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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.
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and technology implemented in the early 1980’s. The legacy system covered many historical add-ons, was technologically outdated and hard to maintain – in effect a burning platform – leading to high maintenance cost, excessive risks and a hindrance to further development and growth.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.
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.
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.
