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Leveraging over 80 years of aviation expertise, explore the latest insights from the travel industry covering everything from opinion pieces and thought leadership to our latest product releases, technology updates, and more.

In May, CAVU welcomed its valued clients, partners, and providers to Miami, Florida, for our inaugural Client Advisory Board. This invigorating session offered a fantastic opportunity to gather firsthand feedback, ensuring that our future developments align with the evolving needs of our partners. One of our key objectives was to integrate the voice of the customer into our Product team&#8217;s thinking, allowing us to genuinely understand the biggest pain points they face.

Powering The Global Travel Marketplace 
The event began with CAVU presenting our strategic roadmap, centred on The Global Travel Marketplace. With the goal of delivering better experiences for passengers while driving more revenue for clients, the Marketplace is a culmination of our 80 years of aviation heritage and the seamless integration of digital and physical touchpoints across the travel ecosystem.  
The three pillars of this proposition are: 
Connecting the Disconnected 
Accelerate your revenue by enabling passengers to seamlessly plan and book all their travel needs, from airport parking and lounges to FastTrack and car rental. 
Delivering Personalised Products 
Maximise the volume and value of passenger bookings with personalised products, offered at the right price and the right time – all through a seamless booking experience. 
Identifying Untapped Potential 
We understand the passenger like no other. Using consumer insights, we identify untapped potential at every phase of the travel journey. 
Underpinning this strategy is Propel, our powerful ecommerce platform that has been purpose-built to drive growth, increase revenue, and deliver a seamless booking experience for customers.

Emerging Priorities and Opportunities 
With our strategic roadmap outlined, our guests provided invaluable feedback on their own priorities, highlighting loyalty and the marketplace as major areas of interest. Discussions around loyalty focused on the challenges associated with travel frequency and the impact of points-based loyalty schemes. Potential solutions include offering immediate rewards and exclusive pricing to enhance perceived value. 
Further conversations explored integrating loyalty options across travel products, such as flights and hotels, to reward loyal customers while ensuring a seamless booking process. Enhancing relevance and customer engagement was a key theme in marketplace discussions. Despite fulfilment challenges, airport retail presents opportunities for curated offerings or vouchers. 
Similarly, tailored travel bundles, such as those for families or those offering ultimate convenience, were suggested to increase appeal. Reflecting seasonality in marketplace offerings was another recommendation to boost relevance and attachment rates. As our inventory expands, clients emphasized the importance of using data to maintain personalized relevance based on trends like airline and destination preferences. 
Other discussion points focused on simplifying repeat booking processes for regular travellers and incentivizing customer referrals to enhance the customer journey and operational efficiency. A universally shared goal was achieving a digitally connected, end-to-end customer journey, from pre-booking to post-travel. 
As we review our strategic roadmap, these discussions will strengthen our approach and drive us towards creating even more valuable solutions for our partners.

Working in Partnership With CAVU 
Our first Client Advisory Board event highlighted the immense value of collaboration and working towards collective goals. As Nolan Hough, CAVU’s Chief Growth Officer, highlights, “This event underscores the power of partnership in driving innovation and delivering exceptional travel experiences. By working together, we can unlock new opportunities and create solutions that truly meet the needs of our clients and their passengers.” 
This view is shared by our valued partners: 
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">Rob Turner, Director of Supply at On The Beach, remarked, “It’s very refreshing to have a partnership focused on giving the customer exactly what they want.” </li>
</ul>
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<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1">Colin Watson, Senior Vice President at DragonPass, valued the diversity of perspectives, “It’s great to get different perspectives from partners in the room. Hearing various ideas has been helpful in forming our own strategies.” </li>
</ul>
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<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">Jason Mehl, Chief Commercial Officer at Syracuse Airport, appreciated the event’s outcomes, “You all put on a wonderful event with many great ideas coming from it.” </li>
</ul>
Looking Ahead 
This inaugural Client Advisory Board provided the CAVU team with valuable insights that will inform our strategic approach. We look forward to future CAB events as we continue to foster partnerships that drive innovation and success in the travel industry.

CAVU recently welcomed its valued clients, partners, and providers to Miami, Florida, for our inaugural Client Advisory Board. 

Ryan Parker MqpawAQXRyA Unsplash

CAVU Launches Inaugural Client Advisory Board

Joel Godfrey, CAVU’s Digital Product Director, recently attended Future Travel Experience (FTE) EMEA to discuss using advances in technology to solve genuine customer problems in a way that also benefits the airport. With customer expectations increasing, and disconnected experiences remaining a key challenge, there is space for significant improvements in the airport experience.

