By Anil Sharma TMCnet Contributor
Germany’s Düsseldorf Airport and SITA, a specialist in air transport communications and IT solutions, have hailed the success of a unique IT outsourcing agreement that has seen the airport manage 20 percent growth in passenger numbers while replacing its entire IT infrastructure over the last five years.
Thanks to the pact, the number of third party customers has grown to 250 representing 30 percent of sales for the joint venture, SITA Airport IT, established five years ago by Dusseldorf Airport and SITA.
“This is an important milestone for Düsseldorf and SITA as we have genuinely broken new ground for the air transport industry”, said Thomas Schnalke, managing director, Düsseldorf Airport, in a statement. “Looking back over the last five years there is no doubt that we have proved the case for the value and feasibility of airport IT outsourcing.”
He said that through a period of 20 percent growth the airport has introduced cost-efficient technology that benefits passengers, the airlines and all tenants.
Schnalke said that SITA is delivering results that allow the airport to focus on the overall development of Düsseldorf to ensure its future success on the back of $350 million investment over the last five years.
The visible benefits of this investment are 320 workstations for airline check-in, 74 self-service check-in kiosks and more than 1,000 newly formatted flight information displays.
SITA’s Baggage Reconciliation System, which ensures the right bag, belonging the right passenger is on the right plane, has also been introduced to reduce the level of mishandled luggage.
“In addition to what we have achieved in terms of cost savings through the effective deployment of shared airline infrastructure such as the check-in facilities, data centre and telephone system, we are now looking at other areas for development,” said Christian Jahncke, managing director, SITA Airport IT.
Jahncke said that innovative technologies in the area of professional mobile radio services, mobile workforce solutions and foreign object debris detection are all planned for the near future.
SAIT also manages airport TV, an airport customer loyalty card, car park online reservations and management, hosting of the airport website and 24×7 call center.
Anil Sharma is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anil’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Marisa Torrieri
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