Aviation 4.0 - Course 4 - 2022 - Digitalisation of Handling PDF

Digitalisation of Handling Handling Aircraft handling Aircraft handling Aircraft ground servicing  Is blockchain the solution to enhancing baggage tracking? According to global statistics , 24.8 million pieces of checked...

Digitalisation of Handling Handling Aircraft handling Aircraft handling Aircraft ground servicing  Is blockchain the solution to enhancing baggage tracking? According to global statistics , 24.8 million pieces of checked 1 baggage worldwide were lost in 2018 alone; not only inconveniencing passengers, but also costing the airport transportation industry around $2.4 billion. To tackle the problem, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) teamed up with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), London Heathrow Airport (LHR), Cathay Pacific (CX) and IBM to create and test a potential global blockchain solution that provides end-to-end baggage tracking. The study – which was the world’s first – found that blockchain https://www.internationalairportreview.com /article/140360/blockchain-solution- provided a single source of truth for checked baggage, enabling baggage-tracking/2/ real-time data-sharing among multiple stakeholders in a cost- effective way. ◼ The global baggage mishandling rate has already dropped by more than 47 % between 2018 and 2007. Statistically, currently, approximately one per cent of the total number of checked baggage worldwide gets lost. ◼ Following HKIA’s successful RFID experience, HKIA hypothesised that a new global baggage tracking solution enabled by blockchain technology could reduce the incidence of mishandled baggage throughout the entire journey of the baggage from the airport of origin to the destination, and subsequently initiated a study in partnership with IATA, LHR, CX and IBM between October 2019 and June 2020. ◼ Blockchain – a technology best known for enabling the existence of cryptocurrencies – has successfully improved operations and brought about great transformations in multiple industries, including shipping, hospitality, banking, healthcare and supply chain management. ◼ It is essentially a decentralised digital ledger of transactions spread across a network of computers. By design, every single transaction status is updated for all parties, everywhere, within minutes, with full traceability back to the point of origin. ◼ The very nature of blockchain appeared to be the perfect way to improve baggage tracking in the global aviation industry, potentially solving our traditional pain points surrounding the lack of transparency to a trusted source of the bag journey history and the expensive cost for middlemen who charge for bag data transfer. Experiment ◼ The study partners built a pilot blockchain platform with multi-cloud capabilities, creating a search portal with proactive alerts and identifying smart contract opportunities. ◼ The platform was then tested for both direct flight scenarios between HKG and LHR, and interline flight scenarios between HKG, Sydney, LHR and Taipei, collecting feedback from the airports’ and CX’s baggage operators on the handling of over 50,000 pieces of passenger baggage. End-to-end baggage tracking with high transparency ◼ Blockchain provides a consistent and reliable record of end-to-end tracking of the baggage journey by linking baggage messages shared by different participants, including airports, airlines and ground handling agents. With this high information transparency, airlines and passengers are able to check the latest status of the baggage with ease. ◼ For example, if a piece of baggage was short-shipped, the passenger would know about it earlier and be able contact the airlines promptly for help instead of having to wait at the reclaim carousel to find out about the issue. The airlines would be able to identify the exact location of the short-shipped baggage and deliver it to the passenger as quickly as possible.  Eliminates the need for middlemen ◼ Currently, airports, airlines and ground handlers have to share baggage messages with each other through middlemen. ◼ Blockchain’s open technology would enable all stakeholders to automatically receive the latest data when baggage passes through each tracking point. This would cut out the need for middlemen and subsequently reduce costs. ◼ The open technology could also effectively drive down the cost for industry adoption, which will hopefully facilitate collaboration and the implementation of a set of common global standards. ◼ Enhancing resources allocation and facility planning ◼ Blockchain’s reliable baggage tracking record would enable the aviation industry to enhance operational efficiency and resource allocation with the use of big data analysis. ◼ For example, the airport community would be able to identify routes that tend to have short-shipped baggage by analysing baggage records and allocating additional resources to solve their short-shipping issues. Smart airports for the future need to continuously innovate ◼ The pilot blockchain technology study will now be scaled up and involve more global partners. ◼ The findings will also be shared with the IATA Baggage Working Group (BWG) and Baggage Information Exchange (BIX) sub-groups. ◼ At HKIA, the global aviation industry will continue to benefit from innovations, partnerships and knowledge exchange, especially in respect to smart airport development, which will make the travel experience more pleasant for passengers worldwide. ◼ Reference: SITA, 2019 Air Transport Industry Insights – The Baggage Report