Digital and data-driven airports

In 2017, Arup began working with Delta, the largest carrier at LGA, on a complete redesign of a new $4 billion terminal at LGA.

This seminal shift will be digital. Arup’s comprehensive centralisation of technology at the terminal will deliver a pioneering level of information access and smart operations for Delta. 

Digital wayfinding signage from the roadway to the gates will guide Delta flyers, as it anticipates their journeys with updated and customizable information, including from the building’s smart monitoring of conditions in terminal relative to their travel. QR code-accessible interactive screens throughout the terminal will support passengers on their journeys, displaying information such as maps, directions, travel time to terminal locations, wait times for lines, the nearest concessions and even updates on which bathrooms are clean and ready to use.

Arup implemented an overarching technology platform, which functions as an information broker to integrate the entirety of terminal technology the new terminal. The system gathers all data sets across the terminal’s subsystems, and displays information through dashboards that Arup customized with relevant sets of information and interfaces for different user groups.

Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport is the eleventh busiest airport in the world. Achieving the desired levels of customer service at maximum capacity was a major planning challenge, but by using the latest digital tools and techniques, our planning and analytical experts could simulate the flexibility of demand required for the new terminal. 

Building a detailed 3D simulation model, we analysed passenger and aircraft movement in line with forecast demand to replicate a ‘collision avoidance environment’. To fully test our plans, multiple passenger journeys were visualised, allowing us to integrate modern digital processes including technology-based check-ins, advanced security screening, e-gates and a new Automatic People Mover (APM) system into the design.