Technologies that are Emerging in the Aviation Industry

 – Emerging technologies in the aviation sector will drive the aviation industry from the few crunches and inefficiencies that it has to a more significant future journey! The eNest aviation team has been a vital part in developing aviation-related technology, which is why the next step is to know what is next in aviation technology!

According to the ICAO report, “The total number of passengers carried on scheduled services rose to 4.5 billion in 2019, which is 3.6 percent higher than 2018.”
But according to another report by Statista, “In 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of scheduled passengers boarded by the global airline industry dropped to only 1.8 billion people. This represents a 60 percent loss in global air passenger traffic.”

The above statistics indicate, till 2019, there was a spike in the aviation industry which saw an immediate landing on the runway for half of 2020. In the last 30 years, the aviation industry has experienced a great deal of being centric to the ripple effect of digital and technology waves to being in the turbulent zone due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
The aviation industry is likely to undergo more turbulence as technological and innovation advancements are likely to unfurl, as predicted for the next 30 years.

Blockchain Technology

Blockchain technology indicates maturity and directly reflects the internet era revolution in terms of impact – disruption. The effect of disruption by blockchain technology is not limited to the financial sector, but now it is estimated to run parallel in other industries.

The aviation industry has recognized how blockchain technology could be leveraged to an advantage. With blockchain being – decentralized, immutable, driven by consensus, transparent and secure, it could fix challenges in the aviation industry. The aviation industry is archaic and complex, with many actors/entities involved in delivering travel services and products and many acting factors in terms of the customer perspective.

According to a SITA Air Transport IT Insights survey, a progressive sentiment regarding blockchain in aviation has already firmly held the ground. By 2022, it is being estimated that around 72% of airlines will be in the blockchain investment stage. Whereas 15% is being evaluated to be in the significant program stage, about 57% will be in the R&D stage.

Benefits of Blockchain in Aviation :-

Flyer Points

Blockchain in aviation can streamline earning, spending and accounting by tokenising.

Identity Management

Blockchain in aviation can also enhance identity of passenger & crew by their protecting identity.

Luggage Shipment

Blockchain being immutable can offer transparent tracking of luggage, shipment & cargo.

• • Rigorous Tracking: Blockchain in the aviation industry can reduce inter-dependence on third-party sources for tracking the status of luggage, cargo, and other shipments. The immutable system will integrate a transparent tracking system.

• • Streamlining account and payments: Another added advantage to the system would be that the accounting and payment system could be streamlined. Blockchain will permit a better space to collaborate for airlines, travel agents, and others to deliver the services efficiently. Blockchain can automate the settlement process, the booking process and move the operations towards real-time, transparent, and low-cost.

• • Managing ground operations and departures: An improvised structure could be put in place to capture real-time data for tracking could be used. Blockchain can simplify the ground operations and can present in real-time the source of delay if any.
  • Crew and Passenger Identification Management: Blockchain in aviation could enhance the inner-management experience by protecting the passenger and crew privacy by doing away with physical IDs.

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality or AR has developed as an integrating factor between virtual and physical reality. AR has been a growth partner for many industries, amongst which the healthcare industry has experienced maximum integration. Augmented Reality is a super-imposition of 3D computer-generated images onto the real world.

Uses of Augmented Reality at Airport :-

S.no.	AIRPORT	SECTOR OF AR USE	USE CASES
1.	Gatwick Airport	Passenger Navigation	It helps the passenger to navigate through the complex airport structure.
2.	London City Airport	Air Traffic Controller	Directs the airplane regarding air traffic and ensures safety.
3.	Changi Airport	Ground Services	It helps in directing the ramp handling services and other aircraft ground services.

The conventional patterns of the aviation industry are changing rapidly. They are taking off towards more technologically driven landscapes—the utilization of augmented reality or AR in the aviation industry is transforming it towards a safer industry.

Benefits of Augmented Reality in Aviation :-

Pilot Visualization

Augmented Reality in aviation provides pilots with air-traffic visualization by providing virtual images of the traffic in the air. This can help improve the safety issue for the aviation industry. AR will also lend a more comprehensive corridor view to the pilot pertaining to taking-off and landing accuracy.

