SITA Group activity report 2014

Transcription

creating value for the
air transport community
SITA GROUP ACTIVITY REPORT 2014
CREATING VALUE FOR THE AIR TRANSPORT COMMUNITY
AS TECHNOLOGY BRINGS MORE
CHANGES TO THE PASSENGER
EXPERIENCE AND INDUSTRY
OPERATIONS, SITA’S FOCUS ON
WORKING CLOSELY WITH AIR
TRANSPORT, AND ENHANCING
OUR VALUE TO THE COMMUNITY,
REMAINS AS IMPORTANT AS EVER.
2
SITA | GROUP ACTIVITY REPORT 2014
SITA BOARD DIRECTORS
4
CHAIR’S STATEMENT
6
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT
12
COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S STATEMENT
18
SITA COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES
26
OPERATING REVIEW
28
COMMUNICATIONS & INFRASTRUCTURE
29
AIRPORTS
34
PASSENGERS
38
GOVERNMENTS
42
SITA LAB
46
SITA GLOBAL SERVICES
50
HUMAN RESOURCES
52
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
54
SITA ONAIR
56
CHAMP CARGOSYSTEMS
61
SITA BUREAU SERVICES
64
AVIARETO
66
3
William Miller, Jr
Matthew Billings
Chair
Vice Chair
Hera Siu
4
Paul Coby
Omar Jefri
Tomasz Smaczny
A.T. Srinivasan
THE SITA BOARD IS TASKED WITH SUPERVISING
THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMPANY AND ITS
SUBSIDIARIES TO ENSURE THE EFFECTIVE
OPERATION OF THE GROUP.
Laurent Jossart
Myriam Meyer
Lianne Stein
Francesco Violante
Patrick Naef
SITA CEO
5
MEETING AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY NEEDS
A BRIGHTER FUTURE?
The long term health of the air
transport industry is, of course, critical
c
to the future of SITA and its members.
memb
But given the mix of global issues
dominating the headlines in recent
recen
times, can we be optimistic about
the outlook?
Economic, financial and political
instability have long been part of
the background noise that we, as air
transport industry professionals, deal
with every day – and certainly the
there is
no letup in the geopolitical risk we face.
Nor is the global economy showing
much appetite for growth. At the start of
2015, the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) downgraded its global growth
forecast for the year from 4.0% to 3.5%.
There is a widening gap between the US
economy (forecast to grow at 3.6%) and
the economies of the Euro area, revised
downwards by the IMF to just 1.2% in
2015. Asia is also slowing.
So when we hear about a brighter
outlook for aviation in the long term
it is tempered by our knowledge of
these economic and financial realities.
However, this time around it appears
that the air transport sector is showing
uncharacteristic strength.
IATA’s report at the end of last year
forecast passenger growth of 7% for
2015, well above the 5.5% trend of the
past 20 years. This has been helped by
a doubling of city pairs and a halving
of costs over the same period. The
margin on revenues remains fragile
at 3.2%, but as IATA comments, at
least that is enough to pay the bills and
service the industry’s debts.
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WHAT HAS BEEN ABUNDANTLY CLEAR THROUGHOUT THE
YEAR IS SITA’S FOCUS ON BUILDING STRONGER COMMUNITY
RELATIONSHIPS AND ENSURING THE ORGANIZATION FULFILS
ITS REMIT, SINCE ITS INCEPTION, TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS
OF THE INDUSTRY.
The halving of crude oil prices in 2014
has been a great help – and they fell
another 17% in January 2015 before
starting to rally. By the time this
Report is published, we may have seen
further rallying of prices, or even a
further decline. Whatever happens, the
global aircraft fleet has been reducing
its thirst. More than half of 2014
deliveries of new aircraft replaced
existing fleet with more fuel efficient
aircraft. A further 1,700 new aircraft
will be delivered in 2015.
Those of our predecessors who had
the foresight to create SITA recognized
the advantages that everyone in air
transport could enjoy by sharing
costs and experiences, with common
approaches and standards-based IT
and communications. They understood
the value of retaining ownership of SITA
by the industry, as the best assurance
that it would always work at the heart
of the industry for the benefit of all.
This was SITA’s raison d’être from the
outset – and it remains the case today.
So there are good reasons to be
optimistic about the future of our air
transport industry as a more prosperous
and stronger community – and that
bodes well for SITA and its members.
SITA operates a business model
based on two co-existing parts: SITA
SC, the cooperative part focused on
shared network services for members,
provided on a not-for-profit basis; and
SITA NV, the company’s commercial
entity. Commercial success is essential
but equally important is assured
delivery against the community’s needs.
STRONG COMMUNITY
RELATIONSHIPS
Against this market background,
SITA recorded another year of good
progress, meeting a number of critical
milestones and, by maintaining good
business performance, putting itself
on a firm footing to tackle the new and
rapidly evolving needs and aspirations
of the air transport community.
The CEO Report (on page 12) goes into
detail about SITA’s 2014 performance.
What has been abundantly clear
throughout the year has been SITA’s
continuing focus on building stronger
community relationships by fulfilling
its 66-year old remit to anticipate and
meet the needs of the industry.
This demands deep community
relationships. One way that SITA
ensures those relationships is
through the SITA Board and Council.
Comprising over 40 air transport
industry executives, CIOs and senior
IT professionals, the directors and
representatives who sit on the SITA
Board and SITA Council are able to
make certain SITA represents the needs
of its several hundred air transport
community members across the globe.
This is unique to SITA. Central to
maintaining that uniqueness – and the
strong, dedicated community focus
that it brings – is a governance model
that must evolve continuously to foster
community relationships and best
represent member needs.
SITA’s governance is now evolving
further for these reasons. The SITA
Council was introduced at the time
of SITA’s last major restructuring, in
2011, with the provision for a further
review after three years. In 2014,
encouraged by feedback from air
transport industry members at the
highest level, a thorough and complete
review of SITA’s governance took place,
through the work of SITA’s Governance
Review Committee, which comprised
members from both the SITA Council
and SITA Board.
Within SITA’s governance structure,
the Board and Council share a core
objective: to stand for the air transport
industry and its needs, through
the representation of SITA’s broad
membership across both bodies.
Reporting at the end of calendar 2014,
the Governance Review Committee
found that SITA’s governance remains
strong overall. It also considered that
members would benefit from more
powers for the SITA Council, with
even greater industry representation
on the Board. The Board and Council
immediately approved the proposals
and the SITA Annual General Assembly
2015 will be asked to approve a number
of procedural amendments to put them
into effect.
7
THE YEAR WAS SIGNIFICANT
AS WE BEGAN A REVIEW OF
SITA’S GOVERNANCE. THE SITA
COUNCIL WAS INTRODUCED
AT THE TIME OF SITA’S LAST
MAJOR RESTRUCTURING,
WITH THE PROMISE OF A
FURTHER REVIEW AFTER
THREE YEARS.
You can read more about this in the
SITA Council President’s statement on
page 18. But let me simply underline
that through the SITA Council, the
intention is to enhance the ability
of members to have a say on SITA’s
strategic direction, and to continue
to build SITA’s relationships with the
community to meet the requirements
of our members across the world.
THE RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR THE FUTURE WILL
ENHANCE SITA’S ABILITY
TO REPRESENT THE AIR
TRANSPORT COMMUNITY.
COMMUNITY REQUIREMENTS
Playing a pivotal role in meeting those
community requirements are SITA’s
strategic initiatives and programs, as
well as its portfolio developments. The
company also continues to innovate
collaboratively with customers and
partners through community-led
pilots and trial programs, and it helps
maintain and set the standards that
enable our massively complex industry
to function, through involvement in
global and regional industry bodies.
One of the most important strategic
initiatives announced in 2014 was the
introduction of a transformational
program to deliver new levels of
global and local network services
specifically designed for the air
transport community, focusing
on its fast-emerging and future
connectivity requirements.
8
The program is a milestone both for
the community and as part of SITA’s
history of providing communications
that facilitate the industry’s
operations. It will drive SITA’s growth
and build on the company’s already
unrivalled footprint of over 1,200
different airports.
Based on an agreement with strategic
partner Orange Business Services,
together with five regional service
providers, the program is set to
deliver a new era of connectivity
for air transport. Supporting the
enhanced network capabilities is a
new SITA Network Services Delivery
and Operations Center, which marks
a major transformation in the
partnership model between SITA and
Orange Business Services.
At the same time, the integration of
regional operators will ensure more
expertise ‘on the ground’ due to the
long-standing relationships these
operators have with local access
providers and governments. For SITA
members in the emerging aviation
markets of Africa, the Middle East
and Latin American, SITA’s regional
partners bring particular strengths in
terms of offering airlines and airports
more value and greater capacity to
meet changing business needs.
80+
CUSTOMERS OF SITA’S ATI CLOUD, WHICH PRE-CONNECTS
AROUND 400 AIRPORTS ACROSS THE WORLD. SITA HAS PLACED
MORE THAN 20 OF ITS OWN SERVICES IN ITS COMMUNITY CLOUD
ENVIRONMENT.
Having successfully launched this
critical program in 2014, SITA is
now on the path to becoming a
network integrator with an even
more compelling network and
communication services proposition in
the air transport marketplace.
This will satisfy the evolving connectivity
demands of airlines, airports and
other industry players resulting from
powerful trends not just for greater
bandwidth, but also for connectivity on
demand. It will give airline and airport
networks greater flexibility in resolving
rapid route changes or sudden peaks in
demand – as well as managing
seasonal variations.
A critical element of SITA’s network
proposition remains the Air Transport
Industry Cloud (ATI Cloud). With cloud
services disruptively changing the
data environment – both corporately
and for passengers – the air transport
industry will need agile and costeffective approaches to exploit the
cloud’s major potential. As a dedicated
community cloud platform, SITA’s ATI
Cloud infrastructure pre-connects 400
airports. SITA now has around 80-plus
customers of the ATI Cloud, and has
placed more than 20 of its own services
in its community cloud environment.
At the same time, the community is
beginning to look to the ATI Cloud
for new ways of working in specific
areas of the business, such as aircraft
operations and e-enablement, as
new technologies enter the aircraft
cabin and Software-as-a-Service
(SaaS) models make a compelling
business case.
Smaller and regional airports are also
starting to explore SITA’s ATI Cloud,
embracing ‘pay-as-you-go’ approaches
to receive the same IT capabilities as
their larger counterparts are using
today. This has been a breakthrough
for airports such as Allgäu Airport in
southern Germany, with over 4 million
passengers a year, and Sylt Airport on
the German/Danish border – which,
with around 200,000 passengers a
year, can now offer levels of service
found at international hubs.
The program builds on SITA’s
leadership and proud history of
providing the communications and
infrastructure capabilities that, for
over 65 years, have underpinned air
transport industry operations. It is
worth reflecting briefly on just how
much we as an industry depend on
SITA. Founded on the delivery of
robust, mission-critical and affordable
network services for the community,
SITA has grown to become the
industry’s leading network services
provider, uniquely covering over 200
countries and territories, as well as
95% of all international destinations.
WORKING FOR THE
COMMUNITY
SITA’s remit has always involved
working with, and for, the air transport
community. SITA is renowned and
respected for its high level of expertise
and its understanding about the
dynamics, needs and aspirations of its
markets. This is widely regarded as
one of the SITA’s key differentiators.
SITA’s portfolio is built on that knowhow. Much of this is obtained through
constant collaboration across the
industry, with customers, partners
and industry bodies – to determine and
satisfy requirements.
As a result, SITA is a recognized
technology leader with a strong
and broad portfolio dedicated to
air transport, providing a range of
services for communications and
infrastructure, airports, passengers,
aircraft communications, governments
and border security. No other provider
matches SITA’s breadth of IT and
communications services specifically
for air transport.
Constantly responding to community
needs requires continuous investment,
which the Board was able to maintain
through 2014. Let me give you four
examples.
9
SITA’S ROLE EMBRACES WORKING WITH, AND FOR, THE AIR
TRANSPORT INDUSTRY. FOR YEARS, SITA HAS BEEN RENOWNED
AND RESPECTED IN THE INDUSTRY FOR ITS EXPERTISE AND
KNOWLEDGE. THIS IS RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF SITA’S KEY
DIFFERENTIATORS.
SITA continues to pioneer in the area of
self-service, delivering an increasing
range of self-service solutions in step
with IATA’s Simplifying the Business
(StB), Fast Travel and Smart Security
programs. SITA and IATA’s agendas
remain aligned, as partners from
the outset in the development and
innovation of end-to-end self-service
solutions for its programs, and having
worked in close association with IATA
for more than 65 years to improve air
transport services.
The close association between the two
organizations has been strengthened
through a new Memorandum of
Understanding, signed in early
2015, which defines a framework for
continued cooperation and includes
a focus on further developments to
address community opportunities
and challenges.
My second example is aircraft tracking.
Following the disappearance of Flight
MH370 last year, ICAO and IATA set
up task forces to explore the tracking
issue. In late 2014, SITA launched
AIRCOM® FlightTracker. By utilizing
existing infrastructure and capabilities,
FlightTracker reduces the need for
major modification to the aircraft or for
installing new systems. The industry
has responded positively.
10
The ICAO High Level Safety Conference
in February 2015 recommended
adoption of a standard for normal
tracking that airlines can comply
with by using FANS avionics and
FlightTracker.
My third example of working for the
community concerns Air Navigation
Service Providers (ANSPs) and
the setting up of the new venture
called SITA Bureau Services (SBS).
It started in 2013, when SITA joined
with CANSO (Civil Air Navigation
Services Organisation) and Airways
(New Zealand’s ANSP) to deliver a
new aeronautical billing and revenue
management service.
The collaborative initiative will set a
new standard in billing and revenue
management across airspace, utilizing
a Flightyield application combined with
SITA’s ATI Cloud. It offers a significant
benefit to airlines in terms of billing
clarity, fewer billing disputes, and
speed of resolving disputes.
My fourth example is SITA’s
commitment to service excellence.
Air transport relies on SITA for a wide
range of mission-critical services.
Being ‘at the heart of air transport’
means that SITA must be able to
deliver, operate and support services
for the community at the highest levels
of reliability and availability. It also
means delivering to the ever-growing
list of requirements – such as the move
towards an ‘always-on’, data-driven
environment capable of delivering
real-time intelligence and analysis.
Downtime can severely impact
operations financially, operationally
and reputationally – so service
excellence is critical.
That is why SITA invests consistently
in multi-million dollar, multi-year
programs to provide global and local
capabilities. One major investment to
help improve operational performance
has now reached its concluding
milestone. SITA’s Next Generation Data
Center (NGDC) program has involved
intensive activity, with more than 100
business applications migrated to
the new environment as part of the
program’s second phase.
Migration activity continued
successfully through the year,
concluding in early 2015 with the
final three critical applications and
the subsequent closure of the two
remaining legacy data centers. A total
of 211 business applications are now
operated from SITA’s Atlanta and
London NGDCs.
The fact that efforts such as these
are producing results is evidenced by
SITA’s improved customer satisfaction
levels. Based on over 500 surveys,
the Customer First Feedback (CFF)
score ended the year at 4.10 versus
the 3.95 target. It means that 98% of
survey respondents are satisfied, very
satisfied or absolutely satisfied – a
clear message from SITA’s customers.
THANK YOU
Let me close by thanking the SITA Board
and SITA Council for their support and
wisdom. The following changes to the
Board took place at the 2014 Annual
General Assembly: I was appointed
Chair and Matthew Billings was
appointed Vice Chair. At the same time,
following his departure as Chair, Paul
Coby was re-appointed as a Director.
Patrick Naef and A.T. Srinivasan
were newly appointed as Directors,
with re-appointments for Omar Jefri
and Tomasz Smaczny. Christoph
Klingenberg and Luiz Eduardo Falco
both left the Board with our thanks.
Kevin Cai left the Board mid-term,
again with our thanks.
Board directors are integral to SITA’s
ability to define and establish the
company’s strategy, enabling it to meet
community needs. They provide wise
counsel as we all move to a new era
of communications, with a portfolio
created uniquely for the community,
and with a focus on service and
support for mission critical dataintensive operations.
I would end the statement by noting
that a strong, successful SITA is
good for air transport. Working on
our industry’s behalf as well as with
partners such as IATA, SITA is helping
air transport strip out cost and is
playing a lead role in reducing and
eliminating passenger pain points.
98%
OF SURVEYED SITA CUSTOMERS
ARE SATISFIED, VERY SATISFIED
OR ABSOLUTELY SATISFIED
WITH SITA’S SERVICES.
I look forward to the coming year
with some concern about the impact
of the economic and geopolitical
challenges we all face. But I am certain
of one thing: so long as people and
goods are carried by air transport,
SITA will provide the industry’s
underpinning technology.
William Miller
Chair of the Board, SITA
Of course, the responsibility for making
it happen is with SITA CEO Francesco
Violante and his Senior Leadership
Team. Supported by around 4,500
SITA staff, they have again delivered
sound results.
