New handheld digital platform deployed at London Gatwick Airport to optimize aircraft turns

New handheld digital platform deployed at London Gatwick Airport to optimize aircraft turns

(PRESS RELEASE) PARIS, 4-Mar-2022 — /EuropaWire/ — VINCI Airports, world’s leading private airport operator and part of VINCI Concessions SA, has announced that a new handheld digital platform called AirTurn will optimize aircraft turns at London Gatwick Airport, a VINCI Airports innovation centre of excellence. The AirTurn platform will allow ground handlers to update air traffic controllers about changes to the turn process – in real time, direct from the apron – optimising efficiency, reducing delays and unnecessary fuel burn on the ground.

The new AirTurn platform means that information can be communicated more quickly on changes to turn events – such as updates on baggage loading, refuelling or other aircraft preparations – giving the control tower a more accurate, real- time departure or Target Off-Block Time (TOBT) to feed into the airport’s overall flying programme.

Without the system, changes to aircraft turn events are updated through paperwork and radio communications – sometimes between several individuals at different locations – before being recorded into the system and communicated to the control tower and EUROCONTROL, the agency that manages air traffic management across Europe.

The AirTurn platform is accessed directly through Gatwick’s Community App which is already widely used by ground handling staff across the airport. It is also used by many other airports worldwide, including airports in VINCI Airports global network, and therefore has the potential to be rolled out across many other airports.

AirTurn is the latest in a number of innovative solutions pioneered by London Gatwick and highlights VINCI Airports’ commitment to innovation and improved stakeholder and passenger experience.

The innovation is part of VINCI Airports’ strategy to improve airport infrastructure and management, including the dissemination of innovative ideas across its network of 53 airports in 12 countries. London Gatwick is an innovation centre of excellence for VINCI Airports and AirTurn is the latest in a number of innovative solutions pioneered by the airport that are now used in other airports in the VINCI Airports network, including the Airport Community App.

Both AirTurn and the Airport Community App were developed in partnership with AirportLabs.

Karl Sulsh, Innovation and Commercial IT, London Gatwick Airport said: “We are delighted to offer our new AirTurn platform more widely to our partners at Gatwick Airport, in what is a step forward in reducing delays and improving on-time performance. We created the platform after listening to our ground handlers and have delivered a digital solution that improves communication and provides fast, accurate information from the airfield in real time. “Gatwick and VINCI Airports are committed to creating innovative solutions for our partners and AirTurn is one of the key digital building blocks we are deploying to make the airport more efficient as we gear up for a busy 2022.”

About Gatwick Airport

Gatwick is the UK’s second largest airport and flies a range of both short and long-haul point-to-point services. The airport is a vital piece of the UK’s national infrastructure and is also a major driver for both the regional and national economies. In 2019, a new long-term partnership was formed with VINCI Airports which purchased a 50.01% stake in the airport.

About VINCI Airports 

The world’s leading private airport operator, VINCI Airports operates 53 airports in 12 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Thanks to its expertise as a global integrator, VINCI Airports develops, finances, builds and manages airports by providing its investment capacity and its know-how in optimizing operational performance, modernizing infrastructures and managing their operations and environmental transition. VINCI Airports is the first airport operator to have committed to an international environmental strategy in 2016, to achieve the goal of net zero emissions across its entire network by 2050.

SOURCE: vinci-concessions