Aena has presented its updated innovation roadmap at this year’s Passenger Terminal Expo & Conference (PTE World) in London.
During the exhibition; Vanesa Calvo, Head of Financing and Innovation Trends at Aena, outlined a set of four fundamental pillars of the company’s long-term strategy: the enhancement of the end-to-end passenger experience, development of autonomous airport capabilities, exploration of new business opportunities, and the reinforcement of its commitment to sustainability.
Calvo also presented the company’s model for both monitoring and measuring the impact of innovation, alongside its open and intra innovation programmes – Aena Ventures, which is focused on collaborating with startups, and Innova, its its intrapreneurship programme for employees, as well as its technology scouting activities and international partnerships.
During the forum; Aena presented progress and insights gained during the first round of pilot projects developed within the ‘Airports for Innovation (A4I)’ alliance – a collaboration between ten major airport operators worldwide aimed at fostering innovation, sharing technological initiatives and digital solutions.
Jennifer Fermoselle, Innovation Specialist at Aena, also highlighted a number of the main challenges and value of collaborative work between airports in accelerating the validation of new solutions, reducing implementation risks and optimising resources through shared experimentation. The company also showcased the evolution of the consortium’s governance model, which has been designed to broaden global participation and establish A4I as a stable airport innovation ecosystem.
Additionally, Fermoselle also presented a project developed in partnership with Deusens, a specialist startup in augmented reality and metaverse services, within the Aena Ventures programme. The project, which focuses on the use of virtual reality and haptic technologies for the training of airport personnel, will be used to aid in the mentoring of firefighters, marshallers and maintenance staff.
