“Digital Smart Airport” System Based on Innovative Navigation and Information Technologies

An increasing number of companies are implementing digital solutions for monitoring and managing production assets, which can be used to track equipment, airport personnel, and improve the efficiency of ground maintenance operations for aircraft. According to Berg Insight estimates, the total number of monitoring objects of these systems in the world in 2019 amounted to more than 0.2 million units. At a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4%, the total number of monitored sites will reach almost 0.5 million units worldwide by 2024, including all airport asset tracking systems deployed for various types of motorized ground support equipment (GSE), non-motorized equipment (NME), as well as other engineering assets of airports and road vehicles used on the territory of airports. The airport asset monitoring market is served by a range of different types of players, ranging from companies solely focusing on monitoring and managing solutions for specific airport assets, to companies offering a more comprehensive suite of solutions for the aviation sector, and more general telematics players who also serve other industries. In the article, we will consider one of the technological solutions developed in Russia, which is already successfully used at the largest airports in Russia - “Digital Smart Airport”. The system uses digital technologies of satellite navigation GLONASS/GPS, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), end-to-end (seamless) navigation, M2M and the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT). The system is intended for implementation in airport complexes as a source of data on the movements of personnel and transport for various purposes as a tool for analyzing technological and production processes associated with servicing aviation equipment, as well as for dispatch services of these organizations. The solution was developed taking into account the specifics of business processes adopted at air carrier enterprises, and can be applied at federal and regional airports, private and municipal airfields and other facilities of the aviation industry.