Etihad Airways has entered into a partnership with Elenium, a leading automation company, for developing technology that would demonstrate seamless travel experience.
Using cloud technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), computer vision and natural human interfacing the companies are developing a new voice-activated kiosk, bag drop zones and boarding gate facilities for travellers. Recently, a demonstration for the same was held at Passenger Terminal EXPO (PTE) in London.
Mike Papamichael, Vice President, Technology and Innovation, Etihad Airways said, “The technological vision and strategy is to make the guest journey a frictionless and digitally enabled experience across all channels and touch points at the airport. Etihad’s relationship with Elenium builds on this vision and along with our microservices strategy, allows us to co-create and develop innovative self-service and biometric solutions for greater flexibility and seamless guest experience.”
Etihad Airways and Elenium also collaborate with Amazon web services (AWS), Amazon’s technological arm to innovate platforms and solutions that will use digitalisation and facial recognition technology to simplify passenger travel further.
The revamped check-in process will allow passengers to do a prior check-in for their flight, and register their biometric data on their mobile device that will not only reduce airport queues but also allow make passengers eligible for a personalised duty-free shopping experience through a voice interactive display.
Furthermore, the UAE-based airline will white label the Elenium Voyager app that will feature booking facilities, check-in, passport validation, timatic auto check, facial biometric enrolment, and payment wallet. The installation of the new self-service transfer kiosk will take place in phases at the new Midfield Terminal in Abu Dhabi.
Natasha Nitturkar
