Smart airports taking shape in China
Beijing's innovative hub to ensure easy connection in internet plus age
Imagine an airport that "knows" you, stays connected with you through your mobile phone, and saves you time with a one-stop identity and security check at the boarding gate.
Those elements of smart airports in the "internet plus" age may soon be realised on the mainland, which is splashing billions on building airports with the most modern solutions.
"Machine-to-machine, big data, cloud computing and mobility solutions are going to revolutionise the design of future airport infrastructure," said Liu Wujun, the chief engineer at Shanghai Airport Group, which is starting a 20 billion yuan (HK$24.3 billion) expansion project at Pudong International Airport after its fourth runway entered service earlier this year.
The parent company of Shanghai's two airports signed two strategic partnerships in June, with Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings, to build smart airports.
Shanghai Airport president Jing Yiming said at the time he wanted to leverage the internet giants' key advantages in big data and virtual payment systems to improve passenger experience, operational efficiency and e-commerce penetration.
Liu said mobile platforms would be the focal point of contact between travellers and smart airports of the future, which would need a lot less manpower and infrastructure.
"The essence of a smart airport is to have zero distance to passengers," said Arkadiusz Czopor, the greater China managing director of Deutsche Telekom, which has advised on Beijing's new 80 billion yuan airport that is being built.