Airports are known for being bustling hubs of activity, with thousands of passengers moving through them daily. Managing passenger flow goes beyond simply observing circulation; it encompasses security, technology, passenger behavior, and infrastructure, and airport operators are overwhelmed with** bespoke solutions** that are popping up in each area to address independent needs.

#A Challenging Landscape The market is being flooded with solutions that are hyper-focused in one capability, leaving Technology and Operations departments grappling with the depleted resources and effort of integrating multiple vendors in order to get a clear picture of the entire airport.

Those challenges are compounded by an ever-increasing passenger volume. The 2023 Airport Business Infrastructure Survey revealed that 54% of airports reported that expanding their capacity is a top priority as they are already operating at their full capabilities. With no room for error, crowded passenger flows are arising at check-in counters, security checkpoints, and post-security circulation areas that lead to long wait times, bottlenecked terminals, and delays.

Solution Gaps

Many airports that implemented piecemeal solutions are already finding gaps in their insights and visibility, which makes it difficult to provide value to stakeholders and to justify implementation.

Cameras, which are necessary for capturing security footage, can also be used to distinguish and count people from other moving objects such as luggage carts and suitcases. However, blind spots and poor camera angles lead to low accuracy, and demographics or counting software can have difficulty when spaces are crowded. Similarly, Time of Flight (ToF) sensors may be easy to install but have a limited range, struggle with accuracy when passengers are in close proximity, and lack the ability to track returning visitors or passenger flow trajectories. Other solutions such as LiDAR, Bluetooth, and LTE/GSM networks experience challenges with scalability due to expense or lack of fun ctionality in typical airport scenarios. Many of these solutions encounter privacy concerns with situations such as facial recognition or data collection.

Ariadne: A Next-Generation Offering

Ariadne sought to streamline the technology landscape by building a platform that addresses business intelligence needs while simultaneously providing secure data compliance.

Ariadne developed small, discrete sensors that detect unique signals emitted by smartphones even when those devices are in airplane mode. The data collection is 100% GDPR compliant and doesn’t collect or store personal information, providing data security and privacy reassurance.

Accurate Journey Mapping and Analytics

Ariadne’s sensors can detect the location and journey of individual device signals with up to 1 meter of accuracy and includes the ability to determine if a single person is carrying more than one device, or if multiple people are traveling together as a group. Analytics solutions include people counting, dwell time, heatmapping, transitions between areas, and customer paths. All these data provides valuable insights that can inform non-aeronautical revenue decisions, optimize utilization of resources, improve efficiency and reduce waste.

Real-Time Data and Alerts

Dashboards showing real-time circulation data for the entire curb-to-gate passenger journey, allowing operations and security staff to proactively manage congestion as well as anticipate janitorial or employee scheduling needs. Customized thresholds can be built into the system that alert staff through notifications once the threshold is met, enabling immediate awareness of the entire terminal.

Predictive modeling

Historical data is combined with real-time monitoring to identify patterns and trends, allowing the airport to predict and map how changes will impact passenger flow and operations.

Additional Solutions

In addition, Ariadne’s platform can also offer ERP integration, sales conversion tracking within airside, workforce management, app-free navigation for passengers and employees, catchment area definition, asset tracking, loyalty rates, and more.

Answering the Challenge

The landscape is changing for airports, both in terms of technology and passenger engagement. Ariadne met that challenge and brings a holistic approach to passenger analytics through their unique, secure, and cost-effective solution. Both flexible and scalable, Ariadne provides best-in-class value to airports across the globe.

Schedule a demo to learn more.