11
ENHANCING OUR VALUE TO THE COMMUNITY
SOLID PERFORMANCE
There was much to be optimistic about
in 2014. Passenger growth climbed
to 6%, ahead of the 10 year average
of 5.6%. Airline margins reached
US$20bn. Airline shares had risen in
value by 40% by year-end, and we saw
an increase of 1,315 Airbus and Boeing
aircraft in operation. Added to this, the
oil price fall promised cost reductions
for the industry.
Yet that price fall also contributed to
uncertainty as the global economy
evolved at different paces, impacting
business and customer investment
activity across SITA’s geographies.
While the US and UK saw some growth,
other economies struggled, including
the BRICs – Brazil, Russia, India and
China – with Russia creating particular
difficulties for SITA’s business.
A stagnant Eurozone failed to produce
any momentum as airlines reported
a drop in growth of international
demand, while middle eastern unrest
caused carriers to slow down their
investment programs.
Given these challenges to SITA’s
business around the world, I am
especially pleased to report that the
company performed solidly in 2014. We
made important progress in the critical
areas of growth and margin, as well
as service excellence and innovation
– in line with our business plan and
our evolution as an IT and business
solutions provider for the industry.
12
WE MADE ADVANCES IN THE CRITICAL AREAS OF PROFITABLE
GROWTH, SERVICE EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION – IN
LINE WITH OUR BUSINESS PLAN AND OUR EVOLUTION AS A
TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PROVIDER.
OUR GROWTH CONTINUES
Sustainable and profitable growth
remains a critical part of SITA’s 2020
business plan and evolution. Our
results show steadily rising revenues.
Though impacted by market conditions,
SITA’s 2014 revenue figure grew by
4.3% to US$1,710m, including overrecovery. This compares to figures of
4.0% (US$1,633m) in 2013, and 3.5%
(US$1,570m) in 2012. Excluding overrecovery and other adjustments, SITA’s
2014 revenue amounted to US$1,689m,
a growth of 3.4%.
Looking closely at the 2014 results,
our commercial entity SITA NV saw a
significant 6.2% growth in revenue to
US$1,256m, as well as a 14.2% growth
in pre-tax margin. At the same time,
the SITA Cooperative was on track,
returning an over-recovery to members
equal to 1.3% of revenue. This is a good
level of performance for the year given
the prevailing business environment.
We also saw continued growth in
four of our five solution lines, the
exception being our Communication
and Infrastructure business, which
continues its transformation to
higher value-added services and new
technologies. SITA’s Airport, Passenger,
Aircraft and Government businesses all
increased revenues against 2013.
OnAir, SITA’s in-flight communications
subsidiary (now SITA OnAir), recorded
healthy growth. Its revenues rose by
52%, helped by the increasing number
of activated aircraft (430 by year end)
as well as a marked increase in the
average revenue achieved per aircraft.
An important marker for the future
was the launch of OnAir’s in-flight
services on Qatar Airways’ A380 fleet
and a similar agreement with Emirates
for its full A380 fleet. Our CHAMP
Cargosystems subsidiary in the
meantime maintained its revenue level,
helped by good performance from
existing contracts in line with recovery
in the air freight market, as well as new
contracts and renewals.
SECURE FOUNDATIONS
Other results across the business
helped secure SITA’s financial
foundations as the basis for future
growth. Backed by robust cost
management, margins improved, with
pre-tax margin some 21.3% above last
year’s figure, showing a positive pattern
during recent years of 20.3% in 2013
and 16.4% in 2012 (before over recovery
and other adjustments). In addition,
SITA’s cash position remains sound,
with good cash collection performance
during the year, a free cash flow figure
of US$ 44.2m, over US$400m worth of
credit lines and minimal debt.
It is a mark of SITA’s strategy and core
strength that we continue to perform
and grow in the face of economic and
geopolitical challenges – particularly
given the susceptibility of air transport
to disruption. This performance is
important to our members, and to the
global air transport community, as it
enables us to fund capital investment
for future growth, such as the
US$140m invested during 2014.
We can also maintain expenditure on
research and development, which is set
above the industry average at around 7%
of revenues over the next three years.
It was a good year for sales too, again
especially given the market context. All
SITA Geographies exceeded their sales
targets. I believe our performance
demonstrates that SITA’s geographic
organizational structure, introduced
more than two years ago, is working.
It places more decision-making locally,
and it enables SITA staff to build strong
local relationships with customers.
We are also investing significantly in
specialists to support our customer
relationships. Our structure and
approach ensure that the focus remains
on customer requirements, which is
providing value for our customers and
the wider air transport community.
Across all Geographies, the level of
retention business was remarkably
strong, at almost 50% above budget.
It included contracts with Alitalia,
FedEx and Qantas for aircraft
communications; the New Zealand
Department of Labour for iBorders;
CUTE renewals in Bogotá, Cancún,
Lima and Rio de Janeiro; passenger
services for Biman Bangladesh
Airlines, Meridiana and Transaero
Airlines; and many more. Some of
the largest network renewals were
for Aeroflot, American Airlines,
Saudi Arabian Airlines, South African
Airways and United Airlines.
13
SITA’S INVESTMENTS AND INITIATIVES ARE CENTERED ON
DEVELOPMENTS AND INNOVATIONS WITH COMMUNITY-WIDE
VALUE, TO MEET REQUIREMENTS DRIVEN BY EMERGING TRENDS
AND TECHNOLOGIES.
New business proved harder to win,
due to the economic challenges faced
by customers, but we nevertheless
exceeded target. Some of the larger
new business contracts included
airport systems for Iraqi Airways,
the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal,
and Japan’s new Kansai International
Airport; network services for Etihad
Airways; cargo services for Cathay
Pacific Airways; and a number of
Horizon passenger services contracts
– among them Jamaica Airways and
Transasia Airways. In addition, we saw
major border management contracts
during the year, including business
with the governments of Myanmar and
Sri Lanka.
SITA’S EVOLUTION
Looking forward, SITA’s 2020 Vision
and Strategy is driving the company’s
continued evolution. Its investments
and initiatives are centered on
developments and innovations with
community-wide value, to meet
requirements driven by emerging
trends and technologies. Much of the
industry’s IT activity is taking place in,
and around, the airport and aircraft –
where SITA is playing a leading role.
SITA’s 2020 focuses on six areas.
First, in the area of communications,
we embarked on a transformational
program in 2014 to meet the industry’s
future connectivity demands. As these
demands increase exponentially,
we have set up a new agreement
with our partners Orange Business
Services and regional providers to
deliver connectivity using new models,
stronger country coverage, more
bandwidth and more flexibility. The
program is adding a range of new
value-added communications services
to our portfolio. (See the Chair’s
statement, page 6.)
Second, in 2014 we set about creating
a single Aircraft business. Called SITA
OnAir, and announced in early 2015, it
combines the strengths of our Aircraft
Services and OnAir businesses.
Aircraft Services brings to SITA
OnAir an impressive track record in
service quality and strong results.
It leads the market in air-to-ground
communications, including aircraft
operations, data management and
ICT operational services for nearly
400 customers. One of its latest
developments is in the critical area
of aircraft tracking, as the Chair
statement explains.
OnAir, in the meantime, has
demonstrated clear expertise in
innovation and integration, building a
significant brand presence in the cabin
connectivity market, while achieving
strong year-on-year growth.
14
The strengths, skills and capabilities
of each part of this new organization
position SITA OnAir uniquely in
addressing the growing requirements
of new generation aircraft. These
so-called ‘connected aircraft’ – which
generate vast amounts of data inflight and on the ground – present
airlines with major challenges in how
to distribute, process and use data to
improve operational performance. SITA
OnAir is the first to offer nose-to-tail
connected aircraft solutions through
a single supplier, on a vendor-neutral
basis, and regardless of fleet size,
route structure or aircraft type.
Third, we are equipping airports
with the latest communications
and IT. It includes shared, resilient
and cost-effective common IT and
communications infrastructure, through
AirportHub®, which is now present at
around 200 airports worldwide. The
initiative involves investing significantly
in AirportHub® for an additional 450
mid-sized airports, giving these
airports the same levels of connectivity
as their larger counterparts.
With airports being the touchpoint
of the industry’s ecosystem, our
airport business continues to lead
the market, providing a full range of
services from infrastructure to data
analysis, and focusing on innovations to
enhance passenger handling, process
optimization and resource management.
Advanced communications at the
airport are critical to exploiting the
explosion of data from passengers,
airport stakeholders, and new
generation aircraft. The need to mine
and analyze this data is giving rise to
SITA’s growing business intelligence
and analysis capabilities, along with
other services to capitalize on the
opportunities presented by better
communications and more readily
available data. One such service
includes SITA’s Universal Data Service,
which aggregates airport data and
provides passengers with up-to-date
notifications for day of travel services
and contextual information, depending
on their location.
The fourth area driving SITA’s
evolution is government and border
management. We are optimizing
airport and security processes with
the introduction of Automated Border
Control (ABC) kiosks and gates,
provided by SITA’s expanding and
market-leading Government business.
SITA’s self-service border control
kiosks are now available at airports
across the US, including Miami, JFK
New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia,
San Francisco, Tampa and more.
Europe is now adopting border
automation too, one 2014 contract
being for SITA’s ABCGates at Rome
(Fiumicino) International Airport.
In addition we have seen the continued
rise of SITA’s services for Advance
Passenger Information Systems (APIS)
and Advance Passenger Processing
(APP), with growing levels of interest
in integrated systems encompassing
pre-travel authorization and
biometrics. The year saw three new
government customers, including
Sri Lanka and Myanmar, as reported,
as well as Oman. Today, some 27
governments use SITA’s border
management solutions. (See
Operating review, page 28.)
Fifth is SITA’s multi-year strategic
program to provide the air transport
community with a competitive choice
in the passenger space, by providing
airlines of all tiers with a powerful,
GDS neutral, alliance compliant, third
generation Passenger Services System
(PSS) and distribution platform. Our
rollout of the Horizon PSS portfolio,
which has over 150 airline customers,
continued during 2014.
This was boosted with the introduction
of a new ‘blended’ approach,
responding to customer requests for
new generation Horizon components
to be introduced as they become
available. Modules can be put in place
as separate components and blended
with the customer’s existing systems.
Horizon played a prominent role in Air
India’s quest to join the Star Alliance.
SITA’s PSS ensured the exacting
Star Alliance standards and airline
expectations were met, including
upgrading processes to match those of
existing Star Alliance partners. Among
several key contracts for Horizon PSS
were a renewal by Russia’s Transaero
Airlines as well as a new contract with
Taiwan’s TransAsia Airways. The year
saw a string of important Horizon PSS
cut-overs too, including those by Winair,
Fly Jamaica and Greece’s Ellinair.
Sixth, and finally, cloud-enabled
business models continue to play a
vital role in pioneering new services,
with a focus on new core industry
processes. This includes SITA Bureau
Services (SBS), our new cloud-based
venture initially for over-flight charges,
which is simplifying billing for the
benefit of airlines and Air Navigation
Service Providers. SBS will also focus
in the future on airport charges, and
it promises to be a significant and
expanding part of SITA’s business in
the years ahead.
Our subsidiary CHAMP Cargosystems,
as provider of the world’s largest cargo
management system, continues to
perform solidly. It is now also seeing
new opportunities in providing its
cargo IT platform via the ATI Cloud,
as was the case with a Cathay Pacific
Airways Cargospot contract, which
sets a template for the future. SITA’s
ATI Cloud now has over 80 customers
and is able to deliver more than 20
SITA products.
15
PART OF SITA’S ROLE IN ADDING VALUE TO THE AIR TRANSPORT
COMMUNITY IS TO WORK WITH CUSTOMERS AND INDUSTRY
PARTNERS TO EXPLORE NEW TECHNOLOGIES OF POTENTIAL
BENEFIT TO THE COMMUNITY.
CUSTOMER SERVICE AND
OPERATIONS
Underpinning all of these areas
is SITA’s long-term investment in
customer service and operations.
This is a key differentiator for SITA
and of major value to the air transport
community. Fulfilling our remit as
a community provider, we strive
constantly to deliver the levels of
service excellence required by a
connected and mission-critical air
transport environment.
We are unique in providing this level
of service, globally and locally, on the
back of major investments in service
excellence, in areas such as Command
Centers, Next Generation Data Centers
and Service Desks. We reached a
landmark in 2014 with the migration
of SITA’s applications portfolio to
the new data centers. As the Chair’s
statement notes, the investments we
are making are now proving their value
in enhancing operational performance,
which is vital to our customers and the
industry at large.
Of course, SITA’s people in the field are
also a differentiator in our customer
service capabilities, having built a
reputation around the world of going
the extra mile to ensure continuity and
quality of service. Today, we remain
unique in having a 2,000-strong global
service team, many of them on the
ground, dedicated solely to service
excellence within air transport.
16
The drive for service excellence
remains central to the Transformation
Program for SITA’s customer services
and operations (see SITA Global
Services, page 50). Program highlights
include ISO 20K certification in 2017,
driven by best practice processes, as
well as further technology investments
in areas such as outage prevention and
proactive detection.
That focus on excellence is mirrored
in SITA’s software engineering
capabilities, which also saw significant
progress in 2014 with a CMMI level
3 rating. Many governments are
beginning to expect IT providers to have
this for certification for ‘Capabilities
Maturity Model Integration’. It demands
the strictest and most in-depth
appraisal available from the CMMI
institute. With airlines also starting to
request this certification, this is a huge
milestone for SITA.
AN EYE ON THE FUTURE –
INNOVATION
As SITA strives to continuously
simplify and streamline the end-to-end
passenger journey, innovation plays
a critical role. Part of SITA’s value to
air transport is our collaboration with
customers and industry partners to
explore new technologies across the
journey, for the potential benefit of the
community at large.
We demonstrated our technology
leadership in a number of areas during
the year, including co-innovation with
our ecosystem of customers and
partners – such as Orange Business
Services – as well as participation in
industry research programs.
Through the SITA Lab – described
in one journal as the Google X of the
air transport industry – we remain
at the forefront of testing how new
technologies, at every step of the
journey, can enable a ‘connected
traveler experience’ for the air
transport community. For example,
research into Bluetooth low energy
beacons highlighted great potential
for the technology to trigger better
passenger experiences and efficient
passenger flow.
Based on SITA’s work with airlines and
airports across the world – including
American Airlines at Dallas Fort Worth
and San Francisco International, as
well as others at London Heathrow
Airport, Shanghai Hongqiao
International Airport, Copenhagen
Airport and Miami International Airport
– we saw the necessity for an industry
approach to beacon deployment.
To ensure consistent industry-wide
deployment, SITA introduced a
Common-Use Beacon Registry and has
been working with airports, airlines,
IATA and ACI to define standards
around beacon deployment and use.
The Lab made continued progress
collaboratively innovating with
customers in many other areas, such
as Near Field Communication (NFC),
mobile boarding passes, drones and
more. One headline-grabbing initiative
involved the SITA Lab’s exploration of
wearable technology – including smart
glasses and smart watches. A trial of
Google Glass and Sony SmartWatch
with Virgin Atlantic attracted particular
interest globally. Wearable computing
promises great potential in the areas of
operations, customer services, security
and immigration in the air transport
industry, based on ruggedized glasses
suited to industry use cases.
OUR RESULTS SHOW STEADILY RISING REVENUES OVER
THE YEARS, IN LINE WITH SITA’S GROWTH STRATEGY.
VALUE IN THE YEARS AHEAD
Through initiatives like these, we are
seeing the early stages of a profound
change to our inter-dependent aviation
ecosystem, linking stakeholders and
assets, and providing the ability to
monitor, measure, warn and report in
real-time. This will transform practices
in areas such as the passenger
experience, airport and aircraft
operations, and aircraft e-enablement.
In this connected environment, air
travel will depend on vast amounts
of data for intelligence and analysis.
The Internet of Things will connect
everything on the ground and in the
air that can benefit from a connection.
This will combine with the growing
impact of technologies like mobile
services, cloud computing, selfservice, security and biometrics, and
wearable computing.
SITA’s strategy is addressing this
dynamic emerging market, with a
focus on the end-to-end journey and
a commitment to delivering value
for the air transport community, as
one of SITA’s corporate objectives.
For that reason, we continue to work
closely with our members and the
industry to introduce the next wave of
technologies – often through common
approaches to community issues,
based on integrated technologies and
standards that optimize airline and
airport processes and ensure interdependence, anywhere in the world.
I would like to thank those who make
this possible. First, our people. The
commitment of SITA staff to this
industry and community is well
recognized across the world, through
the many acts of ‘going beyond the call
of duty’ that we hear of from customers
and colleagues. Their commitment
is also reflected in the extensive
volunteering and charitable activities
which they support under the umbrella
of our corporate social responsibility
programs. Their dedication makes a
difference and adds value across the
communities in which they work.
Finally, I would like to express my
personal thanks for the support of the
SITA Council and SITA Board during
a year that was, as always, full of
challenges. And thanks also to my
colleagues on the Senior Leadership
Team. Their total commitment to SITA’s
vision, ambition and the community
sets the template for everyone –
and ensures that SITA maintains its
leadership position in air transport.