<h3>Customers expect convenience and personalisation  </h3>
Customers increasingly expect their physical experiences to match the expectations set by the likes of Deliveroo, Amazon or Uber, where the products and services they buy into are enabled by seamless digital touchpoints. Airports can often struggle to keep up with expectations in this space, leading to reduced customer satisfaction and passengers choosing to fulfil parts of their journey elsewhere. In a recent Salesforce report, 40% of travellers cited disconnected experiences as their top pain point.  
At CAVU, addressing this is the core of our strategic thinking. We know from speaking to our customers, passengers, airports and potential clients that the customer journey is often fragmented and full of friction. Booking with multiple providers to satisfy different parts of the trip can cause chaos if one part of the chain breaks.  
These passenger pain points include getting to the airport on time despite traffic and delays; managing logistics such as luggage, security and access to WiFi, food and phone charging; accommodating party members with different needs, like children or those with accessibility requirements; and navigating local barriers like language and currency at their destination. 
When it comes to solving these challenges, Forrester reported that 77% of people choose, recommend or pay for brands that provide a personalised experience. We see across almost every industry and sector that when companies listen to their customers and put the effort in to solve complex problems in a really simple and personalised way, they can stand out in a crowded market. Companies like Monzo have taken this a step further, inviting customers deep into and creating a community around the problem solving process, resulting in a fiercely loyal customer base that advocates publicly for them.

<h3>Airports are facing competition in the digital space </h3>
For airports, there is a growing need for the monetisation of the customer journey. While historically, parking and retail were the main non-aeronautical revenue drivers, airports are increasingly facing competition from new transport modes and retail methods. 
However, monetising the customer journey is particularly difficult to achieve if the passenger is ‘unknown’. For instance, if someone arrives in a cab, they remain a &#8216;ghost&#8217; to the airport, having not provided any personal information during an online interaction. Without personal information and a way to communicate with their customers, it is virtually impossible to upsell customers or to provide the personalised approach that customers now demand. 
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<h3>Understanding how technology can solve pain points is key </h3>
At CAVU, we don&#8217;t focus on deploying technology as the end goal, but as a means to solve genuine customer problems in a way that also benefits the airport. Understanding customer motivators and how technology can address different needs is crucial. 
Travel through airports is inherently stressful, so one of our core aims is to make this process simpler for passengers by providing clear, consolidated information and options. We also aim to simplify choices and streamline information to avoid passengers becoming overwhelmed, which often leads to decision paralysis. 
At CAVU, we use technology to solve the needs of passengers in a way that meets the commercial objectives of airports &#8211; increasing passenger yield and ancillary revenue, increasing passenger satisfaction through an improved experience, and reducing cost to serve through self-serve and automation. Meeting heightened customer expectations means airports need to adapt to a digital ecosystem, with technology like biometrics access or using AI to scan baggage as the enablers, not the outcome in and of themselves. Most customers don&#8217;t care about the tech &#8211; they care about the experience.

<h3>CAVU is trialling real world applications of innovative technologies</h3>
We are currently piloting Amazon One’s biometric technology outside the US for the first time. This uses palm recognition to streamline airport processes by linking confirmations and tickets to an individual’s biometric data. This not only improves operational efficiency but also enhances customer experience, by not needing to scan QR codes or show email confirmations at each touch point through the airport.
Partnering with Copenhagen Optimization, we are also trialling a system that allows passengers to pre-book their security check time. This helps to reduce stress by providing information on less busy times, smoothing out peaks and optimising staff allocation. 
Both of these solutions help solve a customer pain point, but also allow the airport to &#8220;know&#8221; more of their customers digitally, offering other products and services to monetise more of the customer journey.

<h3>Technology has the power to transform the airport experience </h3>
By addressing customer pain points and integrating commercial and technological strategies, we can create significant improvements in the airport experience. Companies such as Netflix, Airbnb or Spotify illustrate the success that can be achieved by prioritising solving genuine customer problems using technology. We aim to achieve the same thing in the travel sector.

Using novel technologies to solve airport and passenger pain points.

