Three essential elements for managing complex airport operations

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Complexity is an everyday reality for airports. A positive passenger experience depends on multiple departments, individual staff, airlines, retail and hospitality all working together seamlessly.

With so many dependencies between different functions, a single event such as a staff member off sick can have a ripple effect, causing disruption in other departments unless it’s managed effectively.

Airports like Copenhagen Airport are using digital technologies to rise to the challenge. The solutions they put in place combine three essential ingredients for agile and efficient management of complex operations.

Visibility

Being able to see what’s happening on the ground across the airport, in real time, is vital for resolving issues before they become problems. To do that, it’s essential to collect the data from multiple sources – such as shift patterns, gate times, equipment performance and key performance indicators – in one place. An integrated platform views the airport as a whole system, providing planners a clear, real-time picture of operations across the airport, including any changes as they occur.

Planning

In an airport, no two days are the same, so a plan built on generalizations is likely to crumble. Robust planning is built on accurate visibility and analysis. Advanced analytics and machine learning can identify patterns in today’s data and predict what will happen. For example, operators can see tomorrow’s likely flight cancellations, how long it will take to complete a task, or what the passenger load will be in a week’s time. This also enables the simulation of “what-if” scenarios to explore strategies and resolve potential issues before they happen.

Optimization

Turning plans into action is the way to get results. Whether it’s planned maintenance or an unexpected disruption, the entire organization needs to be agile enough to move with it.

A powerful optimization engine with predictive analytics and autonomous planning capabilities can help airports to understand everything from staff utilization to trends in passenger demand, so they can make better decisions and improve staff management. With all the data in one place, being able to see real-time updates and interact with ground staff on a single platform can enable lightning reflexes. This means, for example, that an issue in one area can be quickly resolved with minimal impact on other departments.

Visit our airport solution to find out how the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform helps airports to understand, plan and optimize complex operations.

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David Ziegler

David Ziegler

Vice President, Aerospace & Defense, David Ziegler leads the Dassault Systèmes Worldwide Aerospace & Defense Business through the development of its Industry leading Solution Experiences, based on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Prior to Dassault Systèmes, David held multiple positions in the Aerospace industry, including 12 years at Airbus both in France and the U.S., holding positions in Strategy, Sales and Business development, and most recently at Aéroports de Paris. A French citizen, David’s career in aerospace began when he obtained his Masters of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Supaero, followed by an MBA from INSEAD. Passionate about everything that flies, he also enjoys kite-surfing and spending time with his wife and two children, when he is not on a plane.