Francesco Violante
Chief Executive Officer, SITA
SITA is treading this path successfully,
and our intention is to deliver even
greater value in the years ahead. As
you have seen, we are well positioned
to do so. Our performance and financial
position are strong. Guided by our
business plan, we are on course to
achieve our 2015 objectives – and to
evolve as an organization capable of
realizing our 2020 vision and ambitions.
17
TRULY REPRESENTING AIR TRANS
TRANSPORT
AN ESSENTIAL PART OF
GOVERNANCE
The SITA Council has completed its
third year as the representative body
for SITA’s 430 or so members – and I
am pleased to confirm that its role as
an essential part of the governance of
the organization has been reaffirmed
through activities during the year and
through the work of the Governance
Review Committee.
The Council was created as part of the
major restructuring of the business in
2011, in order to provide a strong voice
for SITA’s members, geographical and
industry-specific groups. It represents
members’ requirements, regional
and cultural perspectives to the SITA
Board, SITA subsidiaries, strategic
alliances, industry associations and
user groups. It is the Council’s job to
listen to members and ensure their
views are acted upon.
Being the representative body of the
SITA membership, the SITA Council
plays an all-important role that
uniquely differentiates SITA in the
industry. By representing members, it
means that SITA remains at the heart
of the air transport community, staying
in close and constant touch with its
real requirements.
Acting on behalf of SITA’s members,
Council Representatives work with the
SITA Board and the Senior Leadership
Team to identify and address
challenges that face the air transport
community. They help explore
opportunities for improvement and
change. And they ensure the sharing
of experience and knowledge of SITA’s
products and services to create a more
resilient, successful and profitable
industry.
18
COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES ACT WITH THE SITA BOARD AND
THE SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM TO IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS
CHALLENGES THAT FACE THE AIR TRANSPORT COMMUNITY.
The Council is composed up of 34
representatives: 20 from SITA’s
top 20 customers, 10 from airline
geographical groups (such as the Latin
America and Caribbean Group) and
four from industry-specific groups
(such as the Airport Group).
The Council has three core roles:
•
•
•
Through its Nomination Committee,
the Council proposes: individuals
as Board directors; the President;
and the Deputy President of
the SITA Council. All of these
appointments are proposed and
approved at the SITA Annual
General Assembly in June.
The Council’s Membership
Committee deals with SITA
membership issues – the nittygritty of membership policy and
rules, admissions and expulsions.
It also oversees the Membership
Program’s work in recruiting new
members and engaging with existing
members (see ‘Welcome to our new
members in 2014’ on page 24).
The Council then represents the
views and concerns of members
in offering expert advice and the
benefits of experience to the SITA
Board and Senior Leadership
Team. For example, the Council is
regularly consulted on the direction
of key strategies relating to core
sectors and solution lines – such
as the connected aircraft and new
as
d st
di
s
distribution
capabilities.
At the 2014 Annual General Assembly,
I was elected President of the Council
for 2014/15, replacing Christoph
Klingenberg, who performed an
invaluable role in helping define the
Council from its inception. Omar
Jefri, from Saudi Arabian Airlines,
was elected Deputy President,
replacing Chris Gavin. The Council
also recommended the appointment to
the SITA Board as Member Directors:
Omar Jefri, Patrick Naef, Tomasz
Smaczny and A.T. Srinivasan, as well as
Paul Coby, as an Other Director.
A YEAR OF ACTION
The year’s work for the Council was
handled through committees and
member representation, as well as
by the Council’s key role on the SITA
Governance Review Committee, which
I chaired as President of the Council.
Two landmark initiatives stand out
for the year under review: SITA’s
governance and the creation of a new
Air Transport Community Foundation
charitable fund. Both of them highlight
how SITA strives to provide value to the
air transport community. Given that
SITA’s corporate objectives now place
significant emphasis on ‘Community
Value’ – a principle which as Council
President I unreservedly endorse –
initiatives like these are vital.
First, governance: the Governance
Review Committee, set up jointly by
the SITA Council and SITA Board,
completed its work. The Review was
anticipated back in 2011, as part of the
new structure. It was also called for
by a number of senior airline CEOs
in May 2014. A Review Committee
was agreed by the SITA Council and
Board and advised to members at the
2014 AGA. I was asked to chair the
process and the Committee agreed to
report back by December 2014, so that
recommendations could be reviewed
and any changes needed taken to the
2015 Annual General Assembly. Those
deadlines were all met and a detailed
report has been circulated to members
in advance of the AGA.
The Review gets to the heart of the
relationship between SITA and its
members – and to the unique model
through which SITA is governed and
acts on behalf of its members and the
air transport community as a whole.
It also makes clear the centrality
of the SITA Council as a key part of
the decision-making processes at a
strategic level, not least through the
Council’s nomination and approval of
SITA Board directors.
19
THE GOVERNANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE CONCLUDED THAT
SITA’S TWO-TIER STRUCTURE IS WORKING AND IS APPROPRIATE.
IT RECOMMENDS RETAINING AND REFINING THE STRUCTURE TO
FURTHER ENHANCE SITA’S UNIQUE ABILITY TO REPRESENT THE
AIR TRANSPORT COMMUNITY.
After widespread consultation among
members, the Review Committee
concluded that the 2011 two-tier
structure for SITA is working
and should remain in place. They
agreed that it is appropriate for the
membership. They then suggested a
number of areas where refinements
could be made in the interests of
members. They included:
•
Stronger powers for the Council,
to enhance the representation of
SITA’s membership.
•
Some refinements to the
composition of the Board and
the way in which appointments
are made.
•
Greater transparency, particularly
relating to Board nominations.
•
Streamlining of the Annual General
Assembly – including the proposal
that the SITA Council President
should be the default proxy holder,
in place of the AGA Chair.
20
Where needed, these proposals are
being brought to the 2015 Annual
General Assembly and I hope they will
be unanimously approved. They add
extra power to the overall governance
of SITA – and to the primacy of
members within that process. They
also reaffirm the role of the SITA
Council as the best conduit for
communication between members and
SITA on key issues of governance. The
Council is there to safeguard member
interests and, with these proposed
changes in place, we will be able to do
so more effectively and transparently.
I certainly commend acceptance of the
proposals to members.
Second, the Council has played the
leading role in creating the new SITA
Air Transport Community Foundation,
to which it gave the go-ahead in
December 2014. Council discussions
about the Foundation first began in late
2013, when it was also decided to focus
initially on education and technology
in Africa. In June 2014, the Council
agreed an annual fund of US$500,000 a
year, as well as providing guidance and
oversight for the types of organizations
to be considered.
In December last year the Council
agreed Foundation recipients for 2015,
starting with the support of skills
development and helping students and
schools to gain access to technology.
It will work with established
organizations, including ComputerAid
International, Promoting Equality
in African Schools (PEAS), and the
University of the Witwatersrand.
In the first year of operation it is
expected that the program will result
in the creation of around 30 computer
labs in schools, as well as a number
of student grants. These will include
three to five-year grants for a number
of graduate and post-graduate
positions. A further project will provide
solar power to two schools. In its first
year, the Foundation hopes to improve
the educational life of more than
10,000 students.
The first computer labs will be rolled
out to schools in Uganda and Ethiopia
throughout 2015, with students in South
Africa being able to benefit from grants
from August. Ongoing investment by
the Foundation will support student
development in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM)
education, and through the postgraduate scholarship will encourage
research and graduate flow into the air
transport industry in Africa.
THE COUNCIL IS THERE TO SAFEGUARD MEMBER INTERESTS
AND, WITH THE PROPOSED CHANGES IN PLACE, WE WILL BE
ABLE TO DO SO MORE EFFECTIVELY AND TRANSPARENTLY.
Half of the annual fund will be
contributed by SITA SC with a resulting
very minor reduction in over-recovery.
The balance of the fund will be
provided by SITA NV, the commercial
arm of SITA.
Management and disbursement of the
fund will be handled by the UK-based
Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), acting
on behalf of the SITA Council. The
benefits of using CAF include a fully
managed service, transferred risk at
the point of donation, due diligence
conducted on selected recipient
organizations, ease of reporting, and
a straightforward and modest fee
structure.
This is an important initiative that
reflects SITA’s involvement at a local
level from its earliest days and again
underlines how SITA can provide value
to the community – by sharing our
resource and expertise with those
who are striving to develop their own
related technology and communitybased skills. You can read more about
SITA’s Corporate Social Responsibility
work on page 54.
They have been instrumental in helping
the development of the Foundation, and
the identification and assessment of
potential organizations to support. The
SITA Council is committed to updating
the SITA Annual General Assembly
each year on the achievements and
progress of the Foundation’s work.
21
ANY MEMBERSHIP
ORGANIZATION IS ONLY AS
STRONG AS ITS MEMBERS,
AND ONLY LASTS WHILE ITS
WORK IS RELEVANT AND
OF BENEFIT TO MEMBERS.
ON THAT BASIS, SITA
REMAINS STRONG.
MEMBERS BENEFIT FROM
SITA’S INNOVATIVE CULTURE,
AS WELL AS ITS SINGLE
FOCUS ON INFRASTRUCTURE,
APPLICATIONS AND
SERVICES THAT PROVIDE
THE FOUNDATIONS FOR A
STRONGER INDUSTRY OVER
THE LONG TERM.
NEW FACES ON THE COUNCIL
A number of changes were made to the
SITA Council Representation during
the year.
Meenakshi Agrawal of Mumbai
International Airport, representing the
Airport Group, replaced Francis Rajan
of Bangalore International Airport.
Karamu Ford of American Airlines,
replaced Susanna Brown. Jassim Haji
of Gulf Air, representing the Middle
East & North Africa Group 1, replaced
Joshua Koshy of Qatar Airways. Anil
Sondhi of Air India replaced Shyam
Sundar Krishnamurti but was replaced
by Sunita Marwah later in the year.
Phinda Ncala of South African Airways
replaced Eugene Knoesen. Roland
Schuetz of Lufthansa replaced
Christoph Klingenberg. Nelson Tapia
of LATAM, representing the Latin
American & Caribbean Group, replaced
Vicente Tredinick of Lan Airlines.
Brant Venice of United Parcel Service
replaced Chris Gavin. Saroj Yuttatri
of Thai Airways, representing the
South Asia & India Group, replaced
Mohammad Shah Newaz of Biman
Bangladesh Airlines.
Rob Putter from Etihad Airways joined
the Council. Alexander Pleshakov,
Transaero, stepped down. Osama Anwar
Elsisi of Egyptair, representing the
Middle East and North Africa Group 2,
replaced Hassan Nour. Finally, we were
joined by Daniel Ho of Qatar Airways.
22
THE VALUE OF SITA
MEMBERSHIP
SITA and its members bring more
than 65 years’ experience to the
development and operation of the
technology systems that enable people
and goods to cross the world. It is
a formula that has stood the test of
time. By working together we get more
done, better. Membership is based
firmly on the belief that it is best to
share those things that help enhance
safety, improve service and cut costs
while not interfering with the need for
competition as the key driver
of excellence.
Members benefit from SITA’s single
focus on infrastructure, applications
and services that provide the
foundations for a stronger industry
over the long term. They share in
continuing cost reductions on network
services, and they benefit from the
reduced cost implicit in the use of
community solutions. And, whether
large or small, they can plan and
operate their services in the knowledge
that SITA offers services everywhere,
including remote and challenging
locations. Whether at the leading edge
of innovation through SITA Lab, or
through innovations at a product level,
members are also actively involved at
an early stage with ground-breaking
initiatives, many of which are literally
changing the nature of air travel.
GIVEN SITA’S EMPHASIS ON ‘COMMUNITY VALUE’ – A PRINCIPLE
WHICH AS COUNCIL PRESIDENT I ENDORSE UNRESERVEDLY
– INITIATIVES LIKE THE GOVERNANCE REVIEW AND AIR
TRANSPORT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ARE VITAL.
Perhaps above all, members benefit
from neutrality and independence.
SITA is a geographically non-specific
organization with representation
from more than 140 countries and
territories. This provides a unique
ability to build bridges. SITA’s focus is
always on the needs of its members
and the community.
With the amendments to the
governance structure proposed at
the 2015 Annual General Assembly,
the value of SITA membership will be
further secured and enhanced.
NEW MEMBERS AND
MILESTONES
We welcomed five new SITA members
in 2014: TATA SIA Airlines (India),
Hermes Aviation Ltd (Malta), Thai
Smile Airways (Thailand), and Travel
& Distribution companies Automated
Systems Co (Kuwait), and Relax Hong
Kong Aviation Technology (Hong Kong).
Once again, we also celebrated
the anniversaries of long-standing
members. A fuller list is shown on page
25, but the longest of long-standing
included: Alitalia, Egyptair, Lufthansa
and TAP (60 years); Aeromexico,
Avianca, Icelandair dba Flugleidir,
Iraqi Airways, LATAM Airlines, and
Thai Airways International (50 years):
Surinam Airways and Transportes
Aereos del Mercosur (40 years).
As was noted last year, that we have
so many long-standing members is
not only proof of their own strength
as airlines, but also provides a
strong foundation for the culture of
community that has defined SITA since
it was founded in 1949.
The most important milestone for
the year – that has been very much
the focus of my Report – was the
conclusion of the Governance Review
and the evolutionary proposals that
I have outlined. Any membership
organization is only as strong as its
members, and only lasts while its work
is relevant and of benefit to members.
On that basis, SITA remains strong,
supporting an industry that is gradually
becoming more resilient and profitable
– and that, through bodies such as the
SITA Council, has a closer link to its
members through a robust and proven
governance process.
Jappe Blaauw
President, SITA Council
23
WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS IN 2014
Name
Country
Sector
Vistara
India
Airline
Automated Systems Co.
Kuwait
Travel & Distribution
Hermes Aviation, Ltd.
Malta
Airline
Thai Smile Airways
Thailand
Airline
Relax Hong Kong Aviation
Technology Limited
Hong Kong
Travel & Distribution
24
MEMBER MILESTONES
Member name
Years
Member name
Years
Member name
Years
Alitalia
60
European Air Transport
25
Qatar Airways
20
Lufthansa
60
EVA Airways
25
Safair (Proprietary)
20
Egyptair
60
Jet2.com
25
TravelSky Technology
20
TAP
60
Lao Airlines
25
Aeromexico
50
SilkAir (Singapore)
25
Beijing Aviation Ground
Services
10
Avianca
50
Transportes Aeromar
25
Bluebird Cargo
10
Icelandair
50
Vietnam Airlines
25
Etihad Airways
10
Iraqi Airways
50
Windward Islands Airways Intl. 25
LATAM Airlines
50
Aeroejecutivo
20
Thai Airways International
50
Aeromexpress
20
Surinam Airways
40
Air Caraïbes
20
Transportes Aéreos del
Mercosur
Air Nostrum
20
Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen
International Airport Investment
5
Development & Operation Inc
40
Fiji Airways
20
Jin Air Co.
5
Air Contractors
30
BAE Systems Electronics
20
LGS Handling
5
Ariana Afghan Airlines
30
Berjaya Air
20
Mumbai International Airport
5
Nippon Cargo Airlines
30
Borispol State Int’l Airport
20
Olympic Air
5
Virgin Atlantic Airways
30
Dniproavia
20
Taban Airline Company
5
Abacus International Pte Ltd
25
Air Namibia
25
Expeditors International
of Washington
20
Airbus S.A.S.
25
Donavia
20
Amadeus IT Group
25
Kobenhavns Lufthavne
20
Binter Canarias
25
MRA Systems
20
Cayman Airways
25
Nicaragüense de Aviación
20
DHL Worldwide Network
25
Polar Air Cargo Worldwide
20
Druk-Air
25
Presidential Flight
20
Asiana IDT
5
BIAL
5
Columbia Jet Service
5
25
Jappe Blaauw
Omar Jefri
KLM
President
Saudi Arabian Airlines
Deputy President
Meenakshi Agrawal
Kemeredin Bedru
Matthew Billings
Hugh Noel Dunleavy
Osama Anwar Elsisi
(Mumbai International
Airport)
Representing the Airport
Group
(Ethiopian Airlines)
Representing the
Sub-Saharan Africa Group
(Virgin Atlantic Airways)
Representing the
Northern Europe Group
Malaysia Airlines
(Egyptair)
Representing the Middle
East & North Africa Group 2
Greg Gilchrist
Jassim Haji
Philip Hawker
Luc Hennekens
Daniel Ho
(Sabre)
Representing the
ICT Group
(Gulf Air)
Representing the
Middle East & North
Africa Group 1
British Airways
Qantas Airways
Qatar Airways
Sunita Marwah
William Miller, Jr
Patrick Naef
Phinda Ncala
Rob Putter
Air India
(United Airlines)
Representing the
North America Group
Emirates
South African Airways
Etihad Airways
26
Anton Eremin
Karamu Ford
Richard Forson
Jay Fredericks
Takayuki Fujiwara
(Siberia Airlines)
Representing the CIS
& Russia Group
American Airlines
Cargolux
Delta Air Lines
All Nippon Airways
Laurent Jossart
Jean-Christophe
Lalanne
Qiang Li
Joseph Locandro
Alessandro Loddo
Cathay Pacific Airways
Alitalia
Air France
(Air China)
Representing the North
Asia Pacific Group
Roland Schuetz
Nelson Tapia
Brant Venice
George Wang
Saroj Yuttatri
Lufthansa
(LATAM Airlines)
Representing the Latin
America & Caribbean
Group
United Parcel Service
Singapore Airlines
(Thai Airways)
Representing the South
Asia & India Group
(Luxair)
Representing the
Southern Europe
Group
27
operating Review
COMMUNITY VALUE
COMMUNITY RECOGNITION
Creating the most value for the air transport
community is central to SITA’s business.
