Gatwick has become the first airport to implement Amadeus’ cloud-based system that will allow it to increase the number of flights and passengers it handles.
The Airport Collaborative Decision Making Portal (A-CDM) will increase capacity at Gatwick to 55 flights per hour, up from 50, and allow for an extra two million passengers on a single runway.
The A-CDM portal provides aggregated views of the real-time status of airport operational activities, allowing airport operators, airlines, ground handlers, and air traffic management to operate more efficiently and transparently.
Amadeus said the portal can predict future flight problems over a three-to-four hour period, identifying which flights might be delayed and how they can be turned around faster to make sure they leave Gatwick on time, even if they arrived late.
Gatwick is among a small number of airports including Paris Charles de Gaulle, Madrid, Munich and Zurich to join the Europe-wide A-CDM standard. However, Gatwick opted to use Amadeus’ “cost effective” cloud technology to speed up the implementation time. It rolled out the portal to 300 users in eight weeks.
Gatwick airport’s chief information officer Michael Ibbitson called the technology a game changer.
“We have received extremely positive feedback from our Amadeus A-CDM Portal stakeholders,” said Ibbitson.
“It is easy to use and enables them to make better decisions that contribute to smoother and more efficient operations. The portal supports all partners at the airport involved in activities from refuelling and de-icing and to ground handling and cargo.”
John Jarrell, head of airport IT, Amadeus, said: “Communication gaps still prevail in the airport ecosystem – a collaborative approach is key to align on aspects such as disruptions, flight information, number of bags on board and passengers in transit.
“We hope to see other airports follow Gatwick’s innovative use of the Amadeus A-CDM Portal to facilitate improved communications and operational efficiency.”
Read BBT editor Paul Revel’s Amadeus event report from Nice, where the technology firm showcased some of its latest initiatives