We often arrive at the airport in a hurry, stressed out and anxious to board. These emotions are then amplified when we face never-ending lines in a disorganized setting. Plain and simple, we don’t like waiting. According to this year’s survey “America Thinks”, more than 34% of respondents identify the major pain point of travel to be queues and long wait times within airports.
People counting technology enables managers to effectively manage passenger traffic and line-ups by providing real time data. With people counters, management can enhance their operational efficiency and better serve the travel consumer. This is evident in the recent success at Dubai International Airport, where the wait time has seen a 10% reduction after the airport adopted people counting technology. Within the first quarter of 2017, results depict 84% of transit passengers were processed in less than 5 minutes. 87% of departing passengers were processed within 10 minutes, and arrival passengers were processed within 15 minutes (Passenger Terminal Today, 2017)
The top reasons why airports should adopt people counting technology:
Understand, monitor and project passenger’s arrival rates
Queue identification is embedded within people counting technology and it gives management the ability to view the line up in passport control, baggage check and arrivals in real time. With this kind of data, airports can coordinate service personnel, open up counters or even reorganize queues for passengers to have a seamless departure and arrival experience.
Be better prepared during peak travel times
People counters allow airports to compare traffic flow between various time frames. This will enable management to be fully prepared in advance before holiday seasons and peak travel times. People counting technology provides granular data for analysis such as pattern identification in peak travel times as well as queue formulation during week days/weekends.
People counter identify queue formulations
People counters can be leveraged with queue management. Through this technology, management can identify in any given time frame, the number of passengers waiting at terminals, baggage claim, ticketing, passport control, washrooms and retail areas. With this data at hand, the flow of passengers can be redirected to shorter lines to decrease their wait time.
Prompts immediate actions
With people counters, airport management can be notified almost immediately if passengers are building up in one specific queue or area. Attaining this knowledge allows management and staff to assist visitors in a short time frame. Having a prompt action and shorter response time increases the visitors’ overall satisfaction at the particular airport.
Help passengers set realistic expectations
Passengers tend to be less impatient when they know how long the wait time will be. The airport can notify visitors of their anticipated wait time through screens, push notifications or directly in person. By being transparent, airports can dispose of the risk of unknown anxiety caused when visitors are left in the dark without any definite answers.
Not all queues are the same
Some queues appear more crowded than they seem. Others may seem shorter however with a long waiting duration. People counting solutions can help management redirect traffic to a more efficient queue based on real time analytics. According to various studies, when redirected to a shorter queue, visitors’ perceived wait time has already decreased as everything is happening in motion.
Airport visitors always know what they want, where they want to go and when they need to get there. Airport People counter is the solution to a faster, more efficient and pleasant travel experience.
