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WAISL launches AI-powered, integrated command centre for airports

It will act as a central hub of an airport to show passengers real-time updates on flight details, wait times, gate changes, baggage status, duty-free offers, etc.

The APOC is also capable of predicting potential disruptions of airport operations. (Image: Pixabay)

WAISL, a digital infrastructure services provider for airports, launched a new, integrated Airport Operations Command Center (APOC) hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday, December 3.

The IT system looks to improve operational efficiency for airports and enhance passenger experiences by leveraging a wide range of technologies including digital twins (virtual representations of an airport’s physical objects, systems, or processes), AI/ML, video and data analytics, and computer vision.

The new APOC developed by WAISL will be introduced in an Indian airport over the next few weeks and will be rolled out globally next year, the company said without specifying the airport location.

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“Functioning like a central nervous system, the solution will serve as a central hub for real-time monitoring, coordination, and management of airport operations, covering activities from curb to gate, including check-in, security, and traffic control for passengers, vehicles, and aircrafts,” WAISL said in a press release.

The new APOC will show passengers at airports real-time updates on flight details, wait times, gate changes, baggage status, duty-free offers, etc. It can also be used to share operational information with airport, airline, and ground-handling personnel.

Speaking on the digital twin-powered solution, WAISL CEO Rishi Mehta said, “It’s a true technological enabler to drive operational efficiency and digital transformation in aviation.”

“Airport data is vast, and WAISL has developed a solution that makes it easy to analyse such data, and harness it effectively, relying on AWS for resiliency, scalability, security, and low latency,” Pankaj Gupta, public sector leader at AWS India and South Asia, said.

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The APOC is also capable of predicting potential disruptions of airport operations using cloud-based machine learning platform, Amazon SageMaker. Additionally, Amazon MSK is used to transfer CCTV video footage to the APOC in real-time while reducing the possibility of disruptions in the footage by replicating the data across several AWS Availability Zones (AZ).

“Using an encrypted copy of the data stored in another AZ ensures uninterrupted service and passenger safety,” the company said.

“The digital twin-powered APOC solution also uses Amazon EKS to distribute workloads across available resources during peak travel periods. For example, during severe weather events that cause multiple flight changes, Amazon EKS can allocate more processing power to rebooking systems and customer service applications,” it added.