During its 16 years of successful operation, Athens International Airport (AIA) has helped more than 239 million passengers enjoy 2.9 million flights. It offers its airline partners one of the most innovative and integrated incentives programmes to ensure the sustainability and growth of domestic and international traffic.
In the non-aeronautical sector, AIA boasts advanced and extensive development initiatives, from the high-quality consumer-related products offered at its commercial terminals to its real-estate assets.
Meeting technical needs
The mission of AIA’s information technology and telecommunications business unit (IT&T BU) is to be a quality and trustworthy airport IT solution provider that meets the needs of its customers. Using its years of experience, the unit has acquired an in-depth understanding of the business and operational requirements of airports, as expressed by its users, and designs and delivers state-of-the-art services for potential business partners, in an effort to contribute and support its corporate targets and strategy.
The provided IT&T system and business activities are examples of AIA’s technological and business expertise, outlining the business profile of the unit, which is considered income-generating, operating with its own P&L responsibilities. True to its industry, AIA exports the company’s expert know-how to aviation partners around the world.
In more detail, IT&T BU is the infrastructure owner, operator and integrator, providing reliable and costeffective services to its customers. By forming strategic partnerships with major IT providers including Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and air transport IT experts such as Amadeus and SITA, IT&T BU provides consulting and integrated services to customers in the Greek and international aviation and ICT industry.
A story of success
For more than ten years, IT&T BU has proved itself as a valuable and long-term participant of significant EU projects, having played a key role among the relevant consortiums, aiming to demonstrate and adapt solutions and services in the airport environment by enhancing airport passengers’ experience.
IT&T BU has created innovative services and enriched its GEAR (gain experience for your airport readiness) product: a cloud-integrated business solution offered in a structured and secure manner by introducing two new digital solutions for airlines, airport operators and travel agencies:
- AIR messenger chatbot service: capitalising on the power of Facebook messenger, Twitter and Viber to deliver direct, personalised information to passengers and visitors, including flight status and updates; check-in counters; boarding gates; parking; and direct access to the boarding pass and ticket. It also enhances customers’ experiences through enriched content and information related to leisure, shopping and other facilities that may be offered by the airport’s concessionaires through a respective agreement.
- Emergency call-out notifications service: aiming to address operational disruptions and aviation crisis management by automating the dispatch of critical messages to a large number of diverse stakeholders, such as airports, state authorities and airlines, through a wide variety of means, such as email, landline, mobile phone, SMS and fax.
The aforementioned services could be provided either through AIA’s cloud infrastructure as part of its GEAR platform, or hosted on a customer’s premises by taking into account its particular requirements.
AIA’s IT&T BU has acquired ISO 9001:2008 certification for management system and ISO 20000 for its service management, which – in combination with its well-trained employees in project management – are considered strong indicators for the successful delivery of the ordered services within the agreed budget and timeframe followed by the specific quality parameters.