•
IT Company of the Year, 2015, for the second time in
four years, Air Transport News.
Owing to SITA’s unique membership structure, the
company’s strategic direction, developments and
collaborative innovations are driven directly by the
air transport community and its requirements.
•
Best Airport IT Service Provider 2014, Emerging
Markets Airport Awards.
•
Aviation IT Service Provider of the Year 2014, African
Airlines Association, for the second year running.
With a remit that has always involved working for
air transport, SITA tackles community issues with
common approaches and shared services, with a
focus on reducing costs, increasing efficiencies
and introducing new ways of working.
•
Best Passenger Assistance Initiative, for Virgin
Atlantic’s Google Glass project, and Best Mobile
Technology Initiative for American Airlines’
beacon deployment at Dallas Forth Worth Airport,
2014 Future Travel Experience Global.
•
Smart Technology Award, The Wearables 2014, SITA
and Virgin Atlantic Airways.
•
No. 1 for innovation, 2014 Australian Airports
Association’s National Airport Industry Awards:
Melbourne International Airport, using SITA’s
passenger self-service solutions.
•
International IT Systems Provider of the Year
in Africa, CHAMP Cargosystems, Stat Times
International.
•
Awards for Excellence in Air Cargo, for the second
year running.
•
2014 Oracle Excellence Award, for Sustainability
Innovation.
•
2014 Oracle Leadership Award, for Finance, Europe,
Middle East and Africa.
COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS
SITA works with industry associations,
governments and customer groups to develop
innovative solutions to community-wide issues.
Part of SITA’s role in providing value to air transport
is to explore new technologies of potential benefit to
the entire community, and to ensure that IT systems
work together through shared infrastructure and
cost-effective use of technologies based on global
standards.
Examples of SITA’s broad range of community
solutions include: CUTE, CUSS, CUPPS,
AirportHub®, the ATI Cloud, Common-Use Beacon
Registry, Flight Tracking, eAircraft and many more.
CREATING VALUE
VA U FOR THE AIR TRANSPORT COMMUNITY
VAL
A NEW ERA
The year saw a major milestone as
SITA embarked on a transformational
program to usher in a new era of
communications for the air transport
community. The program is introducing
new models, more bandwidth and
greater flexibility to address the
radically evolving connectivity
demands of airlines, airports and other
industry players.
It is a crucial building block in a
Communications & Infrastructure
(CIS) strategy centered on delivering
next generation networking for air
transport, extending SITA’s unique
communications capabilities at
airports – as the touchpoint of the
industry – and improving industry
collaboration with new community
messaging and cloud-based solutions.
Underpinning that strategy is a
constant focus on cost reductions
for the community through shared
communications platforms and
infrastructure services.
The year also saw multiple
communications and infrastructure
contracts across the globe and across
many different CIS solutions – a
testament to SITA as provider of the
’communications backbone’ of the
global air transport industry.
They included new or renewed
contracts with Air Astana, Air Canada,
Air France, Aeroflot, Copa Airlines,
El Al, Etihad, Garuda Indonesia, Gulf
Air, Hapag Lloyd, Japan Airlines,
Korean Air, LAN, Qantas, Saudia,
Spirit Airlines, Sri Lankan, Transaero,
Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, UPS,
Vietnam Airlines and Vistara.
Among other accolades in 2014,
SITA was awarded Aviation IT Service
Provider of the Year by the African
Airlines Association, for the second
year running. The award recognizes
SITA’s broad portfolio of solutions
for the air transport industry, its
collaboration with customers to
pilot emerging technologies, and
its investment in research and
development in innovative solutions
for the industry.
TRANSFORMING
Over the past few years, SITA’s
communication and infrastructure
services have been transforming
radically, with the introduction of an
increasing range of new generation,
value-added services, helping the air
transport community to move towards
a more integrated, customer-focused
and mobile environment.
Central to this transformation in 2014
was a new agreement with SITA’s global
partner Orange Business Services as
well as with leading regional providers
around the world. Underpinning the
agreement is the implementation of a
new sourcing model, the availability
of on-demand bandwidth, and access
to new value-added communications
services from Orange.
The program strengthens SITA’s
already unrivalled geographical
coverage, which gives the air transport
industry access to more than 200
countries and territories, as well as
95% of all international destinations.
It includes 13,500 air transport sites
and over 17,000 IP connections.
A strong focus on standardizing
communications at regional airports
will lead to an increased presence
at airports and will deliver network
services in response to demand from
hybrid and low-cost carriers.
Network service performance
will be further enhanced through
a new industry-dedicated SITA
Network Services Delivery and
Operations Center, integrated into
SITA’s Command Center and with
responsibility for all SITA network
services delivery and operations.
Setting up the new center marks
a major transformation in the
partnership model between SITA
and Orange Business Services.
INTEGRATORS
The integration of regional third-party
operators will offer SITA customers
access to the best suppliers in every
corner of the globe, able to provide
the best value, competitiveness,
service and capacity. It will ensure
more expertise on the ground due to
the long-standing relationships these
operators have with local access
providers and governments.
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“To enhance passenger service and ensure we remain competitive,
we need to transform the way IT delivers services. This new
agreement will ensure IT and business alignment, while integrating
new innovations and reducing our costs.”
Phinda Ncala, CIO, South African Airways
The move sees SITA evolving from
a network reseller to an integrator
of network services from multiple
providers. Agreements signed so far
include Hong Kong-based PCCW, CMC
in South Africa and UAE-based Etisalat.
For the rapidly emerging aviation
markets of Africa, the Middle East
and Latin American, SITA’s regional
partners bring particular strengths in
terms of offering airlines and airports
more value and greater capacity to
meet changing business needs.
ON DEMAND
MORE VALUE-ADDED
Catering for the new era of
communications, the agreement will
result not just in greater bandwidth,
but also connectivity on demand.
Airline and airport networks will
need greater flexibility too, so that
communication services can support
fast route changes and sudden peaks in
demand, along with seasonal variations
as a result of holiday services.
As part of the agreement, SITA will
offer the air transport community
the 60-strong portfolio of Orange
Business Services’ Value-added
Communication Services.
Already, with the 2014 launch of a
new Seasonal Bandwidth service,
SITA is enabling airlines to order
network services for short periods
during the year in airports where
SITA’s AirportHub ® or AirportConnect
Net are present. This marks a major
step forward in providing on-demand
network services to airlines.
The services are vital in addressing
fast-emerging air transport industry
trends and technologies. They address:
•
The mushrooming of aircraftground connectivity needs with the
advent of new generation aircraft
and aircraft management practices.
•
The need to cover 80% of
connections at airports by 2020,
from 60% today, as a result of
increased technology-based activity
in airports.
•
A doubling of the number of
international destinations by 2030,
with 500 new airports and a 40%
capacity growth in existing airports.
•
And moves towards an industrywide extranet in response to the
need for increased collaboration.
AIRPORT COMMUNICATIONS
As airports demand more technology
to cope with soaring passenger
numbers, IT is becoming increasingly
prevalent at every step of the journey.
Powerful connectivity solutions across
the world’s airports remain high on
SITA’s agenda.
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“SITA is providing a one-stop shop that meets all our IT needs.
With SITA managing our IT infrastructure, we are reducing costs,
simplifying IT solutions and future-proofing our network. We are
now able to provide high quality network solutions to all our offices
around the world.”
Judi Rifajantoro, Director Strategy, Business Development & Risk Management
(2014), Garuda Indonesia
Such solutions deliver continued
improvements to the passenger
experience, airport and aircraft
operations, and aircraft e-enablement.
Equally, they underpin the introduction
of key technologies at the airport, such
as mobile services, cloud computing,
business intelligence and analytics.
networks. Combining SITA’s airport
and communications expertise, MSI
covers both airport infrastructure
and networks, supported through a
partnership with Cisco in 110 countries.
(See Airports, page 34.)
At the heart of SITA’s airport
communications services are
AirportHub ® and AirportHub ® Wireless
– providing a shared infrastructure
platform and offering pre-connected,
mission-critical connectivity at
airports, supporting the front-office
(passenger processing) and back-office
(aircraft, maintenance, crew rostering).
With the air transport industry
increasingly embracing new generation
communications, particularly in the
areas of mobility and cloud, major
challenges are arising in managing the
performance of business applications.
There is an industry need to focus
more on business process and less
on IT infrastructure, as well as the
desire to reduce the number of vendors
needing to be managed.
In a major program to equip airports
and their tenants with leading
connectivity, the expansion of SITA’s
AirportHub ® coverage continues to
be a top priority with a new ambitious
‘APH 700’ initiative launched in late
2014 to move swiftly beyond original
deployment targets. The plan is to
increase AirportHub® coverage from
around 200 airports today to 700 by
mid-2017 – covering 80% of all airlines’
international destinations, including
network, hybrid and low cost carriers.
Passenger numbers will rise at a
higher rate than physical capacity over
the next 10 years. Existing airports
must upgrade infrastructure to
increase efficiency and throughput by
better exploiting business intelligence
and automation. The year saw growing
interest in SITA’s Airport Master
System Integration (MSI) capabilities
to transform infrastructure and
ENHANCED SERVICE
The year saw the continued evolution
of SITA’s unique capabilities in
providing an end-to-end service
management layer on top of its
portfolio. The portfolio now comprises
a growing range of communications
and infrastructure management
services for airports and airlines,
including Service Management,
Application Performance Management,
Telecommunications expense
management, Project Management
and Consulting, and Infrastructure
Management, such as third party
vendor management and out-tasking.
Garuda Indonesia was one customer in
2014 to select SITA to fully manage its
international network infrastructure
and standardize IT operations,
including its domestic IT infrastructure.
MOBILITY LEADERSHIP
With the fast embrace of mobility in
air transport, SITA’s Wireless and
Mobility capabilities combine industry
knowledge with application experience
and end-to-end mobility expertise.
Global delivery and support is provided
for a range of rugged hardware
solutions, including Motorola and Apple
devices; a variety of 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi
solutions that enable seamless global
connectivity; mobilized application
integration for business processes;
and close integration with SITA’s Air
Transport Industry (ATI) Cloud.
In addition, SITA is increasingly
collaborating across its solution lines
to bundle products and services in the
area of mobile solutions. In 2014, that
included work on Baggage Tracing on
CrewTablet, BagManager with Managed
3G Wireless, Electronic Flight Bags
(EFBs) with Mobile Services and a
mobile payment solution.
Progress continued during the year
in delivering mobility capabilities for
new generation ‘connected aircraft’
which will lead to ubiquitous wireless
broadband for connecting aircraft
at the airport (see pages 34 and 56).
This capability is vital as airlines roll
out applications and systems such
as EFBs, cabin crew tablets, Flight
Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA)
and In-Flight Entertainment (IFE)
options.
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“We use SITA because it offers excellent service quality and global
coverage. Most importantly, because SITA is owned and operated
by the air transport industry, the SITA team understands and
responds to our needs.”
Chamindra Lenawa, Vice President IT & eBusiness, Air Astana
Demand among airlines for CrewTablet
remains high, with SITA’s mobility
team deploying multiple customer
projects worldwide. Originally targeted
at flight crews, CrewTablet’s benefits
and opportunities are being extended
to ground activities. New customers
during the year included Aeroflot, the
first airline in the Commonwealth
of Independent States to digitize its
crew and enhance in-flight service to
passengers in this way.
In another development, SITA chose
a number of industry conferences to
showcase a promising new innovation
for mobile-enabled connected
travelers. Called Media Kiosk, it allows
passengers to download movies,
music or magazines on their tablets or
phones in a few seconds while waiting
to board an aircraft. Media Kiosk is
now trialing with several airports.
CLOUD MOMENTUM
Like mobility, cloud computing is driving
transformation in the air transport
industry. SITA’s own ATI Cloud is proving
its ability to bring about new and
more cost-effective ways of working
in a virtual and mobile workplace – as
well as new ways of distributing and
consuming applications.
By enabling flexible approaches, the ATI
Cloud is allowing companies to ‘try and
buy’ and ‘pay-as-you-go’, scaling up
or down according to business cycles.
It means services can be introduced
rapidly. For example, running in the ATI
Cloud, SITA AIRCOM® Server – which
links aircraft to existing airline systems
– can be implemented as a Softwareas-a-Service model in days.
32
More than 20 SITA applications have
now moved to the ATI Cloud, making
them available as-a-service, together
with more than 100 virtual data centers
(almost doubling since 2013), created
to provide infrastructure-as-a-service
capabilities for new generation aircraft.
of customers. In 2014, 109 new
companies joined SITA’s messaging
user community, further underlining
this key community resource – the
single largest access point to air
transport industry partners for
collaboration worldwide.
Community value lies at the heart
of the ATI Cloud. It is evolving into
an option for specific sections of
the community – such as airport
operations, passenger processing or
aircraft operations and e-enablement.
It is providing the same capabilities
for small and regional airports, as are
available for their larger counterparts,
through SITA’s AirportConnect Open
for Regional Airports.
Two new services were introduced in
the year. In addition to the Seasonal
Bandwidth offering providing ondemand network services (see earlier),
SITA introduced its Air Traffic Control
(ATC) Messaging Service. The futureproof service responds to the evolution
of ATC information exchange, enabling
communication with air navigation
service providers (ANSPs).
This is as important to mobile
travelers as it is to airlines and airport
operators. It opens new opportunities
not only for small and regional airports
but also for a plethora of new routes.
Through AirportConnect Net and
AirportHub ®, the ATI Cloud is currently
pre-connected to over 400 airports.
With an increasing number of third
party applications also ATI Cloudenabled, more than 80 customers
are now using the ATI Cloud. Key
new contracts in 2014 included cargo
application hosting for Cathay Pacific
(with CHAMP Cargosystems),
Timatic hosting for IATA, and a cloud
co-location solution for Etihad.
COMMUNITY MESSAGING
Nowhere is the value of a solution to
the air transport community reflected
better than in SITA Messaging, which
is relied on to support the industry’s
day-to-day operations. As the
levels of exchanged traffic increase
continuously, so too do the numbers
SITA Messaging and Aircraft
teams also worked with Airbus to
demonstrate the use of Type X for
ground-to-ground A350 messages for
Aircraft Health Monitoring. The proof of
concept’s success led to a first aircraft
flying using SITA Type X as an enabler
to ground-to-ground operations.
Another proof of concept by SITA’s
Messaging and Passenger teams,
along with a third party partner,
demonstrated SITA Messaging’s
capabilities as a transformation
and conversion engine, enabling
adoption of IATA’s New Distribution
Capability program.
With a focus on new community
messaging and cloud-based solutions
for the future, further transformation
is on the cards as SITA leads in
delivering the air transport’s new era
of communications.
“We’ve partnered with SITA for
more than 15 years because
they offer us high quality, high
availability telecom coverage
for all our outstations and back
that up with excellent service
and support.”
Ahmet Bolat, Chief Investment and
Technology Officer, Turkish Airlines
“We are delighted to renew our
agreement with SITA, following
a successful relationship
spanning over 40 years.
SITA’s support to Gulf Air’s
information technology function
ensures our capabilities not
only meet industry standards,
but exceed them in capability
and efficiency.”
Dr Jassim Haji, Director Information
Technology, Gulf Air
WORLD’S LEADER
THE AIR
TRANSPORT
COMMUNITY’S
NETWORK
No.1 Provider of air
transport communication
and infrastructure
services. Unique in
providing network
services across 220
countries and territories.
THIS CHANGING
WORLD OF
COMMUNICATIONS
95% of all international
destinations covered by
SITA’s network. SITA
operates global WANs for
100% of the top-30 airlines
and around 25% of
domestic networks.
13,500 air transport sites
connected by SITA’s VPN
Networks.
400 airports pre-connected
by SITA’s ATI Cloud
infrastructure, as well as
17,000 air transport sites
and 15,000 commercial
aircraft.
A NEW ERA
2,000 new generation
aircraft to be in operation
within 4 years. 25% of
commercial aircraft will be
connected by 2020.
400,000 parameters to be
monitored on an Airbus
A350 and 1,400 software
parts on a Boeing 787.
>75% of airlines will have
deployed CrewTablets by
2017. Over the next 15
years, a further 500
airports will be commissioned. Existing airports
will see capacity growth of
more than 40%.
110 countries covered in
a milestone agreement
between Orange Business
Services and SITA, with up
to 10 regional providers
(planned) in another 55
countries.
1 new dedicated service
center set up to support
delivery of all SITA
network services, with the
air transport community
set to benefit from SITA as
network integrator.
2,400+ air transport
companies use SITA
Messaging. 100m Type B
messages sent every day.
33
WORLD NO.1
As the world number one airport ICT
provider, SITA is delivering day-to-day
services in more than 1,000 airports
of all sizes across all continents. That
proximity to the industry’s airports
has given SITA unrivalled knowledge
and experience in addressing the
complexities and pressures faced by
airport management.
