Passengers at Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai can heave a sigh of relief as their walking distance between gates will now be minimised using Artificial Intelligence.
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said they are planning to deploy AI technology that will allow reallocation of gates of inbound aircraft. This will minimise not only the walking distance, but also the connecting time between flights. "That is going to be advantageous in terms of customer service and overcoming the vastness of the new airports," pointed out the CEO.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the Dubai City Briefing conducted by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, Griffiths said, "Everyone keeps saying that artificial intelligence will replace jobs, and we will be interacting with bots. But people want to feel that human emotion and connection."
"The idea of the technology is to take away all the things we don't like about airports. Just needing the things that we did like, such as dwell spaces, lounges, hospitality," he added.
Al Maktoum, which spans 70 square kilometres, will have five parallel runways and more than 400 aircraft gates. The entire operations at the Dubai International Airport will be shifted to Al Maktoum by 2032. This will make it the largest international airport in the world with a footfall of more than 260 million passengers.
Griffiths said Dubai Airports is hoping to bring customers at the very heart of the entire airport and airline experience. Introducing new technology can take away check-in, baggage handling, security, and immigration and put them in the background. This would mean that the customers don't have to wait in queues. “They can just enter the airport and instantly feel they're in a hospitality environment. That's the whole idea. It is not only good for our customers and the experience they get, but it's great for our business,” he added.
