I took a flight to Cape Town on Tuesday, but before I boarded I overheard an interesting conversation about smart airports.
I was in the business lounge waiting for my flight at OR Tambo International Airport when two chaps, who gave the impression they were business partners, spoke of their travels and the airports that left an impression on them.
Seemingly unimpressed with OR Tambo International Airport, one of the globe-trotting chaps looked around and said: “If SA starts digitising its airports now, they can improve the experience for passengers like us.”
Yawning, the other one chipped in: “Imagine if this airport was like Detroit Metro Airport. Then we would not have spent so much time at the long immigration checkpoint talking to those cranky officials.”
I politely interrupted the pair and told them I had overheard their conversation. I told them I was curious to know what Detroit Metro Airport in the US did differently to OR Tambo.
I learnt their names were Thurgood and Callum.
“My friend, let me enlighten you ... it’s about transforming the air-travel experience and making a usually stressful endeavour a place of comfort and smooth travel,” said the mild-mannered Thurgood.
Callum interjected: “No, Thurgood, it’s about making travel easy and enjoyable for passengers.
“We are on our way to the Mining Indaba and we are hoping that Cape Town International Airport will be more advanced than this.”
I soon found out that since September 2019 passengers at Detroit Metro Airport have had the option of using facial recognition when clearing customs.
Facial recognition software is being used at airports across America.
A report in Forbes magazine on Monday said the test programme requires you to put your ID into the kiosk, which then scans your face and compares it to the photo ID.
The magazine reports that the goal in the future would be to eliminate the need for an ID at the airport by comparing your facial scan to photos and personal information already stored in other official documents such as your passport and driver’s licence.
In SA, the Airports Company SA (Acsa) is setting out to adopt smart technologies.
“The need to digitalise the passenger experience, the airport environment and our operational processes have been identified as a core strategic focus for the business,” says Acsa’s latest annual report.
The company, which is a majority (94.6%) state-owned SA airport management company, operates nine airports in the country.
Acsa says it has prioritised urgent and high-impact projects, which include a biometric automated border control system introduced at Cape Town International Airport.
Similar projects are being implemented at OR Tambo International in Johannesburg and King Shaka International in Durban.
“In the medium term, our priority will be to continue up-weighting digital self-service programmes and to automate border control by integrating our systems with those of the department of home affairs,” Acsa said.
“We will, in particular, be focusing on security processing systems that use facial recognition capabilities or biometric information embedded in a bar code in each passenger’s passport.”
Acsa says its value proposition for innovation initiatives is premised on leveraging its existing knowledge base by implementing best-practice knowledge management systems and finding strategic ways to incorporate new technologies to align with leading trends in the digital airport business.
Acsa has taken several initiatives to enable automated and contactless interaction with customers.
For example, the Acsa app allows passengers and other airport users to access flight information, book parking at airports and make payments.
The airport operator has also developed a new public address system that has been deployed at seven airports.
“This has improved operational efficiency and provides the ability to make announcements according to regulatory requirements,” Acsa said.
The operator has also improved the enterprise resource planning and queue management system, which has been fully commissioned to improve efficiency.
“This has introduced the capacity to track queuing hot spots and to monitor passenger security while queues are being processed,” it said.
It is clear that Acsa has embarked on a path to try to digitise its airports, with capital expenditure of R1.2bn until 2025.
However, Acsa is aware that technological advancements and digitisation require a high level of capital investment. “While some investments have been postponed in the short term to secure liquidity, there may be higher cost implications in the long term.”
Despite budgetary constraints that have led to the cancellation of programmes to improve cyber and information security, Acsa has managed to develop and implement a cyber security strategy that provides tools to prevent data leaks and connectivity incidents.
That said, I agree with Thurgood that more can be done at OR Tambo International Airport to improve the passenger experience.
Imagine if, after talking to Thurgood and Callum, there was load-shedding at the airport.
The government, as a shareholder, needs to think carefully about how it finances Acsa to remain competitive.
• Lourie is the founder and editor of TechFinancials.
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