14.08.2006
Passengers test new technology

A total of ten thousand selected passengers will have the opportunity to test new and advanced technology in an innovation project to be carried out at Copenhagen Airport. The project will lay the groundwork for a number of new services aimed at increasing the level of service the airport provides.

The idea is for new technology to make it even easier to be a passenger at Copenhagen Airport. Even today, passengers can sign up for the airport’s free text messaging service and have boarding times and other information sent direct to their mobile phone, and the future will bring more – and more advanced – services to benefit passengers.   If, for example, you find yourself at one end of the airport and your flight will be boarding at the other end, this new technology can trace your location, calculate the distance to the gate and send you a message when it’s time for

you to go there. You can also be guided to the airport’s transfer centre, your preferred lounge or other facilities, or you can opt to receive messages on special offers in the shops and restaurants you walk by as you make your way through the terminals.

Denmark a leader

A research project to be carried out at Copenhagen Airport over the next three years will study the technological possibilities and people’s attitudes towards them over the next three years by giving a total of more than ten thousand selected passengers the opportunity to try out new service technologies.

Behind the project is a new Danish innovation consortium called SPOPOS involving the airport and a number of companies and research institutes. The project is intended to help reinforce Denmark’s position as a leader in tracking service technology, and a total of DKK 6.6 million in funding will be provided by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation.

“This project will lay the foundation for the development of a number of new services that will give passengers better assistance and more options at the airport,” says Henrik Jørner Søe, head of marketing at Copenhagen Airports A/S.

Passenger flows

A total of 55,000 passengers go through the airport every day. Some of them have plenty of time; others are busy trying to make their flight. Some spend time shopping, whilst others relax in a lounge. Some people need to check in and go through the security and passport checkpoints; others are just on their way through the transit area to change planes.

“We already know a lot about what passengers do on their way through the airport, but a more detailed mapping of passenger flows on different days and at different times could, for example, be used to prevent queues, optimise the lay-out of the terminals, and develop new business ideas,” says Søe.

Broad perspectives
The use of tracking technology will not be restricted to airports; it could also prove useful at trade fairs, for example, or in shopping malls, at amusement parks and other areas as it gradually spreads and wins the acceptance of the general public.

The companies behind the consortium called SPOPOS (Danish acronym for “tracking technology personal and operator services”) are Copenhagen Airports A/S, Lyngsoe Systems A/S, BLIP Systems A/S, the Alexandra Institute A/S, Gfk Danmark A/S, the Risø National Laboratory, the IT University of Copenhagen and the Technical University of Denmark. Frank Scholdann Lund of Lyngsoe Systems heads the consortium, along with John Paulin Hansen from the IT University.