SITA finds aviation CIOs are “ramping up digital technology investments”

by | Feb 3, 2023 | Airlines, Airports, Digital Transformation, News, Travel Tech

SITA finds aviation CIOs are “ramping up digital technology investments”

 

Earlier this week, SITA published their 2022 Air Transport IT Insights report. The study’s overall findings indicate that “aviation CIOs [are] ramping up digital technology investments.”

David Lavorel, CEO SITA said:

“Air travel has recovered faster from the pandemic than anyone in the industry had initially expected, particularly in Europe and the US. While the recovery is welcome, airports and airlines have found themselves on the back foot with staff and resource shortages. This has put strain on operations, resulting in an increased risk of congestion, delays, cancellations and mishandled baggage. Digitalization is seen as key to addressing these challenges, providing more scalability and flexibility.”

Catalysed by the pandemic, the aviation industry has been on an accelerated digitalisation journey which is reflected in a year-on-year growth in IT spend since 2020. Next year, is predicted to follow the trend, with 96 per cent of airlines and 93 per cent of airports expecting their IT spend to stay the same or increase in 2023 compared to 2022.

Here are some of the key findings from the report.

 

Airlines

  • The three main investments for airlines’ IT services are cyber security, mobile applications for passenger services, and IT service management enhancement.
  • The top four priorities for airlines investment in technologies are business intelligence software, data exchange technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking.
  • 76 per cent of airlines forecast to implement self-boarding gates using biometric & ID documentation.
  • 25 per cent of airlines currently offer the option to receive real-time information sent to their mobile about bags but 42 per cent confirm implementation by 2050.
  • Self-service solutions to help tackle irregular operations remained the top priority for this year at the airport.
  • 87 per cent of airlines have an innovation strategy now or one that is currently being developed.

 

Airports

  • 75 per cent of airports anticipate IT&T investment to increase in 2023.
  • Three of the top priorities for IT services are cybersecurity initiatives, self-service processes, and Business intelligence solutions.
  • The top two focuses for the future of passenger identify management are self check-in and self bag-drop.

 

Aviation Festival Asia has some of the APAC region’s leading aviation CIOs from Turkish Airlines to Virgin Australia, SriLankan Airlines to Bangalore International Airport. Get your ticket here to be a part of the discussion.

 

Article by Jess Brownlow

 

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