Renowned throughout the air
transport industry, SITA’s pioneering
common-use systems are making life
simpler for passengers, streamlining
processes and reducing costs. The
company’s portfolio of intelligent
baggage handling solutions has made a
major contribution to a 61.3% reduction
in mishandled bags in the past seven
years. And SITA’s ground-breaking
developments and innovations are
opening up exciting opportunities for
airports as they evolve into the future.
Through close working and ‘on-theground’ relationships with airport
customers, those developments and
innovations remain driven by real
industry requirements and a vision
shared with the industry: the pursuit
of operational efficiency, passenger
satisfaction and revenue optimization.
34
This includes SITA’s strategic focus on
the end-to-end passenger experience
at airports, and it embraces new
and exciting developments in areas
such as passenger flow, real-time
decision-making and collaboration,
location-aware personalized services,
and improved operations and cost
reduction.
SITA’s airport leadership was
recognized for the third time in five
years, as winner of the ‘Best Airport
IT Service Provider’ at the 2014
Emerging Markets Airport Awards.
The award cited SITA’s ‘Intelligent
Airport’ concept, which involves
tracking, managing and sharing
information among all stakeholders in
an increasingly complex, ‘always-on’
and interdependent ecosystem.
BROADEST PORTFOLIO
SITA’s airport business delivers
integrated, seamless services
designed to help airports innovate,
increase their competitiveness,
accelerate their growth, and
strengthen the loyalty of their
passengers – adding value to and
supporting every part of the operation.
The portfolio is developed on SITA’s
knowledge in the areas of:
•
Passenger processing
•
Baggage operations
•
Airport operations
•
Airport Business Intelligence
MAKING IT EASY FOR
PASSENGERS
With the world’s airports placing
passengers at the center of their
operations, those who invest in the
passenger experience can expect to
perform better – improving customer
satisfaction, driving efficiencies and
maximizing revenue opportunities.
Through shared technology
infrastructure SITA has enabled many
advances in the end-to-end passenger
experience. The AirportConnect Open
platform leads the market, providing
an integrated approach for airports
to Common-Use Terminal Equipment
(CUTE), Common-Use Passenger
Processing System (CUPPS) and
Common-Use Self-Service (CUSS)
kiosks – and it includes the support of
self-boarding gates and self-bag drop
passenger touchpoints.
It has been embraced globally, with
major 2014 contracts including
Asia’s busiest airport Beijing Capital
International, as well as Sharjah
International Airport, home to Air
Arabia, one of the Middle East’s
fastest growing low-cost airlines. With
ever-rising passenger numbers, the
Airports Authority of India also adopted
SITA’s integrated passenger processing
solutions in 2014, for 25 of its airports
across the country.
“With passenger numbers expected to reach 450 million by 2020,
we need to ensure we are operating as efficiently as possible.
SITA’s baggage systems, common-use technology, and selfservice check in kiosks are flexible, convenient and will help
establish a firm foundation for future growth.”
Sudhir Raheja, Acting Chairman (October 2014), Airports Authority of India
TAKING BAGGAGE INTO
THE FUTURE
Huge strides are being made to keep
passengers and their bags together,
in readiness for the 2018 deadline for
IATA’s new resolution 753. Harnessing
the 2.5bn baggage information
messages (BIMs) SITA manages in
BagMessage, SITA is making it possible
to track airline baggage in the same
way as parcels are tracked from door
to door through its recently launched
BagJourney, providing baggage data
as-a-service. The capability is unique
to SITA, as it relies on the baggage data
that SITA collects from airlines and
airports the world over.
Today’s suite of baggage solutions
has played a key role in reducing
mishandled baggage. It comprises
complete management systems
for use at single or multiple sites, a
global shared messaging system for
baggage distribution, and a global
tracing system for mishandled
bags. Innovations introduced in 2014
include BagJourney, complementing
the success of BagManager (BRS),
BagMessage, WorldTracer and a range
of other services.
One of many examples, baggage
reconciliation technology has been
introduced at Turkey’s newest
domestic terminal at Izmir Adnan
Menderes Airport. In the meantime,
Melbourne Airport became one of the
first in the world to introduce CUSS
bag drops – enabling passengers to
process their own bags in an average
of only 30 seconds. The airport was
number one for innovation at the 2014
Australian Airports Association’s
National Airport Industry Awards.
It won the SITA Innovation Award in
recognition of its new and innovative
passenger self-service initiatives,
including the latest new generation
SITA S4 CUSS kiosks (AirportConnect
S4 Kiosk) and the increasingly popular
self-service bag drop (Self BagDrop).
LEADING AIRPORT
OPERATIONS
To serve the ‘connected passenger’,
transformation is high on airport
agendas, with IT and communications
regarded as critical to smoothing
passenger flow, achieving efficiencies
in airport operations, and futureproofing airports against rising
passenger numbers and emerging
trends. Just as might be demanded
by a small city, operating an airport
demands the timely allocation of
workforces and assets and the ability
to make the right decisions in order to
keep things moving.
For a growing number of locations,
SITA’s next generation Airport
Management Solution (AMS) is now
delivering collaboration and proactive
control over all operations – from
service level agreements to passenger
communications, generating billing
charges to real-time tracking of
mobile resources. It also makes real-
time information available for use by
airlines, customs and immigration
authorities, as well as ground handlers.
Currently in use at 84 airports in 31
countries, SITA’s AMS was selected
by a number of new users in 2014,
including AA2000 in Argentina where
the AMS multi-airport solution is
helping the management of eight of its
largest airports such as Buenos Aires
(Ezeiza and Aeroparque), Cordoba
and Mendoza.
AIRPORT BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE
Just as AMS is a crucial component
of SITA’s Intelligent Airport vision,
so too is Business Intelligence (BI).
All airlines are planning to make
investments in this area through to
2017, as are nine out of 10 airports,
according to SITA’s IT Trends Surveys.
BI remained a major focus in 2014,
as an area of continuous development
and innovation for SITA. The evolving
BI portfolio provides market leading
capabilities, with meaningful and
relevant intelligence and analytics on
easy-to-read dashboards that allow
rapid drill down into reports so that
problems can be dealt with smartly.
For example, in Warsaw, SITA is
providing a set of BI reports and
ad hoc reporting capability, involving
AirportConnect common-use platform
usage, as well as passenger movement
and baggage monitoring.
35
“SITA’s common-use has been a huge success for us and the
airlines at the airport. We look forward to this continuing over the
next five years.”
Tony Smith, General Manager, Sharjah Aviation Services
Real-time and accurate intelligence
relies on quality data. But as SITA’s
IT Trends Surveys show, data at the
airport tends to be fragmented and
exist in silos, with consolidation proving
complex and time-consuming. To
optimize operations and intelligence,
SITA’s solutions provide stakeholders
throughout the airport with easy access
to information from multiple disparate
sources, such as airport operational
databases (AODB), passenger tracking
and baggage systems.
One key community initiative during
the year centered on providing quality
data for keeping passengers informed
and delivering a consistent experience
at every airport. Called SITA Day of
Travel Services, it aggregates airport
data and provides passengers with
up-to-date notifications for services
on the day of travel, along with
contextual location information. The
new community service is the de facto
global source for airport data.
Obtaining intelligence about passenger
flows is a primary goal for airports.
During 2014, SITA continued its
pioneering work in the area, laying
the groundwork for the new era of
BI and analytics with passenger
flow monitoring capabilities. These
offer insights into the movement of
passengers, staff and assets – as well
as queues and security checkpoints.
The result is rich data on passenger
flow, with displays of contextual
location-specific information that can
36
be provided to airport managers on
tablets and smartphones.
At the same time, working in
conjunction with the SITA Lab and
customers, 2014 was a year of testing
the market with a range of proximity
and wearable technologies as a means
of enhancing passenger movement and
processing. Projects included Miami
International Airport becoming the first
in the world with a complete and open
deployment of beacons, and a beacon
trial with American Airlines at Dallas
Fort Worth.
Earlier in the year, in collaboration
with Air France and Orange, SITA
trialed a self-service boarding solution
at Toulouse Airport using Near Field
Communication (NFC), as well as
undertaking an NFC trial at Schiphol
Airport. (See page 46, SITA Lab.)
SHOWING THE WAY
As we move towards 2020, the
passenger experience will differ
significantly in three areas. First, there
will be a step-change in passenger
processing through customer
touchpoints. This will be enabled
by extensive self-service for all
processes and dynamic flexibility in the
assignment of self-service facilities
to airlines and airline groups to match
passenger flows.
Second, the use of biometrics and
the exchange of information within
and between government agencies
will support increased use of selfservice and electronic collection of
information. And third, the provision
of context-aware information to
passengers opting-in through their
smart devices, and supported by
extensive free airport Wi-Fi, will
include guidance information through
airline and airport cooperation.
This will require new and innovative
approaches, particularly in the design
and development of terminals and
airports. In this area, in 2014, SITA
evolved its Airport MSI (Master System
Integration) capabilities to provide the
required level of resources, through
the production, design, supply,
delivery, and integration of passenger
terminal IT and telecoms technology.
Azerbaijan’s state-owned airline and
airport operator Azerbaijan HAVA
Yollari – AZAL tasked SITA with
providing technology integration and
consulting for a new terminal at the
Baku Heydar Aliyev International
Airport. The aim was to make world
class IT services for passenger
processing and airport operations an
integral part of the infrastructure when
the terminal was completed in 2014.
New and innovative ways of working
are also reflected in SITA’s approach
to regional and small airports. The
2014 introduction of SITA’s CommonUse in the Cloud brings a competitive
bundled cloud solution that includes all
required hardware, software, network
connectivity and remote support.
With SITA AirportResource Manager “we now have a powerful,
real-time planning tool which gives us the intelligence to make sure
we have the right people, in the right place, at the right time, in a
constantly changing environment.”
Salman Saleh Al-Mahmeed, Acting CEO (September 2014), Bahrain Airport Services
It was premiered by two German
airports: Allgäu Airport in southern
Bavaria and Sylt Airport, close to the
border with Denmark. Later in 2014,
Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport
signed up for AirportConnect Open’s
cloud-hosted CUTE system – again,
providing the same technology used
by the largest airports but with
the flexibility and cost structure
appropriate to a new regional airport.
More than 10 airports have now signed
up for SITA’s common-use cloud
approach – which supports Desk (CUTE/
CUPPS), Kiosks (CUSS), as well as all
other self-service touchpoints.
SITA is also building strength for the
future of the community in other ways,
among them the sponsorship of the
Airport Management Professional
Accreditation Programme, as well
as a scholarship program to help
talented young civil aviation students
in China with research on science and
technology related to the air
transport industry.
As airports change radically,
technology is enabling them to
better manage sometimes massive
ecosystems employing thousands of
staff and hosting hundreds of individual
businesses. As this change happens,
SITA continues to lead the way, working
with the air transport community as its
number one airport ICT provider.
LEADING THE WORLD
No.1 airport ICT provider. SITA delivers services in
1,000+ airports of all sizes across all continents,
including passenger processing, baggage and
operational management.
MAKING LIFE SIMPLER FOR PASSENGERS
1.3bn+ passengers checked in using SITA AirportConnect Open.
5,500 kiosks at 400+ airports provide 25% faster check-in, saving
US$2.50 per passenger with a 36% reduction in wait time.
60 passengers an hour can be processed by SITA Self BagDrop
compared to 24 at a normal counter.
50% less time needed with self-service boarding gates to board a
240-seat airliner. 800 self-boarding lanes managed by SITA in Europe.
KEEPING BAGGAGE ON TRACK
40
2,800+ locations use WorldTracer – the world’s top baggage tracing network.
WorldTracer Kiosk saves up to 40 minutes in reporting lost baggage.
160 ground handlers use WorldTracer.
140+ airports use SITA’s BagManager. BagMessage processes 2.5bn+
baggage information messages a year, linking 500 airlines to 200+ airports.
BagJourney saves US$0.11 per passenger.
BOOSTING AIRPORT OPERATIONS
150 airports use SITA Airport Management Solutions (AMS) for collaboration
and decision-making with real-time information.
20+ airports pioneering in new areas through SITA’s Business Intelligence,
with Passenger Flow Monitoring countering the fact that an extra 10 minutes
in security reduces average retail spend by 30%.
50 airports in the US use SITA AirportVision to provide lively
and accurate visual and audible information to passengers.
37
WELCOME TO THE NEW
GENERATION
In a world first and after the largest
software development program in
SITA’s history, the launch of Horizon
Passenger Services System (PSS)
delivers to airlines a new generation
approach which is unique in today’s
passenger market.
Through 2014 SITA’s Horizon continued
to prove its value in the air transport
community as a disruptive and
competitive choice for airlines of
all tiers. Providing a powerful, GDS
neutral, alliance compliant, third
generation PSS and distribution
platform, Horizon’s portfolio is today
used by more than 150 airlines to
process in excess of 137 million
passengers a year.
Horizon remains a cornerstone in
SITA’s passenger services business,
which embraces passenger
management, reservations,
e-commerce, fares, ancillary services
and more. It is a business seeing
increasing numbers as it boarded
some 137.5 million passengers and
checked in 167 million in 2014, a
growth over the previous year of
2.4% and 2.8% respectively.
The business sits in the vanguard
of one of the market’s most far
reaching evolutions in recent years:
disintermediation. Where airline
and passenger relationships were
once intermediated by third-party
distribution systems, airlines now
38
want more control, using best of breed
solutions to own passenger data and
relationships.
Equally, passengers want more control
over their own travel arrangements,
with growing numbers booking travel
requirements through airline websites
– and 68% of airlines selling tickets
direct to travelers through mobile
apps, according to SITA surveys.
Horizon enables this direct relationship,
giving neutral, modular and unbiased
access to every available channel and
supporting the airlines’ strategically
vital priorities for customer centricity,
ancillary revenues, merchandising,
new distribution capabilities and
business intelligence.
HORIZON SUCCESS
Designed on new generation principles,
Horizon’s success continued during the
year. It includes a powerful new ‘true
source’ model for critical PSS data and
enhanced reusable services for end-toend business processes. It is evolving
new look and feel touchpoints across
the full passenger journey, based on
architecture that delivers flexibility,
scalability and high performance.
Horizon’s infrastructure is built on
a flexible platform of core systems,
required for every airline through the
complete passenger management
process – including reservations,
ticketing, inventory management,
check-in and departure control.
The approach is proving increasingly
successful with customers. Horizon
contracts during the year included
Netherlands Antilles-based Winair
and Fly Jamaica, as well as a renewed
contract with one of Russia’s largest
carriers – Transaero, and a sevenyear agreement with Greek start up
airline Ellinair, hard on the heels of its
transformation from a charter airline
to full service carrier.
Ellinair’s cutover to SITA’s core PSS
suite included Reservations, Airfare,
Ticketing, and Departure Control.
In the meantime, a contract with
Taiwanese airline TransAsia Airways
demonstrated the value of Horizon to
low-cost carriers and hybrids. With
strong GDS distribution, TransAsia
adopted the full PSS suite, including
Chinese character support and
the ability to meet hybrid airline
requirements, including integration
with third-party vendors.
Another 2014 highlight was Horizon’s
key role in enabling Air India to meet
Star Alliance’s entry requirements –
making it the first Indian carrier to join
a global airline alliance.
“SITA’s cutting-edge technology was instrumental in making Star
Alliance membership possible. Our strategic partnership with SITA
will go a long way in helping us become a strong global player.”
Rohit Nandan, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India
EVOLUTION
It was a significant year as SITA
reshaped its Horizon portfolio
development strategy to enable a
blended adoption approach. This
allows customers to take advantage of
Horizon’s next generation functionality
as it becomes available, mixing it with
existing PSS services.
Introducing a swathe of new releases
to customers – such as Weight &
Balance, Customer Affinity and
Customer Journey – SITA met all
Horizon program objectives during the
year. Major new functionality added to
Horizon foundations included:
•
Customer Profile, which enables
airlines to gain insights into
passenger experiences and provide
appropriate services, together
with increased automation and
enhanced revenue opportunities.
•
Business Intelligence, which
provides improved insights into
commercial and operational
performance, available via desktop,
tablet or mobile and able to use
SITA Reservations Data feeds as
well as customer-defined feeds.
•
Horizon Service Fees, which helps
increase revenues and provide a
seamless service by enabling the
core air fare to be separated from
other flight-related services, such
as lounge access. Meridiana Fly
was the first customer to go live
with the new service.
•
Value-based Automated
Re-Accommodation, which results
in improved customer service,
customer retention and improved
productivity.
SITA achieved another landmark with
the granting of a patent for Horizon
Inventory’s design approach. The
ultra-scalable system can handle
unprecedented traffic volumes from
online shopping tools, providing realtime availability for each request.
Another 10 patent applications are
being progressed.
SITA is now bringing to market
additional capabilities in inventory
management, departure control and
merchandising, while continuing to roll
out to existing customers established
next generation solutions, such as
Weight & Balance.