Aircraft Maintenance

Augmented Reality in aviation can be integrated with aircraft maintenance since the AR technology provides 3D scanning, sensors, and others. The aviation industry could indulge in comprehensive maintenance with AR, triggering engineers with alerts to easily find dents, scratches, and other issues that might persist in the system.

Airlines Cruise Phase

Weather update, flight planning, terrain details, artificial horizons can be tailor-made with augmented reality in aviation according to the pilot’s preference, ultimately leading to more accuracy and safety.

Contactless Technology

Acceleration has always been the need of the hour and especially at this point when we are in the midst of fighting a pandemic about which we know so little. In the hour of need, rapid development in terms of technology was observed as it swiftly moved towards adopting contactless technology.

Since the aviation industry was landed off entirely for the better part of 2020, it was a requisite for the aviation industry to shift in its approach, especially when people are more fearful about contracting the virus by coming in contact with any surface.

Airlines have been pushing towards contactless technology to provide passengers with an exclusive experience. Up-gradation for a better flight experience has now focused on the following models – inflight entertainment (IFE) and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).

Pipeline: Contactless Technology in Aviation :-

Airlines and Airports	Contactless Solutions
AirAsia BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Limited)	Contactless, end-to-end airport experience is in the pipeline.
Avalon Airport American Airlines Japan Airlines Avinor	Touchless check-ins are in the pipeline for these airports and airlines.
North America’s Airports	Hudson is integrating contactless retail stores – “Amazon’s Just Walk Out Technology” stores at North America’s airports.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is empowering the aviation industry and is enhancing the sector in a multitude of ways to upgrade customer and internal management experience. As per the SITA Air IT Insights survey, the aviation industry is shifting its priorities towards artificial intelligence. The report estimates that by 2022, 89% of airlines are likely to have some AI program in place.

Artificial Intelligence in aviation can elevate speed and efficiency and decrease the workload. The aviation industry could get augmented, and complex problems of the supply chain, customer experience, prognostic tools could be solved.
Artificial Intelligence in aviation has extensive use cases like time series analysis to language processing until decision-making; everything can be governed by artificial intelligence in the future.

Pipeline: Artificial Intelligence in Aviation :-

As a response to Covid-19, the aviation industry is planning to develop artificial intelligence on data analytics. Under this innovation, the industries trying:

• To build a way to analyze traffic.
• Switching from bigger to smaller aircraft.
• Create a correlation through AI between traffic on restriction.
• The incorporation of artificial intelligence in aviation has begun in autopilot mode as well. Future flights with artificial intelligence integration are likely to have no pilots at all. The passengers will have to select the destination airport only.

Final words

As the phrase goes, “leave no stone unturned,” likewise, digital technology has left no sector untouched. The aviation sector has also evolved and improvised with the latest technologies. The technologies mentioned above are just a few great technologies that can disrupt the aviation industry’s landscape and make it more tech-centric.

At here, our world-class IT staff customizes technologies to produce result-oriented software for various industries. Our team of software developers has worked extensively in creating products for the aviation sector as well. At here, our expert IT developers have an extensive portfolio with innovative technological development in the aviation sector, which is why the emerging technologies in this sector foster our interest.

1. In the aviation industry, planning a whole flight and trip is one of the most pivotal aspects. Flight planning and trip planning are multidisciplinary streams, requiring the development of an extensive network where online flight planning could be done with utmost accuracy and speed. This discipline required our professional IT software developers to integrate a system in place that estimates and provides an analysis of the following:
   • Runway analysis
   • ETEs
   • Fuel-burning estimation
   • Weight and balance
   • Ground services
   • Quantitative details of crew and passengers, so on and so forth.


2. Another crucial product in the aviation industry that the eNest’s aviation team worked on was integrating the database, which connected worldwide airports, ICO details, country, city, longitude, latitude, time zone details, basically, it was an integration of the geography feature.