Walkbase, the provider of in-store analytics for airports and retailers, launched its Walkbase Queue solution, an advanced queue management product to reduce queuing times at airports, live at Passenger Terminal Expo 2015 today (March 10).
According to the company, long queues and waiting times are considered one of the most annoying parts of passengers’ travel experiences. Poorly managed queues at check-in, security, restaurants and gates directly impact passenger experiences and retail spend.
Walkbase Queue shows queue lengths, waiting times and passenger flow in real-time by tracking passengers’ smartphones through airport wi-fi. The system is able to predict airport queuing by analysing passenger arrivals from public transport and terminal entrances and project queue lengths for those passengers based on current conditions.
“Studies have shown that an extra 10 minutes queuing at security reduces passenger spend by 30 percent on average,” said Tuomas Wuoti, CEO of Walkbase. “When you factor in the sheer volume of passengers travelling through airports globally every day, shaving just a couple of minutes off for each passenger could increase airport retail spending exponentially.
“Since our indoor analytics solution monitors entire airports, we are able to recognize queue formation. We can measure, in real-time, how many people arrive at parking halls, public transportation and terminal entrances, then use that data to automatically inform airport management of predicted queue lengths for 15 minutes later.”
The Walkbase Queue solution is already being implemented in several partner airports, and will be generally available for implementation starting from May 1, 2015.