39
“As our customers increasingly use mobile phones, tablets and
other devices, we need to be flexible so we can deploy our services
via any channel and adapt to changing market needs. Horizon will
provide this flexibility.”
Ioannis Mouzenidis, CEO, Ellinair
MOBILE TRAVEL
INNOVATIVE FARES
LOOKING AHEAD
It was another important year for
mobile travel in SITA, with the upgrade
of iTravel® for airline and ground
handler customers. It now allows
airlines to implement passenger
booking and check-in apps for Apple
and Android phones and a web app for
use on other mobile devices.
More advances came with Horizon’s
fares management product, Airfare
Insight, which enables strategic pricing,
competitive monitoring and pricing
responses to competitor activity.
Looking ahead, customers will
continue to steer the evolution of SITA’s
passenger services portfolio, to make
sure it provides the best value to the air
transport community. A prime example,
SITA’s Horizon Working Group provides
in-depth customer feedback ranging
from concept to final product. Active
sub-working groups explore specific
areas, such as Horizon Inventory and
Schedules, which met in 2014.
iTravel® gives travelers quick and
secure access to shopping, booking,
check-in, flight and airline information,
and loyalty functionality. It provides
valuable business intelligence on
customer behavior and value to the
airline, giving airlines opportunities to
connect with passengers and increase
ancillary revenues. Based on a SITA
Application Programming Interface
(API), SITA handles updates and
compliance, such as ensuring boarding
passes are IATA and TSA compliant.
40
Successful implementation of Airfare
Insight at Philippine Airlines late
in 2014 marked the seventh major
international airline in Asia to introduce
SITA’s innovative fares management
capability. It means that almost 40% of
all passengers within Asia are carried
by airlines now using fares managed by
Airfare Insight.
Other airlines in the region include
Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines,
Garuda and Emirates. Talks in 2014
led to Qantas being announced in
early 2015 as the launch customer
for Airfare Insight’s new Tax Module.
Outside of Asia, Airfare Insight
customers include British Airways and
Virgin Atlantic.
SITA continues to work with the
community as an active contributor
to IATA’s New Distribution Capability
(NDC) initiative, including integrating
the program into the Horizon portfolio.
IATA’s NDC will enable the travel
industry to transform the way air
products are retailed.
With SITA’s passenger services
delivering significant value to airlines
and ground handlers worldwide,
SITA remains in the driving seat of
this transformation – well positioned
to meet the community’s passenger
services needs for the next generation.
WORLD FIRST
No.1
SITA’s Horizon is the world’s first
third generation Passenger
Services System.
POPULAR PASSENGER SERVICES
150+
167M
137.5M
156M
40%
Airlines use SITA’s
passenger solutions.
Passengers checked-in
(2.8% growth vs 2013).
Passengers boarded
(2.4% growth vs 2013).
E-tickets issued,
3m bookings via
e-Commerce (2014).
Of all passengers
within Asia are carried
by airlines now using
fares managed by
SITA’s Airfare Insight.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
30
Expert participants in
the DCS and Weight &
Balance sub-group on
Inventory and Schedules.
16 workshops and
reviews with individual
customers.
8th
Horizon Working
Group meeting took
place in 2014, with
40 participants,
14 airlines, and 3
ground handlers.
41
LEADING FROM THE FRONT
SITA continues to lead the world in
providing safe and secure border
intelligence, ensuring enhanced
security and passenger facilitation
for governments, airlines and
airports in all corners of the globe.
That leadership builds on years of
experience and expertise in delivering
effective and cost-efficient border
control technology, based on the
knowledge accumulated since
introducing the first electronic visa
system in 1996 for Australia’s 2000
Sydney Olympic Games.
Today – be it for risk assessment,
risk traveler targeting, pre-travel
authorization, identity assurance or
more – SITA’s border intelligence
solutions have been embraced by 27
countries: not only for major sporting
events and occasions that drive huge
peaks in passenger traffic, but also to
ensure optimum national security and
smooth facilitation all year round. Added
to that, more than 100 airlines now
use or are connected to SITA’s border
management solutions, with SITA’s
Government business handling more
than 300 million passengers a year.
Consolidating this industry leadership
during 2014, SITA’s Government
business built on its spectacular
growth record with another year
of impressive expansion backed by
significant new contracts and delivery
successes in all regions.
42
New contracts during the year included
a comprehensive set of border services
for the governments of Myanmar and
Sri Lanka.
Throughout the year, work also took
place on another major customer
deployment of border systems for
the Government of Oman, with an
announcement following in early 2015.
With expatriates making up almost
half of the country’s population, all
requiring visas, and with an investment
program targeting 12 million visitors to
the country by 2020, Oman’s iBorders
solution includes risk assessment of
traveler data from airlines and cruise
companies, pre-travel authorization,
immigration checkpoint controls,
an e-Visa solution and a centralized
Visitor Information System.
BALANCE AND HARMONY
Any border management solution must
strike a delicate balance between
security, ease of use and convenience
for passengers and budget constraints.
Another factor is the rapid growth of
demand in air travel – over the next
18 years, passenger numbers are
expected to grow from 2.9bn in 2012 to
6.7bn in 2032, with the passenger fleet
doubling from 16,094 to 33,651 aircraft.
In this environment, mitigating risk
while ensuring delivery, reliability,
value for money and adaptability are of
paramount importance. So too is the
task of identifying high-risk travelers
at the same time as speeding up
processing for the low-risk majority. To
smooth the process, SITA continues to
play a community role in harmonizing
the needs of governments with those of
the air transport community through a
transparent and neutral process.
The role involves close collaboration
with industry specialists and
governments, facilitating crosscommunication and cooperation among
industry players. It also demands
active engagement in industry and
standard setting bodies and their
working groups, such as IATA and AEA.
RAPID EVOLUTION
SITA’s iBorders® portfolio is constantly
evolving to ensure the balance of
enhanced security and passenger
facilitation for the world’s governments
and air transport industry. Today, it
provides a complete set of capabilities
to transform border security and
facilitate travel through information,
intelligence, optimized interaction with
travelers and comprehensive insight
to enhance every aspect of a country’s
border operations.
A major 2013-15 portfolio development
program has seen the rapid
introduction of nine new products:
eight during 2014 and the ninth
(iBorders® BorderPerformance) in
2015. The new capabilities introduced
in 2014 include iBorders® EntryExit
for the manual processing of travelers
at the air, sea and land border; along
with iBorders® RiskManagement
“Working with CBP and SITA we have put together the AUTOMATED
passport control program using the kiosks in Orlando. It has been a
resounding success and we have seen significant improvements in being
able to process our passengers through the federal inspection station.”
John Vinelli, Manager of IT Projects, Greater Orlando Aviation Authority
for risk assessment and iBorders®
IdentityAssurance to verify and
manage identities.
JetBlue’s new international arrivals
hall extension in Terminal 5 at JFK
International Airport.
At the same time, SITA is seeing major
interest in self-service at the border,
owing to the industry-wide drive for
the use of new technology to reduce
costs while enhancing the end-to-end
passenger journey.
Countries operating visa waiver
programs with the US have been
attracted by the ease of use of the
kiosks – including Abu Dhabi Airports,
where Etihad Airways noted the
popularity among travelers of arriving
in the US as domestic passengers.
On the back of a strong year for its
Automated Border Control (ABC) and
Automated Passport Control (APC)
solutions, SITA anticipates further
expansion of its self-service border
gates and kiosks customer base.
SITA’s iBorders® BorderAutomation
ABCGates and ABCKiosks speed
up border crossings for travelers
presenting biometric travel documents,
freeing up skilled resources to focus
on higher-risk passengers.
APC is the US-specific directive to
introduce automated passport control
kiosks, which has seen SITA’s selfservice border solutions embraced by
many of the country’s airports.
Meanwhile, a number of customers
signed up for SITA’s iBorders®
BorderAutomation ABCGates – which
have been delivering 97%-plus success
rates in an average biometric match
time of 2.6 seconds. The gates have
been installed in Rome’s Fiumicino
International Airport, handling
more than 3,000 passengers a day.
In addition, airports in Kingston
and Montego Bay in Jamaica
became the first to use iBorders®
BorderAutomation ABCKiosks, with
throughput expected to increase by
some 60%.
By the end of 2014, 280 Automated
Passport Control Kiosks had been
installed in 10 airports, delivering up to
a four-fold improvement in throughput.
Across the board, customer response
has been positive.
At Miami International Airport success
with the kiosks is bringing further
usage. Automated Passport Control
Kiosks also went live during 2014 at
43
“SITA has delivered an impressive product and equally impressive
results to Miami International Airport with their Automated Passport
Control Kiosks. APC technology has been key in helping us to move
more passengers more smoothly through America’s second-busiest
port of entry.”
Emilio T. González, Director, Miami-Dade Aviation Department
ADVANCES
®
SITA’s iBorders portfolio is
seeing further expansion in 2015
with the introduction of advanced
search and analytics, mobile alert
management, integration with Interpol,
mobile passport control, a border
performance dashboard on the flow of
travelers and a dedicated government
contact center.
At the same time, further advances in
SITA’s automation solutions will make
border control increasingly smarter,
quicker and more cost-effective by
allowing low-risk passengers to
process themselves, giving everstretched security resources the time
to focus on high-risk cases.
It includes continued innovation with
the next phase of the APC program,
with SITA as pilot vendor for the
introduction of facial recognition
and matching testing at Orlando
International Airport. This is a
precursor to the development and
implementation of Phase 4 APC, which
will support all remaining visitors
with visas using Automated Passport
Control kiosks.
44
Initiatives will include investment in
entry level border management to
meet smaller nations’ requirements,
and the integration of identity
management solutions into SITA’s
airport self-service applications.
One focus area is increased security
around transfer/transit passengers and
acquisition of a photo-based biometric
of all passengers boarding a plane.
Another is electronic landing cards
– indeed any form of declaration to
governments such as visa-on-arrival.
This is an attractive proposition for
passengers, airlines and security staff
alike. Landing card data is handled
manually on arrival, yet completing
cards electronically in flight would
make information available for prearrival risk assessment, which also
permits greater use of self-service
without compromising security.
Further preparatory work is being
pursued with pilot schemes expected
in the near future.
LOOKING AHEAD
Over the next three years, SITA’s
border security strategy will enable
increasingly intelligent and automated
border management operations. This
includes a continuous focus on risk
assessment, risk traveler targeting and
identity assurance – as well as simpler
government border management and
operations, along with a better traveler
experience with integrated biometric
and biographic data.
The focus will maintain SITA’s
leadership in border management,
where, for around 20 years, SITA
has delivered an innovative portfolio
to balance the requirements of
governments with those of the air
transport community.
“With SITA we had the confidence to offer this self-service to all
passengers, and not just those who enrol in a trusted traveler program.”
Jennifer McDonald, CEO, Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency, Jamaica (using
SITA’s new Automated Border Control Kiosks)
MAKING THE WORLD
A SAFER PLACE
TIME FOR SMARTER
BORDERS
WORLD’S PIONEERING
LEADER
60%
45-90
No.1
of G20 members use
SITA iBorders®.
seconds, the time it takes
Automated Passport Control
Kiosks at Miami International
Airport to process a passenger.
Provider of border security
applications and service, and
the world’s pioneering leader of
border intelligence solutions.
100+
airlines connected to SITA
iBorders® to supply traveler data
to border agencies globally.
3,000
300m+
passengers a day cleared in
Rome by SITA ABCGates using
facial recognition and passports.
passengers handled every year by
iBorders®.
1:5
192m
travelers a year are processed by
governments using iBorders®
Intelligence.
500m+
traveler data records processed
each year using iBorders®
Information.
2000
Sydney Olympic Games began
SITA’s journey as the border
management partner with host
countries for major sporting and
other events, including Olympics
2004, 2008, 2014 and FIFA World
Cup 2010 and 2014.
One border officer can manage
5 iBorders BorderAutomation
ABCKiosks from an immigration
counter.
92%
of eligible travelers successfully
processed in fewer than 10
seconds with no operator
intervention using SITA
biometric gates.
40%
reduction in wait times possible
for users of SITA Automated
Passport Control Kiosks.
45
COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION
FOR AIR TRANSPORT
As the company’s strategic technology
research arm, SITA Lab stimulates
innovation with and for the air
transport industry, helping to bring
emerging technologies into SITA’s
portfolio. Described in the media as the
‘Google X of the air transport industry’,
SITA Lab innovates collaboratively
with airlines, airports and technology
specialists around the world.
The Lab had another outstanding year,
with a range of innovations moving
from first idea through incubation and
trial to full portfolio adoption.
Its achievements were recognized at
the 2014 Future Travel Experience
Global in Las Vegas when two
collaborative Lab projects were among
nine to win awards: the Best Passenger
Assistance Initiative for Virgin
Atlantic’s Google Glass project; and the
Best Mobile Technology Initiative for
American Airlines’ beacon deployment
at Dallas Forth Worth Airport.
Another accolade came for Virgin’s
Glass initiative at the leading
conference for wearable technology,
The Wearables 2014, accompanied by
extensive global publicity.
46
END-TO-END JOURNEY
Throughout 2014, the SITA Lab’s
innovations with customers and
partners took place across the entire
journey, aligning with SITA’s focus
on transforming the full end-to-end
passenger experience, exploiting
connectivity every step of the way.
The focus takes in new and emerging
technologies right from travel research
and booking, through to arrivals and
departures. It embraces mobility and
rising proximity capabilities at the
airport as they promise to provide
increasing data, intelligence and
passenger flow capabilities, and as they
form an integral part of the nascent
Internet of Things, where people,
assets, equipment and anything else
that can benefit from a connection will
have one.
MOBILE MOVES
Within this increasingly connected
environment, the SITA Lab continued
development work on Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) to
enable the air transport industry
to transform the travel experience,
through its www.developer.aero
website. They included SITA’s
new BagJourney API for baggage
tracking, along with use of SITA’s
Mobile Boarding Pass API on Sony
SmartWatch.
Among the initiatives were joint
developments, with SITA’s Passenger
business, of the iTravel® API, iTravel®
Mobile and web applications. iTravel®
enables airlines to engage directly with
passengers, while empowering them
to take control across the journey,
tackling key steps along the way.
Work in 2014 included a new full
HTML-5 version of the iTravel® web
application, enabling a near-native
experience without the need to
download an application.
WEARABLES SMOOTH
THE WAY
Setting out on the journey remained
an area of focus, following the success
of Virgin Atlantic’s wearables pilot
project – where passengers arriving
at London Heathrow Airport were
greeted by concierges informed of
their travel details by Google Glass and
Sony SmartWatch technology. Further
piloting continued with Copenhagen
Airport to deploy Glass for customer
service staff, with results proving their
value in enhancing traveler satisfaction.
Meanwhile, the SITA Lab continued
to work on passport scanning
with devices from Vuzix, which are
ruggedized versions of Google Glass
with better optics. The Lab also
continues to explore optical character
recognition for passport machine
readable zones using a tablet or phone
camera, which will remove the need for
dedicated passport readers.
“Beacons provide a fantastic opportunity to improve the passenger
experience, but to do so they must be consistently deployed at all
airports. Using SITA’s Registry will enable us to provide the same
great user experience to our passengers using our app in airports
not just in North America, but across our global route network.”
Phil Easter, Director of Mobile Apps, American Airlines
BEACONS AT THE AIRPORT
At the airport, SITA Lab has stayed
at the forefront of emerging location
tools, adding another technology to the
location armory with Bluetooth Low
Energy (BLE) devices called beacons,
which emit a signal over a radius of
2-75 meters.
Location tools lay the groundwork for
exploiting data and transforming it
into intelligence to be used across the
airport, impacting passenger flow and
communication. That can include data
generated by any devices connected to
sensors, and using data to control and
optimize the use of those devices.
In air transport, the potential
is huge. As evidenced in 2014,
beacon technology promises more
personalized communications to
passengers. Combined with an app it
can trigger context-relevant messages
or actions on a smartphone at specific
locations – such as a welcome
message and flight status update
as the passenger enters an airport
lounge, or the automatic presentation
of a mobile boarding pass on a
passenger’s phone screen when they
reach a control point.
across Miami International Airport was
implemented too, in addition to proof
of concept deployments at Geneva and
Singapore Airports.
It became evident during the year
that beacon deployment needed to be
consistent and controlled, which led to
launching the SITA Beacon Registry – a
single point of contact for common-use
beacons around the world. It offers a
cost-effective shared infrastructure
and avoids multiple airlines installing
separate beacons at shared gates. SITA
is proposing the model whereby the air
transport community via IATA and ACI
takes over governance.
By the end of Q1 2015, 22 airports and
airlines had deployed beacons using
the SITA common-use approach and
another dozen airlines and airports
were in discussion to join the initiative.
Pioneering SITA Lab beacon trials
in 2014 are helping to point the way
forward. They involved several airlines
and airports, including American
Airlines at Dallas Fort Worth Airport,
as well as Copenhagen and Heathrow
Airports. A major beacon deployment
47
“Feedback from our passengers and service team has been
overwhelmingly positive. We found Google Glass very easy to use
and more user-friendly than other devices such as tablets. Our
managers are not focusing on a screen and can engage better with
our passengers.”
