggage processing, enabling Indian airports to shift to common-use passenger experiences.
SITA will initially deploy its technologies across 43 airports, but it is scalable to an additional 40 airports over the next seven years. Over 500 million passengers are expected to be processed during this period.
Sumesh Patel, President, Asia Pacific, SITA, said, 'The number of airports in India is expected to increase from 148 today to 220 by 2025. The new airports will bring closer together India’s almost 50 cities with populations exceeding one million people, creating substantial economic value in the long term.'
Under the agreement, SITA will deploy its state-of-the-art solutions, including SITA Flex, CUPPS, SITA CUSS, and SITA Bag Manager. These IATA-certified platforms offer airlines and ground handlers the benefits of common-use technologies, which are scalable depending on their operational requirements.
With the implementation of this technology, multiple airlines can leverage the same infrastructure, such as check-in counters, self-service kiosks, and boarding gates.
With the AAI’s adoption of these solutions from SITA, passengers will have more control over their journey, offering a low-touch, efficient check-in, bag drop, and collection process through assisted and self-service mechanisms. SITA’s Baggage Reconciliation System ensures high accountability and will prevent/reduce losses and security concerns related to mishandling. The reduced infrastructure footprint will also result in increased operational efficiency at airports and reduced airline service charges.
The AAI’s adoption of a cloud-first approach will result in better security and offer airlines a platform to host new progressive technologies, moving away from native applications.
The centralised cloud hosting of all servers will reduce on-premise infrastructure costs and centralised control, enabling proactive monitoring and control of services.
Real-time online dashboards are now available to AAI officers at the airport and headquarters, replacing the monthly service availability reports. The project commenced in May 2022 and involved a comprehensive revamp of existing services without disrupting ongoing operations.
Image Credit: SITA
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