ACI has launched a new portal for airport health measures, through which passengers can access all the information they need online or via an app. This free tool will help the aviation industry recover, said Nina Brooks, vice president of safety, relief and innovation at Airports Council International (ACI) World.

Travel restrictions, partial bans and the continued introduction of restrictive quarantine measures continue to hamper attempts by international passenger markets to recover COVID-19 Crisis.

The recovery of air travel is critical to the overall recovery of the world economy. However, to be successful, passengers must have confidence in the industry’s focus on their health and wellbeing.

Studies show that the additional health and safety measures put in place by airports and airlines mean that the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission during air travel is extremely low.

Airports Council International (ACI) World recently published its ASQ Global Traveler Survey, which found that half of respondents would like to travel again soon. This is due to a strong belief in the environmental safety of airports and airlines.

The survey found that 48 percent of travelers expect to travel within the next three months. Despite this willingness to travel, recovery depends on a variety of factors. Passengers expect new measures to combat health risks.

The persistent complexity of the measures taken has created confusion among passengers. However, passengers expect new health and safety measures to be in place throughout their journey and need a reliable source of information to properly prepare. Beside his Airport health accreditation With more than 100 accredited airports, ACI has launched a range of tools to provide passengers with information on health policies in place at airports around the world.

The tools ensure that passengers can see what action they can expect when departing, arriving or crossing airports, and can provide information for the airport community and the entire industry.

Check and fly

ACI has made a suite of tools available on its airport health care portal to help passengers get all the information they need in one place, the way they need it.

More than 300 airports have currently provided their information. The tools include a publicly accessible, easy-to-use web portal and mobile app for passengers and a website for airports to record and update their information and to query the information of other airports, and an application programming interface (API) used by third parties to obtain the data and to use.

The information contained in the system is provided directly by the airports themselves. The information recorded includes:

  • The contact information for the airport’s COVID-19 team
  • Requirements for passengers prior to travel, departure and arrival, such as tests or self-explanations, availability of the kiosk, recommended arrival time at the airport and new security processes
  • Facilities provided such as a medical center, hand disinfection stations and masks, and pick-up and delivery services
  • Security measures such as extra cleaning, plexiglass screens, physical distancing, communication, ventilation and access to terminals for non-passengers.

Passengers can get the information they need in a number of ways. The mobile Check and Fly app is available to passengers to search for departure, arrival or transfer airports. The information is organized by departure and destination so that passengers can easily determine what applies to their trip. A website is also available for passengers to display the same information.

The feedback from airports has been extremely positive. Airports recognized the need to be able to compare themselves to others and provide information to their stakeholders (passengers and airlines) about destinations served by their airport.

For this reason, the airport-centric app “AirportCheck” was developed, with which airports can find statistics on implemented measures and examine regional and country-specific information. This is supported by an airport-centric website that has a regional breakdown.

The process

Airports enter their information directly into the web portal. Multiple contacts can be set up for an airport and new users are approved by ACI to ensure they are assigned to an airport.

The airport contact can then enter all of their details in a web-based form and submit for approval. ACI will check that the responses are in a valid format (but do not check actions or change any data) and add the airport health accreditation if it has been issued. ACI will contact an airport if something is flagged that may need adjustment.

Information is then published on the web and in the apps. Airports can update their answers at any time. After validation, the new answers are available.

The tools are based on the Aviation Community Recommended Information Services (ACRIS) – the ACI standard for data exchange in industry. This means that data is also available through an open API that can be used by any industry stakeholder who wants to use and publish the data themselves. A lot of interest has been generated, from airline alliances to large technology providers. ACI does not charge any fees for using the app or the API as it is such an important tool to help restore the industry.

progress

A group of airports led by San Francisco International Airport (SFO) worked with several World Business Partners from ACI, ACI World and ACI North America to develop the tools on a voluntary basis, relinquishing their own time and resources, which often span weekends and holidays.

When it was first launched, survey data were collected from participating airports to fill the database with real-world data and enable the development team to work quickly to make the tools user-friendly. The database has been designed in a flexible way so that ACI can add additional questionnaires as needed.

Ian LawThe Chief Information Officer at SFO and Chairman of the ACI ACRIS Working Group said, “The ACI Airport Health Measures initiative illustrates the power of groundbreaking, cross-industry technology collaborations. I am proud of the airports and business partners who rose to the challenge in these extraordinary times. “

Of the 40 airports originally participating in the tests, over 300 airports have now provided their data, which corresponds to 57 percent of global air traffic (based on 2019 traffic). The iOS app has been downloaded more than 1,800 times and we expect a similar response from the Android app.

ACI is proud to have worked with its member airports and partners in such a collaborative manner to provide tools for passengers and industry alike.

Nina Brooks is the Director of Security, Relief and IT at Airports Council International (ACI) World. She has extensive experience in moderation and security for airlines and airports. Nina holds a degree in computer science and started her career in the UK as a programmer, analyst and project manager. After discovering the aviation bug, Nina worked on the Government Affairs team regulating and facilitating border and aviation security for Virgin Atlantic Airways. In 2007 she moved to Canada as the head of safety and relief projects for the International Air Transport Association (IATA). She also worked as the Director of Borders and Security at InterVistas Consulting before joining ACI in 2015. Nina teaches aviation safety at McGill University in Montreal.