In January 2022, Ufa International Airport, as part of its program to enhance technological sovereignty, became the first in Russia to fully transition its passenger service infrastructure to a domestically developed common-use platform that enables airline applications to interface with airport infrastructure. This platform, named "AIST", was developed by Neolabs.
Aynur Kurbangulov, Head of IT and Communications at Ufa International Airport JSC: "Ufa International Airport was one of the first in Russia to undertake a large-scale program to replace foreign software used in key production processes with domestic digital solutions. One of the most complex and significant elements of this process was the project to transition the airport's infrastructure to the domestic "AIST" platform.
The essence of this class of platform is to enable various airline DCS applications to interact with the airport's peripheral passenger service devices (baggage tag and boarding pass printers, scanners, keyboards with passport readers, etc.) via a single, unified protocol. This software allows for: instant switching between different DCS applications during passenger processing (which is important, for example, at business-class check-in counters or bag drop counters); shared use of the same equipment by different DCS applications (crucial during peak hours when numerous flights depart almost simultaneously); monitoring agent workload; and more. Until 2021, this class of software on the Russian market was represented exclusively by foreign-made systems.
Over the past year, despite all the challenges the industry has faced, Ufa International Airport set another passenger record, reaching the 4 million mark 10 days earlier than in 2021. This achievement was made possible, in part, thanks to the timely transition to the "AIST" platform, which not only replaced its foreign counterpart without any loss in passenger service quality or speed but also helped improve related production processes.
For example, by integrating the "AIST" software with the "Special Control" electronic boarding pass and passenger access control system already in use at the airport, we were able to streamline and accelerate the security check process for passengers at the boarding gates. This has become an important link in the implementation of the 'seamless travel' concept, aimed at maximizing the simplification and acceleration of the passenger journey through transport infrastructure facilities. We now have a unified view of the passenger's digital journey from the check-in counter to boarding, we can see what issues they encounter in the terminal, and we can help them resolve these issues as quickly as possible.
Over the reporting year, more than 2 million departing passengers from 13 different airlines have been processed through 65 workstations running the "AIST" system at the airport. These include both major Russian carriers (Aeroflot, S7 Airlines, Pobeda, Ural Airlines) and international ones (Turkish Airlines, Fly Dubai, Air Arabia).
Our experience in transitioning an airport's infrastructure to a domestic CUPPS platform has proven to be in high demand in the market — throughout the year, representatives from over a dozen other airports interested in rapidly replacing their existing foreign solutions visited us in person or via video conferencing to learn about our experience."
Source: AviaPort
The essence of this class of platform is to enable various airline DCS applications to interact with the airport's peripheral passenger service devices (baggage tag and boarding pass printers, scanners, keyboards with passport readers, etc.) via a single, unified protocol. This software allows for: instant switching between different DCS applications during passenger processing (which is important, for example, at business-class check-in counters or bag drop counters); shared use of the same equipment by different DCS applications (crucial during peak hours when numerous flights depart almost simultaneously); monitoring agent workload; and more. Until 2021, this class of software on the Russian market was represented exclusively by foreign-made systems.
Over the past year, despite all the challenges the industry has faced, Ufa International Airport set another passenger record, reaching the 4 million mark 10 days earlier than in 2021. This achievement was made possible, in part, thanks to the timely transition to the "AIST" platform, which not only replaced its foreign counterpart without any loss in passenger service quality or speed but also helped improve related production processes.
For example, by integrating the "AIST" software with the "Special Control" electronic boarding pass and passenger access control system already in use at the airport, we were able to streamline and accelerate the security check process for passengers at the boarding gates. This has become an important link in the implementation of the 'seamless travel' concept, aimed at maximizing the simplification and acceleration of the passenger journey through transport infrastructure facilities. We now have a unified view of the passenger's digital journey from the check-in counter to boarding, we can see what issues they encounter in the terminal, and we can help them resolve these issues as quickly as possible.
Over the reporting year, more than 2 million departing passengers from 13 different airlines have been processed through 65 workstations running the "AIST" system at the airport. These include both major Russian carriers (Aeroflot, S7 Airlines, Pobeda, Ural Airlines) and international ones (Turkish Airlines, Fly Dubai, Air Arabia).
Our experience in transitioning an airport's infrastructure to a domestic CUPPS platform has proven to be in high demand in the market — throughout the year, representatives from over a dozen other airports interested in rapidly replacing their existing foreign solutions visited us in person or via video conferencing to learn about our experience."
Source: AviaPort
