How airports are going hi-tech

Airports are not only portals to far-off places they are, increasingly, showcases and testing grounds for new technology that help deliver fresh and much welcomed amenities to the modern-day, connected traveller. Harriet Baskas, author of stuckattheairport.com, offers up a handful of hi-tech offerings to look out for on your next adventure

Automated parking

No need to search for a parking spot at Germany’s Düsseldorf Airport. At one car park, drivers simply pull up, get out and let an automated parking device dubbed ‘Ray’ use its sensors to photograph and measure the car, pick it up and place it in a parking place. When the driver returns from their trip, Ray retrieves the car and readies it for pick-up.

Robots help clean and lift

Since September, small robotic devices from robotics company Cyberdyne have been scurrying about Tokyo’s Haneda Airport cleaning floors and carpets and transporting cargo, with artificial intelligence guiding them around the building. In addition, a waist-worn robotic device dubbed HAL has been helping workers with heavy lifting.

Beacons beckon

Airports are embracing beacon technology, using Bluetooth to send messages to passengers’ mobile phones as they pass by. San Francisco International Airport uses beacons to guide visually impaired travellers through the airport while, at Heathrow’s Terminals 3 and 5, British Airways employs beacons to deliver personalised welcome messages, share Wi-Fi passwords and let customers know when their gate is open and their flight is ready to board.

Airport meal ordering goes hi-tech

Hungry passengers hurrying to the gate can use their mobile phones and a growing list of free apps such as Grab, AirGrub and MyCheck to order, pay for and reduce waiting time for meals-to-go at many airports in North America and beyond.

Pods on parade

Heathrow’s self-driving pods arrived “way back” in 2011, but are still quite futuristic – and entertaining. The 21 battery-powered, driverless vehicles transport more than 30,000 travellers a month between T5 and the business car park. Many riders don’t even have cars: they’ve hopped on for a free self-guided tour.

Cycle to charge

Tech company SITA found that 83 per cent of passengers now carry at least one mobile device, while 15 per cent of travellers pack three (mobile phone, tablet and laptop). Power plugs in terminals help keep those gadgets charged, but at airports in Amsterdam, Calgary, Brussels and Paris (CDG), WeWatt pedal-powered desks enable passengers to charge their devices while getting a bit of exercise.

Harriet Baskas