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COPENHAGEN AIRPORTS
ARCHITECTS OF THE FUTURE AIRPORT
Copenhagen Airports (CPH) has been appointed the most efficient airport in Europe fifteen out of
seventeen times – most recently in 2019. In order to maintain this position, an ambitious strategy to
become ‘architects of the future airport’ was presented in 2019. The strategy was conceived based on the
fact that a new and drastic approach to digital transformation was necessary to deliver on CPH’s
ambitious growth targets through optimisation and new opportunities.
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REPLACING OLD LEGACY ARCHITECTURE
Digital innovation and development of basic airport operations were stalling due to old legacy architecture
and technology implemented in the early 1980’s. The legacy system covered many historical add-ons, was
technologically outdated and hard to maintain – in effect a burning platform – leading to high maintenance
cost, excessive risks and a hindrance to further development and growth.
In 2017 Netcompany was commissioned to perform life-time extension on the existing legacy core platform, and
while performing this task – Netcompany and CPH initiated discussions regarding a full-scale replacement
with a self-developed platform for total airport management – AIRHART was born.
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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FROM THE BOTTOM UP
For many airports around the globe, becoming a smart airport has proven to be a tough and troublesome
journey. Many have experienced failed implementation projects, broken promises and “smart” features that
don’t deliver the expected business value. Often the problem is not the “smart” features themselves, but the
underlying foundation, which is not geared to capture, handle and expose high-quality data needed for smart
airport operations.
Building upon old legacy core systems – trying to become smarter by adding multiple “smart” technologies will
only take you part of the way. At some point the limitations of old legacy systems will be evident and prove
to be a dead-end, if you want to become a truly smart airport. Digital transformation from the bottom-up
implies high-risk. In CPH a comprehensive and robust transition plan was conceived, mitigating risks on
multiple levels – technical, organisational as well as commercial.
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BUSINESS VALUE - DELIVERED
The implementation of AIRHART in CPH is impacting several of the airport’s key performance indicators.
Through smarter forecasting and turnaround management punctuality is improved and waiting time
reduced, adding to increased overall passenger satisfaction. AIRHART is also allowing for a more efficient
use of existing resources, allowing for CPH to increase throughput and raise the passenger number
significantly.
Additionally, the implementation of AIRHART is expected to reduce IT cost considerably, all while providing
CPH with the needed agility and resilience to face future challenges and reduce time to market.
Implementation of a truly data driven platform is allowing CPH to address and support a substantial leap in
the sustainability domain. AIRHART impacts the development of smart grid, solar panels and reduction of
emissions.
Smarter Airports is a challenger in a market dominated by large players relying on monolithic legacy systems
and acquisitions. In the AIRHART platform the oldest code is dated 2019. The architecture is born to be
flexible and meet the needs of a truly data driven airport of the future. AIRHART enables you to meet the
requirements of tomorrow for efficient, passenger-centric, safety compliant and sustainable airport
operations.