Written by Joey Brasil
Six companies have been invited to test concepts at San Diego International Airport that will ensure safe travels during the global pandemic
Amidst the collective effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, San Diego International Airport aims to bring more health and safety guidelines that will make flying more desirable and safe.
Globally, many people do not want to fly due to the risk of catching the virus. This fear has caused airports to consider new concepts to change their old standards for health and safety. Per Rick Belliotti, airport director of customer experience & innovation at SAN, “COVID forced airports around the world to re-evaluate health and safety protocols to mitigate spreading the virus.”
Of the proposed concepts to SAN, companies have come up with products that will measure analytics, bring touchless technology, allow for manless scans of boarding passes, and more. Recyclable covers for tray tables and smart waste engineering are also being looked at.
- Ariadne Maps aims to obtain more knowledge about how passengers move inside an airport terminal with its proposed software development. Other abilities include monitoring unique characteristics about how long people stay in the airport and in which areas.
- New touch-less device technology, developed by Art of Context, would allow people to retrieve boarding passes or luggage tags without touching anything. Applications on phones have also already proven to limit the use of kiosks.
- A trolley, created by Intelligent Track Systems A/S, would contain a screen that allows passengers to scan boarding passes.
- Proposed by TrayMask, a recyclable cover over tray tables would be implemented to improve sanitation and reduce the chance for germs and bacteria to spread.
- ZeroWaste/Banqloop has developed a waste bin that can sort and grind raw materials.
Per Airport Authority president and CEO, Kimberly J. Becker, “As we focus on recovery and plan for the redevelopment of our Terminal 1, we are very interested in concepts that add to creating a safe and healthy environment for all who travel through our airport. Those innovations that succeed at SAN now in the midst of the pandemic will add to our ability to be ready for when passenger volumes return to normal.”
