With the continuous innovation and in-depth application of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and big data, digital transformation has become a development consensus across all industries. On March 2nd, People's Daily wrote an article discussing the opportunities and paths for the aviation industry to achieve digital transformation, believing that it naturally possesses digital characteristics. Airlines should undergo deeper and more systematic digital transformations to achieve full coverage in various aspects such as corporate operations, customer experience, and talent cultivation, creating more value growth points. In demonstrating the impact of digital transformation on the profit growth space of the aviation industry, they directly cited data from Frost & Sullivan.
# Frost & Sullivan's Insights
Frost & Sullivan research shows that digital transformation in the aviation industry can generate an additional value of $5 to $10 per passenger annually.
Currently, exploring new development opportunities through digital transformation has become a focus for many airlines. Digital transformation in the aviation industry refers to using digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and big data to provide innovative opportunities and revenue growth dividends in areas such as operations, passenger services, marketing, and safety.Research by international consulting firm Frost & Sullivan indicates that digital transformation in the aviation industry can generate an additional value of $5 to $10 per passenger annually.
As early as the 1960s, the aviation industry used digital technology to automate the ticket booking process. In recent years, with economic development and improved information technology levels, passengers' personalized needs have become increasingly strong, leading to intensified competition among airlines. Some airlines have begun to seek breakthroughs through digital transformation. For example, Airbus launched the 'Smart Sky' big data platform, reducing costs through 'predictive maintenance' and reasonably arranging flight operations; Tokyo Haneda Airport in Japan introduced multiple robots that interact with passengers, providing services such as cleaning, guiding, and luggage handling to meet passengers' personalized needs; China's first high-speed satellite internet aircraft achieved a high-speed network connection of over 100 megabits at an altitude of ten thousand meters, allowing passengers not only to enjoy air entertainment, air e-commerce retail, and other services on mobile devices but also to live-stream and share aerial images.
During the epidemic prevention and control period, the process of digital transformation in the aviation industry accelerated, especially with the rapid development of contactless technology. For instance, Emirates Airline began adopting multi-mode contactless technology, including voice recognition, contactless control, and contactless identity scanning, greatly reducing the risk of passengers transmitting viruses due to contact with the same device. This technology can also measure passengers' body temperature, breathing, and heart rate, identify potential sick passengers, and play a certain role in warning and preventing disease transmission. Japan Airlines recently announced a collaboration with American drone company Maternity Drone to use drones to open up a new service for delivering medical supplies via express delivery. In addition, mobile office and remote communication are becoming more popular, meaning that airlines that can provide better in-flight digital connectivity services will win more customer favor.
In fact, the aviation industry naturally possesses digital characteristics. A modern aircraft engine generates hundreds of sensor signals every 10 milliseconds, producing about 1TB of data per flight, providing necessary conditions for the digital transformation of the aviation industry. However, the current digital transformation of the aviation industry is still in its infancy, only partially applying digital technology, and the investment in digitization is also limited. In the future, by undergoing deeper and more systematic digital transformations to achieve full coverage in various aspects such as corporate operations, customer experience, and talent cultivation, airlines will create more value growth points.
*This article is reprinted from 'People's Daily', authored by Zhu Yueying.
