SITA and Orange Business Services have announced they have implemented a multi-tenant edge SD-WAN platform at more than 60 airports globally through SITA’s shared connectivity platform AirportHub.
Leveraging Orange Business Services’ Flexible SD-WAN portfolio, SITA states that its Connect SDN allows multiple airlines, ground handlers and other tenants to access the same virtualized infrastructure in the cloud, delivering more scalable and agile connectivity. This drives greater cost efficiencies and supports the airline industry’s drive to migrate applications to the cloud. The system utilizes the existing AirportHub, SITA’s pre-connected connectivity platform which is already deployed in almost 600 airports worldwide and available to airlines globally.
The company claims that its solution’s agility and scalability also address unpredictable passenger and aircraft traffic volumes seen through the Covid-19 pandemic, in a cost-effective, more flexible way. It notes the system further reduces the cost of running a global network environment by making dedicated hardware platforms redundant through the use of internet connectivity. Capital expenditure is also reduced by cutting down on expensive network hardware upgrades with technological advances largely confined to software updates.
David Lavorel, CEO SITA at Airports and Borders, commented, “SITA Connect SDN is a technological innovation, leveraging state-of-the-art, future-proof technology to serve our industry needs. In addition to the cost-optimization and scalability that are so important to airlines in the current market, we expect with this new technology, airport and airline applications will move to the cloud en masse while increasing automation.”