Marie-Louise Lotz, Director of Customer Care, Copenhagen Airport
BOARDING WITH NFC
In another advance at the airport,
the SITA Lab led the community in
exploring the potential of Near Field
Communication (NFC). Together
with Orange Business Services,
as well as SITA’s own Airports and
Communications & Infrastructure
teams, the Lab completed a number
of trials and initiatives, building on
several years of NFC experience.
A six-month trial ended in December
2014 at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, in
partnership with Air France KLM, to
offer NFC boarding passes. Altogether
32 gates were equipped with NFC
readers and previously invited AF/
KLM Gold and Platinum passengers
were able to board with a fully IATAcompliant NFC boarding pass.
The SITA Lab also demonstrated how
the NFC boarding pass can be deployed
in a new approach promoted by Google
(HCE: Host Card Emulation). This
enables the NFC boarding pass to be
stored in phone software, removing
dependency on mobile operators or
mobile handset manufacturers.
48
As predicted by SITA CTO Jim Peters
in 2013, Apple has now included NFC
technology in its mobiles, the iPhone
6 and 6+. SITA has submitted its
proposed air transport industry NFC
standard to Apple, for consideration
if and when Apple opens NFC to
transport/ticketing use cases.
Meanwhile, SITA is working with
Access-IS and DESKO to certify their
NFC readers on the CUPPS platform.
TABLETS IN TRAVEL
The use of tablets across the journey
is advancing rapidly. CrewTablet was
fully transitioned out of the Lab into the
SITA portfolio (see page 31). SITA Lab
continued to support the product via the
development of a payment module and
integration of IFE controls. Then, after
successful trials with ground handlers
in Europe and Asia, WorldTracer on
Tablet was moved to SITA’s portfolio for
commercial launch in 2015.
SITA Lab has also been working with
SATS, TigerAir and at Singapore Changi
Airport to explore a common-use
tablet check-in for agents, with lessons
learned from the trial feeding into the
product roadmap.
FUTURE INNOVATION
SITA Lab will continue to pioneer
innovations and drive ‘co-ideation’
– working collaboratively with air
transport’s ecosystem of customers,
technology partners, SITA solution
lines and other players.
Projects now underway include
wearable technology for biometric
authentication (to encompass trialing a
single travel token based on wearable
biometrics), smart glasses and smart
watches for ground staff, the feasibility
of an autonomous robot for airport
operations, and an autonomous
drone project.
As always, the focus stays sharply on
areas where new technologies address
community needs for better process
efficiencies and service differentiation.
6
10
(approx) Application
Programming Interfaces
(APIs) available through SITA
Lab's www.developer.aero
website, including SITA’s new
BagJourney API for baggage
tracking, along with use of
SITA’s Mobile Boarding Pass
API on Sony SmartWatch.
92%
of passengers would like
notifications to their mobiles
in the event of disruption, as
enabled by SITA’s APIs.
Working with beacons,
airports can give passengers
queuing time, flight status,
gate number, time to gate
and more.
12
airports deployed commonuse beacons and used SITA’s
Beacon Registry by end 2014.
The registry defines standard
data sets and beacon types to
be positioned at airport gates,
retail areas and checkpoints.
51,260
months was the period for a
trial of NFC boarding passes
at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport,
in partnership with Air France
KLM. In the US, NFC was
tested with a major US airline
and US mobile operator for
lounge entry.
mobile boarding passes
issued in one day for 8
airlines using SITA’s
Boarding Pass API on
www.developer.aero
(peak volume in 2014).
220
airports and 500 airlines use
BagMessage, whose 2.5bn data
messages about baggage
location are now available via
the API for BagJourney, so that
developers can start building
innovative applications with
baggage location data built in.
1st
For Best Passenger
Assistance Initiative (Virgin
Atlantic Google Glass
project) and Best Mobile
Technology Initiative
(American Airlines’ beacon
deployment). Virgin’s
project also won an award
at The Wearables 2014.
1st
in the world to use Google
Glass to help concierges
welcome customers was
Virgin Atlantic.
1st
in the world to provide
complete and open
deployment of beacons
was Miami International
Airport.
49
THE COMMUNITY’S
SERVICE ASSET
With the air transport industry’s
increasing dependence on an alwaysconnected ecosystem, availability
and reliability have never been so
critical, making information and
communications infrastructure more
strategic than ever. Through continuous
investment and a commitment to the
principle of ‘service excellence every
time’, SITA Global Services (SGS) is
proving to be a unique community
asset, differentiating SITA in the air
transport industry.
Today, as a unified global customer
service organization, SGS supports
2,800 customers around the clock,
fielding more than 2,000 dedicated
aviation IT specialists and engineers
located in about 140 countries.
Providing secure, managed multivendor services across the entire SITA
portfolio and beyond, it is evolving as a
world class managed service business
with an unrivalled focus on airports,
where air transport players interact.
EXCELLENCE
In 2014, SGS continued to improve
service quality and availability on the
back of multi-million dollar investments
over recent years in Command Centers,
Next Generation Data Centers and
Service Desks. These investments
have given SITA the ability to provide
high levels of availability to keep the air
transport community up and running.
50
The 2014 results speak for themselves,
evidenced by a drop in major incidents
of 33% over the year, a drop in major
incident hours of 38%, and achievement
of service availability targets for all 23
SITA core applications supported.
The aim is to place SITA in ’pace-setter’
and high performer categories for
measures of operational performance
and customer satisfaction, productivity
and value for money, and services
growth. In 2014, SITA recorded the best
ever customer satisfaction score of
4.10, with 98.4% of customers satisfied
with SITA services, and a Net Promoter
Score of 59%. This maintains SITA’s
position firmly in the top quartile among
IT service organizations globally.
WORLD CLASS
The successful piloting in 2014 of a
breakthrough world class Airport
Support Model will enable SITA to offer
increased value to customers through
support and service management of
more of their IT infrastructure.
This includes deployment of IT to
improve availability, performance and
recovery, with better industrialized
processes for system administration,
remote support capabilities, mobile
system access for field engineers,
and service desk first call resolution.
Roll-out to airport customers included
the introduction of Airport Service
Managers at 18 airports by the end of
2014 as the single customer-facing
owner of SITA services.
The Airport Service Managers carry
operational responsibility for all SITA
products and services within the
airport, removing any fragmented
support arrangements that may evolve
over time between parties. SITA field
engineers have access to SITA tools via a
smartphone app, enabling them to open,
update and resolve issues remotely.
With the major components of the
Airport Support Model in place, rollout is continuing at more airports,
transforming services and combining
local presence with global capability.
TRANSFORMATION
Building on the success of the new
Airport Support Model, SITA’s Network
Support Model began to transition
during 2014 to a multi-vendor telecoms
solution for network customers.
Support models for SITA’s Government
and Passenger portfolios are following.
The service model evolution
constitutes a far reaching
Transformation Program in customer
service. This is driving investment
in a strategy that measures activity
against five dimensions: customer
experience, operational excellence,
elevated efficiency, service expansion
and capability enhancement.
In addition to transforming service
capabilities, the program will increase
customer value through a broader
range of managed services that
constitute an evolving Service Catalog.
Highlights from the program include
certification of SITA’s Best Practice
Processes; more community value
through an expanded service portfolio;
and the increasing use of analytics to
drive more efficiencies.
UNIQUE VALUE TO
THE COMMUNITY
Also high on the agenda is people
development under the framework
of an ‘SGS Academy’, as well as
investment in technology in areas
such as outage prevention, proactive
detection, remote fix and leveraging
knowledge management.
aviation IT specialists
and field engineers available in 140
countries, speaking 60 languages,
supporting 2,800 customers, and
100% dedicated to the air transport
community 24/7.
1 global service organization
focused on air travel’s ‘always-on’
environment, providing global scale
and local service.
2,000+
SCALE OF OPERATION
2 Command Centers.
4 Next Generation Data Centers.
211 applications and 3,400
servers handled by the Atlanta and
London data centers.
35,000
workstations and 2,000
kiosks supported at 360 CUTE
airports. 2bn baggage portfolio
messages and 500m transactions
supported annually.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Looking ahead, improvements will
be continuous. The completed data
centers are now under the remit of
SGS to provide single accountability
for end-to-end service delivery and
quality. This aligns with SITA’s end-toend passenger experience strategy.
Combined with the creation of an
Availability Practice, it will enable
further improvements in service
availability, performance and recovery,
each of which is a critical component of
operational service quality.
STRIVING FOR
SERVICE EXCELLENCE
98.4% customer satisfaction.
59% Net Promoter Score.
69% of major incidents detected by
command centers before they impact
customer services.
76% of incidents resolved in less
than 2 hours.
50% reduction in downtime by data
A WORLD CLASS
SERVICE MODEL
18
Airport Service Managers
appointed and rising.
500
field engineers using mobile
service management technology.
135+ airports moved to a new
24/7 support model.
centers. 80% reduction of downtime
hours in the last 3 years.
The strategic initiatives include
introducing the concept of Customer
Effort, to better understand the service
experienced by customers, backed by
measures for key service interactions.
This will make it easier and simpler to
use SITA services, building further on
the core purpose of delivering service
excellence that adds value to the air
transport community.
51
THINKING GLOBALLY
AND LOCALLY
As a global business, SITA employs
around 4,500 people in more than
135 countries and nearly 370
sites worldwide, representing 140
nationalities and speaking over 60
languages.
This geographical spread, combined
with on-the-ground skills and
expertise, means that SITA’s people
think both globally and locally – an
invaluable asset for the world’s air
transport industry.
CUSTOMER FACING
As an organization with missioncritical responsibilities for most of the
world’s airlines and airports, nearly
half of SITA’s people are in customerfacing roles. A further third are directly
involved in the design, development
and deployment of solutions and
services for their customers.
BEST PEOPLE
SITA’s people plan is focused on
attracting and retaining the best talent,
developing leadership and professional
skills at all levels in the organization,
and putting into place performance and
reward practices that motivate people
to be at their best for customers.
ATTRACTING TALENT
In the fast moving air transport and IT
industries, the right talent is crucial.
SITA continues to build workforce
planning capabilities to anticipate the
future skill requirements to achieve
its strategy.
In 2014 SITA’s HR team launched a
major initiative to build a best-inclass talent acquisition function able
to attract, source and retain the best
talent in the market.
Of all the roles filled across SITA
during the year a third were taken by
existing employees. This commitment
to career progression is central to
SITA’s employer brand, providing
a compelling proposition in an
increasingly competitive marketplace.
LEADERSHIP AND
DEVELOPMENT
In addition to acquiring new skills,
SITA continues to build the skills
of its existing workforce. This is a
fundamental part of SITA’s strategy and
business plan. It involves accelerating
and broadening leadership, technical
and functional development of people
at all levels in the organization.
In 2014, management and leadership
development were enhanced, with
a third of all managers and leaders
taking part in one of the development
programs. SITA’s HR team also
implemented more robust talent and
succession management practices.
Continued investment took place in
the development of technical and
functional skills aligned with business
drivers. Examples include Sales
Excellence, the SITA Global Services
Academy, SQACE (software quality
assurance), Product and Project
Management, certification programs,
and centers of expertise.
52
PERFORMANCE AND REWARD
Results from SITA’s 2014 annual
employee survey show a positive trend
with engagement figures improving
year on year. Leaders and managers
have put in place actions to address
feedback. Encouragingly the survey
results show significant gains on
external benchmarks.
Throughout the year, HR partnered
with leaders and managers to
improve performance management
practices. Along with more robust
objective setting, the HR team
delivered a comprehensive program
of performance and reward manager
education.
Topics included effective performance
conversations, understanding
objectives, assessing overall
performance, effective reward
decisions, and communicating about
reward. Over 70% of managers took
part in these sessions.
SITA has a pay-for-performance
culture that differentiates employee
rewards relative to overall individual
performance. Over the past year
SITA has made significant investment
in employee reward, reflecting
a commitment to competitive
remuneration in markets where the
company operates.
4,500
People employed by SITA in
more than 135 countries and
nearly 370 sites worldwide.
140 nationalities
represented, with
SITA staff speaking
over 60 languages.
32% of staff based in the Americas
14% Asia Pacific
36% Europe
18% Middle East, India and Africa
>40%
of SITA's staff work
in customer service
and support (SITA
Global Services).
Nearly half of SITA’s staff are
in customer-facing roles.
A third of SITA’s staff are
directly involved in the
design, development and
deployment of solutions and
services for customers.
46% of staff in Service Management
>800
Roles were filled
across SITA during
the year.
17% Technical Development
8% Project Management
7% Customer Solutions
53
CSR IN ACTION
SITA continued its commitment to
corporate social responsibility (CSR)
throughout the year with actions in the
three core areas of its CSR strategy:
integrating CSR into the business,
managing SITA’s environmental impact,
and providing value to its communities.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
A key focus was ISO 14001 adoption
(Environmental Management Systems)
across major sites. Environmental
management encompasses policy,
planning, implementation and
operations, checking, and management
review and commitment.
The culmination of an 18 month
program, ISO 14001 was implemented
in the five largest employee sites, with
three locations certified in 2014 and
two in early 2015. In addition, SITA’s
Rome office renewed its certified
status. This means that 45% of
employees are now based in locations
where this certification has been
successfully implemented.
TRACKING
The overall environmental impacts of
the organization have been tracked
over a number of years, and data is
available for 77% of the office-based
employee population.
54
A decline in both energy intensity and
emissions intensity ratios has now
been seen since 2011. While decreases
in scope 2 emissions have been
reported, an increase of 8.6% in scope
3 emissions has been noted. This is as
a result of business travel, and reflects
the nature of SITA’s operations in the
air transport industry.
As a global business supporting
customers in around 200 countries,
the use of air travel is necessary. SITA
does, however, encourage the use of
technologies such as videoconferencing
through dedicated facilities, or via the
desktop. Usage has remained strong.
CSR IN THE BUSINESS
As well as adoption of the ISO 14001
standard, 2014 saw the renewal of
SITA’s commitment to the United
Nations Global Compact (UNGC)
framework by the company’s CEO,
Francesco Violante. The 10 principles
of the UNGC continue to help the
business assess its operations and
define future strategy in the areas of
anti-corruption, labor, human rights
and the environment.
In addition, SITA signed the UNGC Call
to Action on Anti-corruption: 93% of the
workforce required to undergo anticorruption and training have completed
it, with the remainder scheduled in
early 2015.
SITA issued its first corporate
environment policy in September,
outlining the expectations of the
business on its employees. This joins a
number of corporate level policies that
address areas related to CSR.
PROCUREMENT
A training course on responsive
procurement and the UNGC principles
was developed and released onto the
company’s e-learning platform, and
made mandatory for all procurement
employees. Year-end saw a 100%
completion rate, with a number of other
employees also participating.
Work was also undertaken in
identifying countries with a high level
of risk, and a supplier self-certification
program initiated. A target of 20
companies to self-certify was set
for the year, and by December, 33
companies had successfully been
through the process.
In October the company was pleased
to receive an Oracle Excellence Award
for Sustainability Innovation for the
implementation of SITA’s Strategic
Finance System. As well as recognizing
SITA’s overall commitment to
environmental management, the award
acknowledged the environmental
benefits of the finance system through
server reduction and digital invoicing.
“Thanks to SITA’s Value In
Volunteer Action (VIVA) we get
to contribute to great causes
and meet great people.”
Karima Bertin, SITA Paris
VALUE FOR COMMUNITIES
A NEW FOUNDATION
Many of SITA’s employees took the
opportunity to use their paid Value
in Volunteer Action (VIVA) day during
2014, undertaking a diverse range of
activities to support ventures in their
local communities.
In 2014, the SITA Council ratified a new
initiative called the SITA Air Transport
Community Foundation. Governed by
the Council, and jointly funded by SITA
and its members, the Foundation will
work with selected charities to deliver
educational programs and technology.
Help was given to a variety of charities
tackling poverty and homelessness,
supporting children, families and the
elderly, and environmental projects.
In addition, employees raised funds
across the globe to provide essential
items to charities in need.
SITA’s focus on supporting education
continued with programs in
Letterkenny, Ireland, that saw children
and students benefit from visits and
internships with the local office.
In May, SITA established a new
scholarship at the Civil Aviation
University of China to help talented
young civil aviation students to focus
their study and research on science
and technology related to the air
transport industry.
In South Africa, the company
implemented its third computer lab for
students, this time at Zitikeni secondary
school. In addition, nine students
graduated from SITA’s Another Level
initiative in 2014 – a program that runs
each year to support young people from
disadvantaged backgrounds through
technical training and workplace
experience to gain IT skills.
The initial focus is in Africa with
the provision of computer suites at
schools in Ethiopia and Uganda, and
educational grants at a university
in South Africa. In its first year the
Foundation hopes to improve the
educational life of more than 10,000
students and facilitate training for
around 100 teachers.
The investment by the Foundation
will support student development in
science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) education.
SUPPORTING THE AIR
TRANSPORT COMMUNITY
A number of SITA’s products and
solutions contribute to efficiencies
in areas such as fuel consumption
and paper use. For example, SITA’s
Weight & Balance tool can ensure
optimal loading and fuel consumption,
while FMS Wind Uplink adjusts flight
plans according to changing wind
and weather conditions, enabling the
aircraft to use fuel effectively.
