SITA and Bluelon Launch Passenger Tracking Solution for Airports

SITA, the global air transport specialist, and Bluelon, an inventor of Bluetooth-based tracking, have partnered to provide sophisticated real-time passenger tracking and queue management to airports around the world.

The partnership means that Bluelon’s iQueue solution will be provided by SITA to airports for the first time, using the company’s industry expertise in the deployment and support of airport management systems.

iQueue’s advanced technology will be used to track movements throughout the airport infrastructure, including queues in security and immigration areas, to ensure rapid deployment of available resources to deal with long wait times.

Ilya Gutlin, SITA, Vice-President Airport Solutions, said: “Airports, airlines and security entities are interested in anonymously tracking passenger movements throughout the airport to better understand passenger behavior. In doing so they can reduce bottlenecks, optimize existing infrastructure, increase non-aeronautical revenues, and improve the passengers’ overall travel experience.”

Queue management is a priority for passengers too. In the 2010 SITA Passenger Self-Service Survey, when asked what makes for a pleasant trip, passengers ranked short queues in second place after punctuality.

Gutlin added, “Bluetooth-based technology provides an effective method of tracking passenger movements. After researching various technology providers within the marketplace, we selected Bluelon, due to the maturity and stability of its technology, which has been proven over a number of years, in all sizes of airports, including some of the world’s largest such as Heathrow and Frankfurt.”

The key to accurate tracking via Bluetooth is in Bluelon’s unique, highly advanced, patent-pending algorithm for tracking passenger movements. This algorithm has been optimized over eight years of research and development and is based on extensive experience gained from the largest installed base of Bluetooth data collection devices worldwide. SITA will provide Bluelon solutions that are specifically designed for tactical, and strategic, terminal management decision support.

Thomas Bonde, CEO, Bluelon, said, “Our partnership with SITA leverages the strengths of both companies in order to provide Bluetooth passenger-tracking technology. SITA is exclusively providing Bluelon’s technology to the global air transport industry along with SITA’s deployment, training, and ongoing support. Additionally, Bluelon will support SITA and its customers from its offices in Denmark and the USA.”

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