Pass Ex Box 3

Unleashing innovative airport strategies for customer and commercial excellence

The CAVU team was thrilled to attend the Passenger Terminal Expo in Frankfurt last week where we got the opportunity to chat with attendees about The Global Travel Marketplace and how it could unlock value from the airport passenger journey for them.  
With transforming the passenger experience a central theme of numerous conference talks and a key discussion point for many exhibitors, we explored the pain points facing today’s traveller and the challenges for the industry in meeting these redefined expectations. Originally featured in Passenger Terminal World magazine, we delve into the underlying passenger trends facing the travel booking process.

<h3>Redefined Expectations   </h3>
In today&#8217;s rapidly evolving consumer landscape, the travel industry faces the challenge of staying ahead of emerging trends and meeting evolving customer expectations. From the demand for a more streamlined booking process to the growing preference for digital innovations, the industry must anticipate and adapt to these shifts.  
Whether it’s pre-ordering and collecting loyalty points with your morning coffee or rectifying a problem with your latest online purchase, today’s consumers not only expect, but demand, a seamless digital experience as part of their purchase journeys. However, in its current reality, the travel booking experience falls short of meeting these expectations, remaining a fragmented and frustrating experience. In fact, 40% of travellers cite &#8220;disconnected experiences&#8221; as their top pain point​ (Salesforce, 2023)​. The result is juggling multiple websites, answering repetitive questions, and being bombarded with irrelevant offers – all hurdles in creating a positive and intuitive customer journey.  
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<h3>Travel Booking is Fragmented  </h3>
This isn&#8217;t just anecdotal. Studies show travellers can browse up to 38 websites before making a purchase​ (Expedia, 2013)​. Furthermore, 88% of travellers wouldn&#8217;t hesitate to switch platforms if the experience isn&#8217;t convenient and easy​ (Google, 2016)​. This fragmented process translates to lost revenue and dissatisfied customers – a scenario the industry can ill afford. Travelers crave transparency, flexibility and control throughout their journey – something the current landscape struggles to deliver.  
Travellers are no longer looking to simply ‘tolerate’ travel but are instead seeking to enrich it. The airport itself is no longer just a transit point, with 40% of travellers describing the airport as an enjoyable part of their holiday​ (British Airways, 2023)​. For business flyers especially, creating a comfortable and enriching pre-flight experience is a fundamental requirement, with nearly two-thirds counting access to the likes of premium airport lounges as being &#8220;important&#8221; or &#8220;very important”​ (AviationPros, 2017)​.  
It&#8217;s not just luxury lounges that pique the interest. &#8220;Luxe-for-less seekers&#8221; are on the rise, with 10% of UK travellers planning to upgrade their flights and 14% seeking airport lounge access in 2024​ (Skyscanner, 2024)​. This underscores a shift in value perception as travellers look for premium experiences without breaking the bank.

<h3>Connecting the Disconnected </h3>
An elevated experience comes as much from luxury add-ons as it does from offering a more customer centric experience. This means moving beyond generic offerings and embracing deep personalisation. Imagine priority access based on past travel behaviour, curated recommendations tailored to specific interests, or exclusive lounge experiences designed to match individual needs.   
By leveraging data insights and technology to create more personalised experiences, the impact is not solely in building improved customer satisfaction. Personalisation translates into greater business effectiveness, with 80% of consumers more likely to purchase from a brand that offers personalised experiences​ (Epsilon, 2018)​. As CAVU’s Digital Product Director, Joel Godfrey, explains: “A well designed, clean and frictionless customer experience benefits everyone – if customers can find what they’re looking for and checkout easily, they get what they came to us for, and we make the sale – it’s a win, win.&#8221; When fully realised, it can see improvements in marketing effectiveness cost savings by 10% to 20% while revenue and retention can see an uplift of up to 30%​ (McKinsey, 2023)​.  
The travel industry stands at a crossroads, with consumers expecting and demanding more from an industry that has long been fragmented and full of friction. At CAVU, we connect the disconnected, elevating travel experiences for customers and unlocking value from the airport passenger journey for the businesses that serve them. By embracing innovation and prioritising customer-centricity, we can all be part of shaping a brighter future for travel.

The CAVU team recently attended the Passenger Terminal Expo 2024 in Frankfurt to discuss The Global Travel Marketplace and how it could unlock value from the airport passenger journey. 

Sinan Erg Xh7IYcRfMfs Unsplash

Passenger Terminal Expo 2024: Navigating the Trends of Today’s Traveller

In 2024, many of the travel trends from 2023 look set to continue, with passengers taking a more considered approach to travel, prioritising the planning phase and requiring that operators not only meet their needs but also anticipate them.
Operators, meanwhile, will need to cater for customers’ increasing expectation of affordable personalisation, while navigating their own budget constraints.
The quest for sustainable travel will also continue to dominate in 2024, as travellers look to reduce their environmental impact and demand that operators do the same. As global temperatures continue to rise, however, customers are set to change not only how but also where they travel.

