AiQ Airport Consultancy – The iQ behind airports

Capacity assessments, demand forecasting and future-proofing constrained and saturated airports are the core of our business. Our unique, diverse, multi-disciplinary airport consultancy team work in partnership with airport owners, operators and investors; airlines, architects and service professionals to provide a scientific approach to innovating future airports.

We are global experts, the iQ behind airports, creating capacity and operational efficiency, solving complex problems, future-proofing and aiding investment decision making. Our intelligent team and our breadth of experience make us who we are. Read More »

AiQ Consulting at Passenger Terminal Expo 2019

This year the annual Passenger Terminal Expo was held in London at the Excel Exhibition Centre over the 26th, 27th and 28th March. PTE 2019 set an attendance record, with over 10,000 delegates from more than 1,500 organisations and 130 countries visiting, as well as over 350 specialist airport technology suppliers.

Seen as the world’s leading international airport event, PTE reflected some of the major trends coming on stream under the theme of ‘Smart Airports’. The Conference Programme highlighted the big trends affecting the future, including: Read More »

Come and Visit AiQ Consulting at Stand 2062 at PTE 2019

Airport Virtual Reality Join AiQ Consulting at the Passenger Terminal Expo 2019 in London Excel 26-28th March 2019.  Over a decent cup of coffee from our trusty coffee machine, find out why we are the trusted partner for the world’s most constrained and saturated airports, with an expert team delivering end-to-end capacity planning assessments, taking on complex problems and enabling and simplifying decision-making.

The Passenger Terminal Expo is the world’s leading international airport conference and exhibition, with unique opportunities for visitors to see and experience the very latest products, services and technologies.

End to End Airport Capacity Assessment Consultancy with NATS and AiQ Read More »

AiQ Consulting Signs Three-Year Framework Agreement with Heathrow Airport

Heathrow Airside Simulation

AiQ Consulting has recently signed a three-year framework agreement with HAL for the annual maintenance of Airside Traffic Simulations, Ground Service Equipment (GSE) & Unit Load Device (ULD) models for Airside Operations at Heathrow Airport.

As part of this framework we will maintain an airport process, demand and capacity model with a reportable database and 2D visual vehicle simulation of all Airside Passenger Terminal & Cargo areas of Heathrow. Read More »

Working in collaboration with NATS for Constrained and Saturated Airports

AiQ Consulting is now working in collaboration with aviation experts NATS to deliver end-to-end capacity planning assessments involving passengers, baggage, vehicles, flights, GSE and airspace to airports worldwide.

The Benefits

This ‘one-stop-shop’ for clients brings many benefits. As one team providing a full airport capacity and operational efficiency analysis and simulation of the passenger journey, we can present to the airport the most efficient transition of passengers from arriving, through the terminal, onto the aircraft and arriving at their destination. We are able to solve complex capacity problems, validate processes or designs and optimise operational efficiency, whilst provide crucial stakeholder management throughout the decision making process. Read More »

Small Changes, Big Differences – A Year in review with AiQ Consulting

 

AiQ 2019 Year

It’s been another high growth year for AiQ Consulting. With groundbreaking projects, including undertaking an independent assessment of declaration capacity at Schiphol Airport; pioneering strategic relationships with trusted and respected partners in the aviation industry NATS and IATA; and further expanding our team with specialists in airport capacity, VR and more; we’ve improved our services and products to provide intelligent, holistic end to end support to our clients.

Groundbreaking Projects

Read More »

How can you find capacity in constrained and saturated airports?

Adrian Todd, our CEO, explores how the team at AiQ Consulting uses technology, simulations and thinking holistically to create smart airports and realise capacity worldwide.

Airports become constrained in one or two or all three areas – runway, stands and terminal – because the nature of the industry is to expand to use every available space. Even if you solve your capacity problems today, in a few years you will find yourself in a similar position. So how can you find, and keep finding, capacity in your airport?

How does AiQ Consulting create capacity in constrained and saturated airports? Read More »

Meet the Simulation Team – Ian MacKinnon

Ian MacKinnon, Technical Director, was part of the founding team of AiQ Consulting, using his unique skills of project management, computer aided design and data analysis, as well as his game design background, to create TransvisionAiR™ our bespoke modeling tool. In this Meet the Team blog we find out more about what projects he’s found challenging, his background and what the future holds for the company.

What was your background before joining AiQ? Read More »

How can you increase airport capacity through efficient use of existing infrastructure and resources?

