Changi Airport taps into mobile beacons to stay in the lead

Beacons are being installed at Changi Airport as part of a trial to help travellers and visitors navigate the airport using their mobile phones and other personal devices. Along the way, they will also receive updates on retail and other commercial offerings. A small but growing number of airports, airlines and retailers are turning to beacons - devices that communicate with smartphones and other gadgets through Bluetooth - to interact with their customers.

As Changi Airport becomes bigger and busier and manpower constraints limit the size of ground staff, it is critical to leverage on technology, such as the beacons, to ensure that service standards do not slip, Changi Airport Group's Executive Vice President for Airport Management, Mr. Tan Lye Teck, told The Straits Times. From self check-in to bag tagging and automated immigration checks, the airport is on a major do-it-yourself drive.

The aim is not just to improve processes but also to handle a growing number of travellers without compromising service levels, he said. Changi Airport, which handled 58.7 million passengers last year, is expecting annual traffic growth of about three to four percent over the next few years. It will be able to handle up to 85 million passengers a year by 2019, up from 66 million now, with the opening of Terminal 4 later this year as well as the expansion of Terminal 1. The next big capacity injection after that will be at the end of the next decade, when Terminal 5 opens.