Airport operator Aena has announced that it is partnering with Spanish telecoms provider Telefónica to launch AenaMaps, a map-based guidance tool to assist passengers at all stages of their journeys, from planning to the flight itself, with particular emphasis on the time they spend at the airport.
According to the company, the tool will show passengers their location, conduct searches and confirm movements on the map, guide them to a specific point in the airport, calculate the journey time or distance, and display services and points of interest such as boarding gates, shops, restaurants, toilets, etc.
The guide can be used at the airport on the Aena app for Android and iOS and will suggest the selected routes both visually and by voice. The maps and routes can also be viewed on company’s corporate website by choosing a starting point and a destination inside the airport.
Aena says it plans to gradually evolve the tool to help passengers with reduced mobility and cater for accessibility needs while also providing other salient information such as real-time transit times at security checkpoints. The app will also be integrated with other location tools outside the airport to provide a complete route from anywhere. The service will initially be available at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (pictured) before being progressively rolled out at other airports in the network.
In addition to Telefónica, the operator has teamed up with CartoDB, a location intelligence platform, and Situm Indoor Positioning, a specialist in indoor location and navigation, to develop the app. CartoDB has been involved in the cartographic enrichment of airport maps and plans, route development and the logic and coordination of the entire solution in general; Situm has provided the technology components and geopositioning inside the airports.
Aena notes that the app is just one of the projects in its ongoing digitization process where it is working with Telefónica. For example, the telecoms provider is also supporting the airport operator’s Digital Transformation project as one of the mainstays in its Strategic Plan.
“Digitization of services and businesses gives us the opportunity to improve the lives of people and society in general,” commented María Jesús Almazor, CEO of Telefónica España. “Aena’s shift to a more digital model will bring it the chance to offer passengers additional experiences over and above the use of its facilities to board flights.”
