Heathrow Connections Kiosk

At Heathrow, Europe’s busiest hub airport, 30% of arriving passengers are connecting to another flight. Making a tight connection can be very stressful especially if English is not your native language. The challenge facing the Heathrow Innovation team when they engaged “The Voyage Team”, a Piksel Group company, was to make the connecting passengers’ journey that little bit easier. Heathrow wanted to see improvement in their Wayfinding ASQ (Airport Service Quality) index in one of the busiest airports in the World.

Heathrow have done a lot already to help Connections Wayfinding; new Connection Centres have dedicated security, customer service desks, flight information screens and wayfinding signage. Banks of screens showing the terminal for connecting flights have been installed but it was felt this could be simplified further.

Working closely with Heathrow’s Innovation and Customer Service teams, The Voyage Team developed the software for a Connections Kiosk. This self-service tablet allows the user to select from one of the “top ten” Heathrow languages or default to English. Users scan their Boarding Card or enter a flight number, clicking “ok” on the retrieved flight data will bring up information about where to go next and how to get there. Passengers usually need to go through security, so the kiosk presents the only multi-lingual security instructions available within Heathrow.

The Connections Kiosk ran as a trial throughout the Summer in Terminals 2 and 3. The Voyage Team’s Android App ran on hardware chosen by Heathrow, the CC500-10 Customer Concierge Tablet from Zebra Technologies. The custom app employs the Zebra EMDK (Enterprise Development Mobility Kit) with a UI designed by The Voyage Team. Up to date flight information comes from the Flight Information Hub, also hosted and managed by The Voyage Team.

The trial proved very popular for passengers and Heathrow staff alike with an average of more than 3000 enquiries a week. The Voyage Team are proud to have worked with Heathrow on this innovative development where technology helps “Team Heathrow” staff in connections, giving them more time to provide extra assistance to passengers who may need it.

Kiosks in-situ in the Terminal 3 Connections Centre