<h4>AI will streamline tasks for customers and operators alike</h4>
In 2024, using AI for trip planning will become mainstream, while operators will increasingly rely on the technology to improve efficiencies in staffing and budgets.
<h4>AI is becoming established as a key tool in travel planning</h4>
As discussed previously, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-can-travel-industry-offer-value-during-cost-of-living">the cost-of-living crisis is changing the way passengers travel</a>, with customers putting more emphasis on the planning phase to ensure they get as memorable and personalised an experience as possible. AI has emerged as a key aide to trip planning in 2023 and we expect it to become mainstream in 2024.
AI services such as Expedia’s beta test of a ChatGPT integration can help customers to narrow down and refine their preferences. Rather than being faced with an overwhelming list of options, customers are guided toward the travel choices that best suit their needs.
From an operator point of view, AI can help to streamline sales and customer service tasks and ensure faster, always on responses, boosting customer satisfaction and loyalty levels. Using AI-powered chatbots to cover gaps in customer service hours, for example, will ensure that customer queries can be dealt with in real time.

<h4>Understanding passenger behaviour is critical for operators</h4>
As discussed in our recent webinar on AI in the travel industry, Manchester Airports Group has been working with Copenhagen Optimization to help it forecast passenger foot traffic and better staff its channels, leading to an extra 530,000 passengers getting through security within the target 15-minute window. MAG has now extended the partnership to include stand and gate allocations at its three airports in 2024.
MAG hopes that by better predicting passenger footfall and movement through the terminals it can unlock capacity and use its existing infrastructure as efficiently as possible. As well as streamlining operations, this will also boost satisfaction by giving customers a more seamless journey through the airport.

<h4>Eco-tourism will boom amid increasing sustainability concerns</h4>
Sustainability concerns have not only changed the way some passengers are travelling, but also where they’re travelling to.
<h4>Voluntary carbon offset schemes will continue to grow</h4>
While environmental concerns are leading some to avoid air travel altogether, increasing numbers of those continuing to fly are paying to mitigate the environmental impact of their flight.
Airlines including British Airways and Delta offer an optional surcharge to offset carbon emissions, while companies like Cool Effect allow consumers to calculate and offset their emissions from travel or donate to carbon projects.
The use of voluntary offsets will continue until 2027, when the global Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) becomes mandatory, requiring airlines and aircraft operators to offset growth in CO2 emissions above 2020 levels.
In the meantime, growing pressure from consumers and impending regulatory deadlines mean operators  are well on their way with carbon offsetting initiatives. S&amp;P estimates that, by 2025, airlines will depend on carbon offsets to decarbonise 97% of their operations.

<h4>Research into alternative fuels will remain a priority</h4>
Some airlines – including JetBlue and EasyJet – have opted to move away from carbon offsets to instead focus on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help them achieve net zero emissions. Virgin Atlantic recently made headlines by completing the first transatlantic flight – from Heathrow to JFK – powered only by SAF.
While the use of alternative fuels is a long way from being operationally or commercially viable on a large scale, Virgin Atlantic’s success has been seen as a step toward proving that greener air travel is possible. Developments in this space will only ramp up in the coming years given global emissions targets.
<h4>Cool-cationing is redrawing the tourist map</h4>
The rise of so-called “cool-cationing” is creating new tourist destinations, as travellers start to avoid the soaring temperatures of traditional holiday hotspots and instead choose cooler options, especially if travelling with children.
In research commissioned by Booking.com, 51% of people stated that climate change will impact the way they plan their travel in 2024, with 56% saying they will use their holiday to cool down. As global temperatures continue to rise, this could potentially require a shift in the destinations that airlines serve.

<h4>Customers want a seamless experience, but not at any cost</h4>
Customers are taking a more considered approach to travel due to sustainability and budget concerns. This means that, in 2024, operators will have to work harder than ever to deliver seamless travel experiences in an affordable and environmentally conscious way.
AI will be one tool to help deliver against these growing customer expectations, helping operators to really interrogate customer behaviour and then deliver the services needed to ensure customer loyalty and satisfaction.

