Today’s flight passengers have high expectations from airports, regardless of where they are in the world or how small or large. Modern lifestyles have taught us that we don’t need to wait for what we want – world news in real-time, next day or same-day deliveries, fast food, internet speeds – and then we get to the airport.
Airport queues can sometimes be fraught places, full of frustration and anxiety, tiredness and intolerance, particularly during holiday times and peak travel periods. Airports work harder than ever to understand the pain behind waiting to address the challenges of waiting times.
Psychological research tells us that humans do not like waiting in line. This is particularly true in a pressured environment such as airport departures, where travellers are often already under pressure; making sure they have everything with them; they are boarding the right flight; what time the flight is departing and much more besides. It can be a frustrating experience, however efficiently the check-in desk operator is getting through the line.
Passengers are bored and frustrated with a lack of information
The two most common factors that research shows increase passenger frustration are lack of information and pure boredom. Passengers are also likely to overestimate the length of time spent waiting if they are bored and, according to research, this can be by up to as much as 36%.
Passengers need to be kept aware of the latest flight information and informed about potential delays, yet there is more information that could prove useful, such as queueing time estimates, special offers to look forward to in the airport shopping and dining experiences or the weather for example. Getting the right information in front of the right passengers at the right time can contribute significantly to passenger experience, especially if they’re entertained at the same time.
How A-FIDS could be the answer to airport queueing boredom
A-ICE works closely with its airports and airlines customers to deliver solutions to real challenges that affect the industry every day. We understand the importance of real-time information and developed A-FIDS to help plug the gaps that existing flight information display systems left behind.
A-FIDS is designed to display critical flight information at any location within the airport and is integrated with the central A-ODB database. It also supports external interfaces to web servers that enables fast delivery of pages, including tourist and other information wherever and whenever needed. When passengers are fully informed and information clear at key points, then congestion can be considerably reduced, and flow improved.
Operated via a centralized, user-friendly administrative console monitoring is simplified, and greater efficiency is inevitable. The entire system is fully configurable, operational on a range of devices and integrable with existing technology and systems.
Help relieve your flight passengers of the frustration of airport queues with a state-of-the-art, advanced Flight Information Display System. Visit the A-FIDS page to find out more.
