Airlines & Airports Reap Rewards of Massive $50 Million Investment

Airlines and airports spent a record US$50 billion in 2018 on improvements to the passenger experience, according to SITA, an IT provider for the air transport sector.

The results show that 60% of airline CIOs recorded up to a 20% year-on-year improvement in passenger satisfaction following the investment.

Both airlines and airports also recorded an improvement in their business performance.

Matthys Serfontein, SITA President, Air Travel Solutions, said: “The good news is that the growing investment in automating the passenger journey means the industry is providing a faster, more pleasant airport experience.

“This is a real success story for automating the passenger journey, particularly at a time when we expect passenger numbers to double over the next 20 years, with physical airport infrastructure struggling to keep pace.

“Technology is key to alleviating the industry’s capacity crunch and avoiding negative impacts on passengers.”

Serfontein added: “The increase in airline spend over the past year was driven by the larger airlines which continue to invest to speed up the pace of digital transformation. Investments in business intelligence and cloud services have emerged as priorities.

“Overall, we can see that the industry is focused on improvements to its operations to make it more efficient and facilitate better collaboration with partners and other stakeholders in what is a highly integrated industry.

“This, in turn, is having a profoundly positive impact on the service they are able to provide to passengers.”

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