CAVU examines some of the key travel trends for 2024

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Sustainable, personalised travel will be a winning combination in 2024

In the evolving landscape of customer expectations in travel, one truth remains crystal clear: passengers are increasingly drawn to personalisation. The complexities involved in collecting and managing data mean that for many brands, data-driven personalisation strategies are often overlooked. However, the resulting benefits that come from a brand’s ability to understand and ultimately retain their customers will be vital to success in an increasingly competitive travel market.
<h4 id="ember1611" class="ember-view">Customers have come to expect personalisation</h4>
A yearning to be recognised, understood and genuinely cared for by brands that they engage with is an enduring theme with customers. According to Forrester, a staggering 77% of customers express a willingness to choose, recommend or pay more for a brand that delivers a personalised service or experience.
Today&#8217;s customers expect more, and rightfully so; they look to brands to understand them as individuals. Countless surveys have delved into customer opinions, shedding light on the impact of personalisation. The findings are striking: 49% of customers have admitted to making unplanned purchases due to the allure of personalisation, while 40% have opted for more expensive choices.
As personalisation continues to shape the customer experience, businesses find themselves at a crucial crossroads. It has undeniably become one of the core engines of business growth, with companies investing heavily in technologies that tailor every touchpoint of a customer’s booking journey.
However, a pressing question arises: why are some brands struggling to achieve effective personalisation, and where do they start on this transformative journey?

<h4 id="ember1616" class="ember-view">Overcoming data challenges for effective personalisation</h4>
With data often siloed across channels or departments, brands face numerous obstacles in the management, compliance and collection of data. As the volume of data continues to surge, particularly first-party data, brands are now recognising and prioritising the need for advanced data management solutions.
The importance of AI and machine learning is set to grow significantly. These technologies have become integral to personalisation strategies, efficiently managing extensive data for daily decision-making. This not only ensures accurate data and time savings, but also has a profound impact on consumer spending and enhances customer retention.
In addition to overcoming data challenges, companies must actively address customer concerns regarding the usage and storage of personal information. Prioritising and showcasing robust security measures that align with compliance standards is an important step. This proactive approach to trust-building is essential for alleviating customer discomfort. Without customer confidence in sharing their data, the goal of effective personalisation becomes nearly impossible.

<h4 id="ember1621" class="ember-view">A seamless path to personalisation</h4>
Embarking on your personalisation journey is crucial and begins with a clear definition of what personalisation means for your brand. Basic personalisation tactics are no longer sufficient. Research from E-consultancy highlights that a mere 8% of customers engage with brands using their first names, and only 7% show interest in birthday-themed emails. To maximise commercial benefits, it is essential to truly understand your customers and their interactions with your brand across various touchpoints, both online and offline.
<h4 id="ember1623" class="ember-view">Connecting the dots across customer touchpoints</h4>
Centralising customer engagement, behaviour, transactions and loyalty into a unified view allows for precise data analysis. This approach not only reveals opportunities within your customer database but also empowers you to predict future customer behaviours based on existing knowledge.
Armed with this foresight, you can create and deliver targeted campaigns, offering an exceptional, personalised customer experience. The ripple effect of this extends beyond customer satisfaction to substantial commercial gains. The key lies in seamlessly connecting the dots across all customer touchpoints, ensuring a unified and personalised journey regardless of the channel.
<h4 id="ember1626" class="ember-view">The value of personalisation</h4>
The cost of acquiring customers has surged, with experts estimating it has increased by as much as 60% in the last 5 years. With people carefully planning their holidays, this rising cost places greater importance on customer loyalty. In this context, holding onto customers is key. Personalisation plays a pivotal role in building loyalty – it enhances a customer’s experience, leading to higher satisfaction. The ultimate goal is to cultivate a customer base that consistently returns, thereby establishing a robust lifetime value (LTV) that surpasses the initial acquisition cost.

In the evolving landscape of customer expectations in travel, one truth remains crystal clear: passengers are increasingly drawn to personalisation. Our Head of Customer Marketing, Roisin Evans, discusses how a brand's ability to understand and retain their customers will be vital to success in an increasingly competitive travel market.

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How data-driven personalisation can transform your business

Ahead of CAVU’s AI-focused webinar next month, we examine five stand-out examples of how AI has been used to transform a traditionally challenging or static area of the travel industry. Innovative applications range from personalising the display of flight information in the terminal, to forecasting operational responses to adverse weather conditions in the air.

