Experts in the aviation sector have said that Nigeria needs to make technology a priority in its quest to enhance performance across various airports.
They say that in additional to the population and strategic location of Nigeria, the country needs to also leverage on proper application and usage of technology to change Africa’s travel narrative.
Speaking during the anniversary dinner and award night of Sabre, a leading airline distribution solution provider in aviation industry, Dean Bibb, Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Sabre, said global aviation is largely driven by mobile technology, saying airlines and travel agents must embrace technological innovations.
Bibb disclosed that Sabre Network currently has 42 million bookings on the continent of Africa with South Africa claiming the number one spot with 10 million bookings while Nigeria has just 4.5 million bookings annually.
He said: “We have seen a lot of changes in Nigeria since we first came into the country 10 years ago with zero booking. Mobile has changed the way we do business and interact in the world.”
Various speakers at the anniversary celebration advised airlines, travel agents and other stakeholders in the Nigerian aviation industry to embrace technology for enhanced performance.
These suggestions are coming at a time when the inactivity in Nigeria’s hardware manufacturing industry has become a major concern for local airlines that could otherwise have saved millions of naira being spent on compensating passengers for lost luggage with the introduction of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) baggage tracking technology.
RFID uses electromagnet fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. This will allow customers to track their luggage throughout its travel, the tags are scanned whilst on the conveyor belt on its way into the aircraft and an alarm goes off for it to be redirected if the baggage does not belong on that flight.
As foreign airline systems including Delta airline introduce RFID on bag tags which automatically identify and track tags, Nigeria may not be able to gain the full benefit of this technology as the country’s technology industry is currently focused on software development, therefore neglecting hardware manufacturing of computer and tracking devices such as the RFID.
Femi Longe, Director at Co-Creation Hub, told BusinessDay that most of the technology geeks and gurus that we have in Nigeria are focused on software development and not hardware and so Nigeria may have to import RFID hardware technology for its local airlines to reduce the amount of missing luggage and airline expenditure on passenger compensation for lost luggage.
“Most of the geeks and inventors in the technology hub and in Nigeria at large are software experts and even the ones that do hardware are more into electrical and not electronics,” he said.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the results of its 2016 Global Passenger Survey (GPS) which showed that passengers are looking for technology to improve their travel experience.
Based on 6,920 responses from around the globe, the survey provided insight into what passengers want from their air travel experience.
Topping the list were: Arriving at the airport ready to fly; passing through security and border control once without having to remove personal items; uniquely-tailored travel options – and passengers are prepared to offer their personal data to access them; having the same connectivity in the air as on the ground; ready to fly.
In 2016 the percentage of passengers who checked-in online and used a mobile boarding pass rather than a printed one increased from 69% in 2015 to 71%.
The GPS found that the majority of passengers are keen to see the baggage process shaken up with 33% of those surveyed wanting to self-tag their bags and 39% to use electronic bag tags.
A considerable number of passengers would like to travel to the airport ‘baggage free’: 26% want their luggage picked up from home and delivered to the airport and 24% want to be able to drop off their luggage away from the airport.
In addition, 61% of passengers expressed interest in tracking their bag throughout the journey. Airlines are facilitating this by adopting IATA’s baggage Resolution 753 which tracks bags at major journey points such as loading and unloading.
Ifeoma Okeke
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