Copenhagen Optimization, the makers of the Better Airport software solution, has announced a major partnership with London Heathrow that will enable the airport to optimize the planning, execution and evaluation of its operations.
After a one-month trial period, Copenhagen Optimization and the Heathrow team identified a list of possible enhancements to the Better Airport software to match the complex operation at Heathrow.
The enhancements were minor and are delivered free of charge as part of the software-as-a-service subscription, thereby avoiding the hassle of going through lengthy change request cycles. Also, the enhancements are applicable to most airport operations across the world.
“The really exciting part of this solution roll-out is that Heathrow is future-proofing and professionalizing their entire planning process across all of security, baggage and check-in,” said Kasper Hounsgaard, managing partner at Copenhagen Optimization.
“Better Airport passed the test in one of the most complex airport operations in the world. We already have a solid base to build on and are looking forward to the partnership with Heathrow. With Better Airport, the skilled planning team at Heathrow can optimize and automate their current planning processes, including the ability to quantify any what-if scenarios with hard numbers, which will lead to better resource allocation and higher cost savings. Heathrow is ready for significant future growth.”
Heathrow Airport expects to see 78 million passengers in 2018 and to expand capacity to 130 million passengers per year in the coming years. Better Airport ensures the planning and decision process is fully professionalized across departments as Heathrow nearly doubles its passenger capacity to become one of the world’s largest international airports.
“Our team have an overall strategy called Operate to Plan, in which we create a tactical plan about nine months out and continuously update it as we get new information,” said Mark Burgess, head of operational planning, performance and transformation at Heathrow.
“Better Airport allows us to make those updates automatically and in real time based on continuously updated information. We are now able to make better informed operational decisions based on shared, common data.
“We are improving the check-in, security and baggage processes and aligning the entire planning process across operations. This will allow us to decrease wait times and continue to improve operations and passenger experience, as we prepare for the future of airport experience.”