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Research by
SITA, a specialist IT provider to the air transport industry, shows that the world’s 3.2 billion mobile phones could be
transformed into indispensable air travel tools within five years, and if used as passenger tracking devices they could save cash-strapped
airlines up to $600 million on reducing flight delays.
As personal travel folders, mobile phones have the potential to hold boarding passes, baggage tracking information and payment data
making travel truly paperless and location independent. There is also the future possibility that they can be used to store visa and biometric
information.
The report distributed
this week at SITA’s Air Transport IT Summit in Brussels, includes research from Cambridge University which
demonstrates that technology such as location sensing via mobile devices could save airlines up to $600 million by tracking passengers,
sending messages and moving them to gates more efficiently; improving turnaround times and reducing delays.
At current growth rates, there will be five billion mobile customers by 2011 and functionality on mobile devices will be increasingly
sophisticated. For the air transport industry this opens the door to a new way of doing business as mobile phones are currently used by
90% of airline passengers.
Jim Peters, Chief Technology Officer, SITA
said, “These ‘digital travellers’, will have on-demand access to a range of mobile-enabled
services such as real time flight updates; self-service booking, check-in and boarding; and mobile payments.”
“Some of these services are already available to passengers, for example in Norway, Japan and Germany paperless travel is a reality on
some routes. But what our research shows is that these mobile services will be available to all travellers worldwide over the next five years.
In fact, by the end of 2010, 67% of airlines plan to offer mobile check-in. By then 82% of airlines also plan to offer notification services on
mobiles.”
The report also demonstrates other areas where the air transport industry can gain from adopting these technologies. Using mobiles as
tracking devices, airports can not only move passengers more efficiently but also market revenue-earning services. During a trial at
Manchester Airport in the UK, redemption of vouchers sent to passengers’ mobile phones resulted in 45% higher spending than among
other shoppers.
Francesco
Violante, SITA’s Chief Executive officer, added, “The air transport industry needs to embrace these ‘disruptive technologies’. The
rewards will be at the bottom line with improved turnaround time, increased levels of self-service and new revenue streams. SITA’s $110
million investment in research and development this year, including the new SITA Lab, shows our commitment to innovation and new
technologies, which we believe will deliver benefits to the industry as a whole.”
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