We have been working with airports for many years increasing capacity using the airport’s existing infrastructure and resources. Making small changes to layout or queue management or working patterns can have a large impact on the overall system. So often ‘working the asset’ more efficiently can delay the need to upgrade it or replace it. This is a more cost effective and lower risk approach to increasing airport capacity.

Airport Demand Forecasting and Management

The rise of self-service check in and baggage handling technologies has changed the rhythms of an airport. Demand forecasting and management is therefore crucial to efficient use of capacity. Working closely with airports to better understand their existing and potential capacity, spreading demand peaks and supporting their decision-making.

Airport demand forecasting is a key AiQ service. We have developed software tools to generate and forecast future annual and peak hour traffic for airports, using regression analysis, a more accurate and realistic method than trend forecasts. It predicts traffic using additional variables that could influence statistics, such as GDP, exchange rate, fuel price, unemployment figures, and much more. It tells us which variables affect the traffic and how, in a much more robust, holistic approach. We can then efficiently use and apply this scientific methodology, creating scenario forecasting models that make future airports aware of change and able to adapt to it.

Airport Capacity Planning

Our approach to airport capacity planning is based on IATA standards, to provide optimum passenger experience. Our updated IATA Tool is a development of our existing IATA software using the new LoS requirements with sections covering processes from check-in desks and security lanes to emigration. Using IATA standards, we believe our clients can not only understand how their future airport will comply with the guidance, but it also allows us to highlight capacity and operational efficiency improvements.

We can tell airports the optimum space required per passenger at all processes and optimum waiting time per passenger at each process, a valuable device in order to understand how their airport is working and what can be done to improve it, whilst retaining existing infrastructure and resources.

Modelling Simulations

Mathematical modelling and simulations can be a massive advantage to airports wishing to increase capacity whilst using existing infrastructure and resources. Through our bespoke modelling tool, TransvisionAiR™, our AiQ team uses modelling and simulations to find out, for example, how large airport check in areas should be, whether passengers are travelling through departures in an acceptable amount of time, and if arrivals procedures are up to scratch.

The flow of passengers is critical to the success of an airport. This flow interconnects with airport operational efficiency and management, and therefore realising capacity. We use typical human behaviour in all passengers for our simulations to focus on how passengers are moving realistically through the airport. This allows us to understand how they move and therefore how to improve both their experience and the use of airport capacity.

Crucially we have a range of methods to report the results. Every project has a different treatment. The simulation output may be a simple pivot graph in a spreadsheet, a minimal 2D model or a fully realised Virtual Reality 3D simulation. The scale of the model is dependent on the scale of the decision to be made.

Understanding the options allows better management decisions, better cost benefit analysis and it reduces risk, keeping the stakeholders engaged.

Innovation

Using operational and technological innovations also has its part to play in improving airport capacity. Airports are investing more and more into new technologies that enhance and improve the passenger journey, and for good reason. Not only can these new technologies increase efficiency, but passengers also have now come to expect these types of technology in their daily lives. For example, the introduction of bio metric security can reduce congestion and improve passenger flow whilst self service bag drop and early bag stores allow passengers more flexibility about when and where they check in.

We invest in both our knowledge and application of these new technologies, including Autonomous Electric Vehicles, Self Service check-in, Robotic Baggage Build, Self Service Bag Drop & Early Bag Stores and more, in order to understand the implications for airport capacity for the installation and use of such new innovations throughout airports.

If you wish to increase airport capacity through efficient use of existing airport infrastructure and resources, take a look at our case studies to find out more about our approach, or contact us today to talk about our services.

Support The AiQ Consulting Team at the Vitality London 10,000!

A group of runners from AiQ Consulting are running the Vitality 10,000 in aid of Bliss – the charity for babies born premature or sick.

Our runners – Marina, Rachel, Matt, Nicola and Olivia – are looking forward to raising funds for this worthwhile charity. It may be a new challenge to some of the team who haven’t run a 10k before, but for our experienced runners it will be a chance to raise money for Bliss, and take in the London sights in a very different way!

Read More »

Prepare for your future airport with unique airport intelligence

Solving complex problems at constrained and saturated airports is the core of our business. Our unique, multi-disciplinary team works in partnership with you to provide a scientific approach to innovating your future airport. We are global experts in creating capacity and operational efficiency, solving complex problems and introducing new technologies.

We focus on the AiQ – the airport intelligence. We work with clients around the world to create smart airports,  turning big data into scientific approaches for decision making.

Why AiQ?

Read More »