Amadeus Expedites Touchless Technology during Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge the aviation ecosystem and global economy. Varying degrees of travel restrictions, border closures, quarantines and lockdowns have become part of our daily vocabulary while we wait for news of easing conditions and a vaccine.  

In the meantime, Mr. Carl Rogers, Strategy and Business Development Manager for Amadeus Airport IT, caught up with Jeannie Wong, our Head of Communications and Events, to talk about challenges, collaboration and expediting technology.

JW: When did you and your team first feel the impact of the pandemic and how? How did you cope?

An integral part of the world’s travel system, Amadeus solutions touch every aspect of travellers’ journeys – so we felt the impact of the pandemic immediately. Our airline and travel service providers were impacted first, followed by our other customers such as our airport partners. As a company, I’m proud of how we responded. We initiated contact and have been in continuous communication with all our customers and stakeholders. We’ve seen our teams and technology help airports and airlines adapt to the crisis - by enabling them to scale back operations, repatriate stranded travellers, adapting to new processes or introducing touchless services. On a personal level, I have found the crisis quite challenging. Although I have enjoyed the ongoing dialogue and close collaboration with our customers, and the spirit of comradery within the industry, it has been tough seeing our airport partners reduce operations, close terminals and furlough staff.   

JW: Did Amadeus expedite (or delay) any technology or development plans due to the pandemic?

I am not aware of any internal technology initiatives that were delayed. If anything, the pandemic provided focus for internal collaboration and accelerated problem solving – there has been a real spirit of ‘we are all in this together’. 

From the airport perspective, we shared thoughts and insights with our customers and sought their advice on priorities. As a result, we expedited the development of ‘touchless’ solutions for many customers, including: 

• Deployment of biometric-enabled self-service bag drops for Emirates in Dubai (DXB), along with self-service kiosks. 
• A touchless bag tag printing application that we developed and deployed for Avinor (the firm operating Norway’s 44 state-owned airports) within three months. Coupled with a new contactless bag drop process, and Avinor’s existing infrastructure, passengers in Norway can now enjoy an end-to-end touchless airport experience.  
• Enabling biometric boarding for all international departures at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport.