SITA has signed a landmark deal with Airports Authority of India to provide technology to 43 of India’s biggest airports. The deal will see improvements over 2,700 passenger touchpoints, paving the way for the adoption of new-age solutions to meet the modern passenger’s expectations.
Initially deployed across 43 airports, the technologies are scalable to an additional 40 airports over the next seven years. Over 500 million passengers are expected to be processed during this period.
SITA claims that the rollout of new cloud technology will enable Indian airports to shift to common use passenger experiences where multiple airlines can leverage the same infrastructure, such as check in counters, self-service kiosks, and boarding gates.
Sumesh Patel, president, Asia Pacific, SITA, said: “We’re excited to partner with AAI on this large-scale deployment of leading passenger processing solutions. 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. By connecting these cities better, air travel and transport will help unlock the full potential of India’s economic growth too. Ensuring efficient and fluid operations and a seamless passenger experience at these airports will be critical to delivering on India’s air transport industry opportunity.”
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, enabling scalable operations to meet their specific operational requirements.
“The Baggage Reconciliation System ensures a high level of baggage accountability, preventing losses and security concerns, which is critical to industry recovery amidst a spiraling baggage mishandling rate,” SITA said in a statement.
AAI officers at the airport and headquarters now have access to online real time dashboards, replacing the monthly service availability reports. The solution ensures they are better informed and know the availability of systems across all airports at every point in time, optimizing efficiency and promoting smooth operations.