Air Transport Communications and IT Solutions

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has chosen SITA's next generation Airport Management System to transform operations at ten airports across India, enhancing the passenger journey for 42 million passengers. The seven-year, multi-million dollar deal is part of a US$130 billion airport modernization project from the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation. It comes as India prepares for annual passenger numbers to triple to 450 million by 2020.

SITA has partnered with NIIT Technologies Ltd. for this first multi-airport project in Asia to implement Airport Operations Control Centers (AOCC).

V. P. Agrawal, Chairman, AAI in his message to the Aviation ICT Forum 2013 said that AAI is integrating and automating airport operations at 10 of its airports including Chennai and Kolkata in technology partnership with M/s. NIIT Technologies Ltd, who will in turn implement M/s. SITA’s solution for central AODB and AMS. Once implemented successfully, it will help implement Airport Collaborative Decision Making (ACDM) which will greatly enhance both capacity and efficiency of the airport operations thereby making them more cost effective.

G. K. Chaukiyal, Member (Operations), AAI said in his statement that in addition to Airport Operations Command and Control (AOCC), AAI is implementing Common User Terminal Equipment (CUTE) and Baggage Reconciliation System (BRS) at 38 airports in partnership with SITA.

Hani El-Assaad, SITA President Middle East, India & Africa, said: “We have long history with India. With this new deal, SITA is now at the heart of operations at 41 of the country’s 43 passenger airports. SITA’s new system will help the airport authority create an integrated and cost-effective framework for its operations across 10 more airports. It will also facilitate collaborative decision making among all stakeholders, while streamlining business processes and enhancing the passenger experience.”

Arvind Mehrotra, President Asia & Australia, NIIT Technologies said, “NIIT Technologies has vast experience and solutions implemented across 12 airports globally. We will be leveraging our expertise in the implementation of AOCC which will allow collaborative decision making for all the Airport operators in the day-to-day operations and enable efficient utilization of airport infrastructure at the 10 airports in respective cities.”

At the core of the new system is the Authority’s airport command and control center, which monitors and controls operations at all ten airports in real-time. It enables the airports and their stakeholders – including airlines, customs, immigration and ground handlers – to collaborate around the same real-time information and make fully-informed decisions on resources and other issues. For example, during peak vacation periods, if queues at check-in and security grow too long, the airport can work with its partners to add more staff and reduce wait times.

As passenger traffic continues to grow, SITA’s AirportResource Manager will help the airport authority manage and deploy staff and equipment in real time. Using this powerful planning and scheduling tool, both the central command center and the individual airports can respond to changing situations, improving the passenger experience. They can accommodate large numbers of passengers, seasonal fluctuations and disruptions by allocating staff and fixed airport resources, including departure gates, baggage carousels and check-in desks, as needed.  

The technology will also be of major benefit during periods of disruption. If bad weather delays inbound and outbound flights, the airport can work with its partners to change departure and arrival gates and quickly deploy more staff to the gates. It can also immediately add more immigration officials and ground handlers to speed passengers’ journeys through the airport.

This new deal with the AAI marks the first deployment of SITA’s next generation airport management system in the country. The 10 airports that will benefit from SITA’s next generation Airport Management System are Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Calicut, Jaipur, Mangalore, Pune, Trichy, Trivandrum and Guwahati Airports.