Next Generation of Airports are on the Horizon

A remote biometric scan that removes passport queues, airport lounge chairs that “nudge” passengers to remind them that their flight is due to board and boarding passes that locate passengers and provide automated access could be among the next generation of airport technologies that will transform airports and air travel in the future.

The technology which is being developed by researchers at the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering is part of The Intelligent Airport (TINA) project. Leading the project is Professor Jaafar Elmirghani who said: “Fuelled by the growth in international travel, airports are now amongst the most complex built environments known. The aim of the project is to develop increasingly ubiquitous computational power so that passengers can benefit from higher quality services. This includes more efficient processing of luggage, higher levels of safety and security that are as unobtrusive as possible, better quality of information and reduction in the time that passengers simply waste whilst queuing. We are hoping to achieve this within the next six years”.

Other new technologies developed in the project include radio frequency tags attached to baggage to help stop luggage from being lost, preventing one of the most common travel hiccups. The same radio frequency tags will be given to passengers and coupled with wireless biometric devices, these will enable security staff to know where everyone is and who they are, helping make airport security more stringent and efficient, and also ensuring that passengers make it to the departure gate on time. Wireless technology could also allow passengers to use a portable inflight entertainment terminal which could be used in the departure lounge as well as on the plane.

The project is being led by the University of Leeds, in collaboration with Laing O’Rourke (who are building the new Heathrow Airport Terminal Five), BAA Airports, Boeing, Red-M, Ericsson, Motorola, Innovision, Arup, Tyco Electronics, the University of Cambridge and University College London.