<h4>1) Expedia: simplifying trip planning with AI-powered app integration</h4>
AI can help travellers to process vast amounts of data, narrowing down and refining preferences during the trip planning process. Earlier this year, Expedia launched a beta test of a ChatGPT integration into the Expedia app to allow conversational trip planning.
App users can have an AI-powered open-ended conversation in the app and get recommendations on where to go and stay, as well as possible things to see and do while on their trip. The app automatically saves any hotels mentioned in the discussion so the user can come back to them later.
The conversational planning prompts are integrated with the app’s other AI-powered functionality, including price tracking and hotel comparison, to create a fully AI-driven approach to trip research. The customer is guided into their choices rather than being overwhelmed with the opinions on offer.
<h4>2) Delta Airlines: personalising in-terminal flight information boards</h4>
In a futuristic take on personalisation, Delta Airlines is currently trialling a new Parallel Reality™ experience for passengers travelling through Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The installation uses AI and facial recognition technology to enable up to 100 travellers to view their own tailored flight information on the same screen at the same time.
Instead of having to search for their details on a busy departures board, customers are shown their own flight information and departure gate when they stand within the Parallel Reality™ screen’s viewing area. All the customer needs to do is scan their boarding pass and their own viewing zone is created through non-biometric object detection.
According to Delta, the system works by using different coloured lights to create separate, private viewing zones where each customer can see only their information. These zones move with the customer while they’re near the screen. Although in the test phase, this technology could have huge implications for delivering personalised information.

<h4>3) Singapore Changi Airport: offering a personalised, immersive retail experience</h4>
Earlier this year, Singapore Changi Airport saw the installation of a new immersive retail experience created by a partnership between Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail and Lotte Duty Free. The Martell stand uses AI to offer the customer personalised tasting recommendations based on their preferences, before passing these suggestions to a robot bar tender that will prepare and serve the customer’s chosen drink.
While this installation is at the more playful end of AI’s possible applications, it shows the levels of personalisation possible in the airport retail space, and the kind of experiences that customers will come to expect in-terminal.
<h4>4) Delta Airlines: modelling operational responses through simulation</h4>
In an example of how AI can help to create insight from existing data, Delta Airlines has created a machine-learning platform to help it better predict and prepare for operational challenges. The airline has a wealth of historical data, and using a digital simulation environment, has been using this data to model the impact of &#8211; and best response to &#8211; hypothetical, disruptive events like bad weather.
This means that, when a challenging situation occurs, Delta’s operational decision makers have a range of possible responses to choose from to ensure that passengers can still travel safely and reliably. The process will be ongoing: the more data Delta has, the better prepared it will be for operational challenges.

<h4>5) Brisbane Airport: using AI to reduce emissions and costs</h4>
Sustainability remains a key concern in the travel industry, with airports keen to show they’re doing all they can to reduce their environmental impact. Brisbane Airport recently deployed BrainBox AI’s autonomous decarbonisation solution at its airport service centre to dynamically control the air conditioning by gathering and monitoring temperature data.
According to the airport, this reduced energy consumption by 20%, cutting carbon emissions by 22 tonnes over 3 months, with obvious cost benefits too. Following the scheme’s success, Brisbane Airport is now deploying Brainbox AI across the airport as part of its target of net zero emissions by 2025.
<h4>AI must be used to complement not replace existing human thought</h4>
While robot bar tenders and personalised display screens might sound like they belong in a sci-fi film, AI has brought them into the here and now. And while some of these stand-out implementations are at the flashier, more customer-centric side of the travel experience, it’s clear that there are many behind-the-scenes uses for AI that can improve operational efficiency by enabling better forecasting.
However, the way in which AI is understood, managed, and deployed will be central to its success. In our upcoming webinar, speakers from MAG and CAVU will explore how the travel industry can effectively harness AI’s power by using it to enhance existing capabilities, rather than to replace human thought.
Webinar guest John Hudson, MAG CTO, says:
&#8220;While AI holds the potential to revolutionise the aviation industry, it&#8217;s not a silver bullet that can solve all of our problems instantaneously.
We need to ensure we harness its power correctly and not push too hard and fast, otherwise AI will end up in the same post-hype graveyard as NFTs and 3D TVs.&#8221;
Our webinar will examine AI’s place in the travel industry, outlining how you can unlock the benefits for your business. To get answers to the most pressing questions around AI in travel, and to hear our speakers’ thoughts on its future applications, register to attend.

AI has revolutionized a traditionally rigid and demanding segment of the travel sector. From customizing flight information displays at terminals to forecasting operational strategies for dealing with adverse weather conditions mid-air, its innovative applications have brought about transformative changes.

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