Likewise, the use of tablets in the
cockpit and the cabin reduces the
amount of paper required for charts,
documents and passenger information.
Each year, SITA’s customer satisfaction
is measured in a number of areas,
including CSR. The percentage of
customers who believe that SITA is a
corporately and socially responsible
organization reached a high in 2014,
with 93% in agreement.
Further information can be found in
SITA’s CSR Report.
12.1%
REDUCTION IN SCOPE 2 EMISSIONS
INTENSITY SINCE 2011 (TONNES
CO2E/SQM)
9.6%
REDUCTION IN ENERGY INTENSITY
SINCE 2011 (KWH/SQM)
297
VOLUNTEER DAYS
TAKEN IN 2014
93%
OF SITA’S CUSTOMERS BELIEVE
SITA IS A CORPORATELY AND
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE
BUSINESS
45%
OF SITA EMPLOYEES ARE BASED IN
OFFICES CERTIFIED TO ISO 14001
The reductions in fuel use mean fewer
emissions, and that can help airlines
with their own sustainability goals.
55
CONNECTIVITY FOR
PASSENGERS AND AIRCRAFT
In a market leading move, OnAir and
SITA embarked on a milestone initiative
to develop operational solutions for the
connected aircraft. It culminated, at the
beginning of 2015, with the formation
of a new business organization – SITA
OnAir. The new organization combines
OnAir’s leadership and expertise in
passenger in-flight solutions with
SITA’s Aircraft business, which
leads the world in air-to-ground
communications (AIRCOM®).
With the air transport community
needing to make the right decisions
on aircraft connectivity, the new
business offers a ‘nose-to-tail’ value
proposition to help airlines, air framers,
manufacturers and equipment suppliers
make one of the most important
industry transformations in decades.
ONAIR: LEADERS
OnAir went from strength to strength
in 2014, with its in-flight connectivity
services for passengers being used
by more airlines than those of any
other provider, and a growing number
of successes around the world
underlining the company’s clear
market leadership.
Looking at OnAir’s passenger business
during 2014, the signs for the future
are positive, as mobile phones and
Wi-Fi are proving to be as popular
during flights as they are in everyday
56
life. In 2014, 13 million passengers
used OnAir’s in-flight mobile phone
service – double the previous year’s
figure; and 37% of passengers flying
OnAir-equipped aircraft connected to
the in-flight network.
as well as Philippine Airlines’ decision
to extend its services and offer
OnAir’s full in-flight entertainment
and communications (IFEC) package
of mobile phone, Wi-Fi services and
wireless IFE on all long-range aircraft.
By the end of 2014, 22 airlines provided
OnAir connectivity, with the business
now responsible for more than half of
the in-flight passenger connectivity
market. Most of these airlines offer
both mobile phone and Wi-Fi services,
reflecting how – whether at home,
in the office or on the move – people
operate in a connected ‘always-on’
world where flying is no exception.
In addition, Qatar Airways’ new A350
fleet saw the installation of OnAir’s full
in-flight connectivity suite as a linefit,
while in early 2015 Saudia became the
first airline to provide passengers with
a dedicated mobile phone app for free
in-flight Wi-Fi. Passengers simply scan
their ticket’s bar code for free access.
The third dimension is wireless inflight entertainment (W-IFE). OnAir
launched OnAir Play, its W-IFE offer
in September. It delivers a highly
personalized experience, direct to
passengers’ own devices, filled with
rich multimedia content through an
intuitive interface that can be fully
branded by the airline. In addition,
live content, such as breaking news or
sports updates, can be streamed from
the ground to the cabin.
Coverage and availability are two key
drivers for OnAir’s success. OnAir had
developed an unrivalled regulatory
footprint by the end of 2014 – with
authorizations from over 100 countries
– combined with the largest network
of roaming agreements with more
than 375 mobile network operators. It
means that consistent connectivity is
available throughout the world, which
is paramount for any airline flying
international routes.
PASSENGER SUCCESS
The key indicator of the quality and
popularity of OnAir’s passenger
communications is that several
airlines extended their connectivity
across entire fleets and on a variety of
aircraft. Highlights in the year include
OnAir services on 25 of Iberia’s A330s
and A340s flying transatlantic routes,
COVERAGE, AVAILABILITY
OnAir has an extensive STC
(supplemental type certificate) catalog
with more than 33 certificates as well,
covering every current commercial
aircraft as well as a number of
business jets. It makes retrofitting
OnAir products straightforward. OnAir
is also available as linefit on most
aircraft types.
“Our partnership with SITA OnAir is a great step forward for the
Danube FSB (Functional Airspace Block) and moves us closer to
the Single European Sky. We look forward to benefiting from the
efficiencies and safety enhancements data link will bring.”
Ion-Aurel Stanciu, Director General, ROMATSA
THE CONNECTED AIRCRAFT
Passenger connectivity is now only part
of the story. The launch of SITA OnAir
at the start of 2015 – the culmination
of months of work – presents airlines
with the opportunity to realize the full
potential of connected aircraft.
The hugely sophisticated equipment on
board new generation aircraft makes it
possible to connect for aircraft health
monitoring, IT aircraft operations,
and digital maintenance, on top of the
passenger connectivity we see today.
The Boeing 787, for instance, has
around 1,500 software parts and
an A350 has 400,000 data points for
aircraft health monitoring. These new
aircraft are forcing airlines to make
sense of how to exploit their potential
for connectivity. Airlines are beginning
to understand that connectivity can be
used not only to enhance the passenger
experience, but also to automate
workflow management, accelerate
turnaround time and reduce cost.
THE COMMUNITY IS EMBRACING
IN-FLIGHT CONNECTIVITY
13m
Passengers used OnAir’s in-flight
mobile phone service in 2014 –
double the previous year’s figure.
37%
Of passengers flying OnAir-equipped aircraft
connected to the in-flight network, with 14,000+
aircraft in operation.
400+
SITA OnAir is the leading provider of
in-cabin connectivity for passengers
serving over 400 airline customers.
100+
Countries covered by OnAir’s unrivalled regulatory
footprint by the end of 2014, covering 90% of
the globe.
22
Airlines provided OnAir
connectivity by the end of 2014.
13m
375
passengers
OnAir’s
in-flightagreements
mobile
The biggestused
network
of roaming
with
phone
in 2014
– double
the previous
mobileservice
network
operators
covering
more than
year’s
2.6bn figure
GSM subscribers.
57
Air China is set to save around around US$8 million a year in fuel
costs, thanks to payload and live weather update technology from
SITA OnAir. “I’m proud to say that Air China is the first airline to use
this technology in China as part of our continuous innovation efforts.”
Lu Yun-Guo, Senior Manager of Operation Technology, Air China
THE RISE OF THE CONNECTED AIRCRAFT
2,000
aircraft will be new generation
aircraft within four years.
73%
airlines plan to offer onboard connectivity by end 2017: 68%
mobile browsing, 53% W-IFE, 52% mobile phone services.
75% plan to deploy cabin crew tablets. (SITA's IT Trends Surveys.)
1-3
SITA’s connected aircraft services
support class 1-3 platforms and all
airframe types.
3,000+
devices equipped with CrewTablet and deployed
by 10 airlines.
1,500
software parts in a Boeing 787 and
400,000 parameters in an A350 for
aircraft health monitoring.
58
SITA OnAir brings together industry
leadership and expertise across a
range of areas: ground and in-flight
connectivity, cockpit data services
and air traffic management solutions,
aircraft communications and
infrastructure solutions (see ‘AIRCOM®
Expertise’), as well as application
development for both passengers and
crew. The core of the new business
organization is OnAir’s expertise
in supplying in-flight connectivity
and SITA’s knowledge of airline
communications and IT.
SITA OnAir is unique in being the
only provider with the full range
of expertise needed to deliver the
nose-to-tail capabilities necessary to
make the connected aircraft a reality
for the air transport community, in a
consistent and neutral way.
With a full portfolio incorporating
connectivity for passengers, cabin crew,
cockpit crew, aircraft health monitoring,
flight operations and air traffic control –
SITA OnAir is already creating solutions
that will exploit connected aircraft,
transforming the passenger and crew
experience, while improving airlines’
operational efficiency.
AIRCOM® EXPERTISE
AIRCOM® ACARS
AIRCOM® SERVER
Now an integral part of SITA OnAir,
SITA’s AIRCOM® service brings to the
new business expertise and leadership
in providing the aviation community’s
standard air-ground communications
to support airline operations and air
traffic control. The service achieved
another year of growth as revenues
rose 6% above the previous year’s
record figures.
AIRCOM® customer airlines connect
their ACARS cockpit data link systems
via AIRCOM® to their operations centers,
air traffic control and manufacturers
of the aircraft and aircraft systems
that provide performance monitoring
services. All these uses contributed to a
continued increase in traffic volumes via
the AIRCOM® ACARS Datalink service.
A new AIRCOM® Server Flight Monitor
display, showing aircraft positions
using multiple data sources overlaid
on Google Maps, was ready for release
in mid-2014, although its introduction
was postponed due to the industry’s
pressing requirement for an AIRCOM®
FlightTracker module.
SITA remains the air transport
community’s aircraft communications
provider of choice, delivering aviation
industry standard mission-critical
services to stakeholders in the
community, including aircraft, airlines,
national air traffic service (ATS)
providers and governments.
The year saw critical activity in
leading the industry’s efforts to
provide airlines with improved
means of tracking their aircraft in
a more proactive way, following the
disappearance of Malaysia Airlines
Flight MH370.
As market leader in the provision
of global ACARS cockpit data link
services, SITA OnAir’s service is used
by in excess of 11,000 air transport
sector aircraft and another 4,000
corporate and government aircraft.
Customers of the AIRCOM® ACARS
Datalink service exchange more
than three million messages a day.
Overall, VHF communication in 2014
grew by more than 11%, while ACARS
communication via satellite rose by
18% and communication via the newer
Iridium service grew 76%.
The Airbus A350 was the latest
aircraft type to start using ACARS
both for traditional exchanges and
for sending messages via the new
industry standard Medium Independent
Aircraft Messaging (MIAM). The A350
joins the ACARS-equipped Boeing 787
in using ACARS for more elaborate
performance monitoring systems than
previous generation aircraft.
The development of FlightTracker
became a critical initiative responding
to community needs. It is programmed
to know how long to wait for position
reports from each aircraft and in
the absence of expected data send
requests to the aircraft, either to the
FANS ATC system on equipped aircraft
or to the Flight Management System.
Any airline using FlightTracker can
configure triggers to generate alerts
when position data is missing or not
as expected. The FlightTracker system
logic is being enhanced to identify
movements that follow instructions
from Air Traffic Control.
Announced in 2015, Malaysia Airlines
will be the first carrier to implement
AIRCOM® FlightTracker. As part of SITA
OnAir’s commitment to delivering value
to air transport community, during an
emergency it will provide FlightTracker
position reporting free of charge to
SITA members.
ACARS communications is now being
moved from VHF to mobile data links
while in flight, uncoupling them from
t e traditional VHF link that is primarily
th
the
used for air traffic control.
used
59
AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
As western European air navigation
service providers (ANSPs) complied
with the European Union (EU) Single
Sky mandate to implement ICAO
ATN standard Controller Pilot Data
Link systems, ATN communications
overloaded the VHF data link service
causing the EU in January 2014 to push
back the deadlines by five years.
Meanwhile, Eurocontrol has proposed
a series of centralized services,
including VHF data link, for which
a single regional implementation is
preferable to each ANSP implementing
nationally. In response ANSPs that
have deployed VHF stations acquired
from SITA are planning to integrate
them into a regional VHF network
providing a centralized service.
Following a 2013 agreement with
Harris Corp, the US Federal Aviation
Authority’s (FAA) selected provider
of VHF data link services, SITA in
2014 delivered VHF ground stations
and an ACARS processor, enabling
Harris to start deploying a network
that will support the FAA and SITA in
providing aircraft operations services
to AIRCOM® customers.
The FAA is implementing Departure
Clearance in the top 50 US airports
from 2016 and as the FAA deploys
its systems, Harris will expand the
new network to replace the SITA VHF
AIRCOM® network in the US.
AIRCOM RADIO ACCESS
SITA has tested ACARS use of the
Inmarsat Swift Broadband service and
as customers equip their aircraft with
the latest version of SBB avionics that
emulate the Inmarsat ‘classic’ service
interface to ACARS avionics, they will
get the new higher capacity link, as
part of the AIRCOM ACARS service.
AIRCOM VHF networks at the end of
2014 reached more than 1,500 radios
including 1,250 owned by SITA and 300
sold by SITA to partners. To meet the
requirements of the concession from
the Brazilian Air Navigation Service
Provider DECEA, SITA expanded the
number of VHF stations in Brazil to 48,
including 39 providing VDL service.
LEADING AIRCOM SERVICES
15,500
aircraft using SITA
OnAir’s aircraft
communications
services.
11,000+
1,542
VHF ground
stations in 2014,
rising from
1,150 in 2008.
11%
growth in VHF
communication
in 2014.
60
3m+
air transport sector
aircraft and another
4,000 corporate and
government aircraft use
SITA OnAir’s ACARS
cockpit data link
services, making SITA
market leader.
messages
exchanged every
day by customers
of SITA’s AIRCOM®
ACARS Datalink
service.
15%
growth in satellite
communication
using Inmarsat and
Iridium in 2014.
18%
growth in ACARS
communication via
satellite and 76% in
the newer Iridium
service.
1,500
radios on AIRCOM®
VHF networks at the
end of 2014, including
1,250 owned by SITA
and 300 sold by SITA
to partners.
CONNECTED THINKING FOR
THE AIR CARGO COMMUNITY
As the air cargo market began
to experience its first moderate
cyclical upturn for five years, CHAMP
Cargosystems recorded another strong
year of market gains and innovation.
Today, with over 450 staff, CHAMP
combines the world’s biggest cargo
community with connectivity all along
the supply chain.
As the industry’s logical choice for air
cargo IT, CHAMP remains the leader
in its field, a strong industry voice, and
an active participant in the air cargo
community on IT issues bridging the
gaps between ideas, aspirations and
practical implementation.
In building the world’s largest cargo
community, CHAMP has now become a
byword for reliable connectivity across
the globe, connecting more than 200
air cargo carriers, general sales
agents and handlers, as well as over
3,000 freight forwarders and around
40 customs authorities.
CHAMP’s leadership was recognized
in early 2015 on receiving the
‘International IT Systems Provider of
the Year in Africa’ award for the second
year running, as part of the Stat Times
International Awards for Excellence
in Air Cargo.
TIER ONE ADVANCES
The year saw two major achievements.
First, CHAMP succeeded in the Tier
1 airline market with two successful
Cargospot projects for Cathay Pacific
and Japan Airlines (JAL) Cargo,
consolidating its leadership in core
systems for cargo across all tiers.
JAL Cargo commenced live domestic
operations on Cargospot in 2014
as the first phase of its technology
transformation program onto the
Cargospot platform. Later in the year,
CHAMP announced that Cathay Pacific
had selected Cargospot to provide its
new IT platform following a successful
six-month design phase.
The changeover to the latest cloudbased technology, using SITA’s ATI
Cloud (see page 32), is replacing
Cathay Pacific’s legacy Unisys-based
mainframe system.
The Cargospot cargo management
suite provides complete end-toend control over commercial,
operational and revenue accounting
processes. Core cargo systems
for carriers, handlers and agents
are complemented by applications
for business intelligence, ULD
management and optimized load
planning for freighter operations.
CHAMP’s portfolio spans cargo
management systems, including the
proven Cargospot application suite,
messaging and integration services
through its Community Integration
Platform and a comprehensive suite of
eCargo solutions.
61
“Achieving the first milestone was a truly big challenge for us as
it was an unprecedented case for JAL to replace a core business
legacy system with software-as-a-service. The use of Cargospot
Service will maximize our cost-efficiency in IT innovation.”
Tsuyoshi Yamamura, Executive Officer for Cargo and Mail, Japan Airlines
COMMUNITY PHILOSOPHY
Second, CHAMP continued to invest
significantly during 2014 – not just
for the benefit of its existing eCargo
community, but also to embrace
more and more logistics supply chain
participants, moving them away from
paper-based commerce to its new
generation industry collaboration
platform and the largest community of
users in the world.
That effort includes the integration and
digitization of freight forwarders, as
CHAMP’s eCargo community expands.
The company’s community philosophy
is to deliver value on the back of the
size of its community, through shared
cost of ownership and economies of
scale for the benefit of all. Milestones
in the year came in the areas of
forwarding, customs and a new
community information portal.
FORWARDERS WELCOME
In its drive to connect the global cargo
community, during 2014 CHAMP
created a new subsidiary, CHAMP
Forwarding Systems, to address the
small and medium size forwarder
community. The new subsidiary
business offers CHAMP’s proven
Logitude software-as-a-service
platform, fully integrated with its
Traxon CargoHUB messaging service.
As a major strategic move, the cloudbased approach makes it simple and
cost-effective for forwarders to join
the eCargo community, benefitting
quickly from full multi-modal shipment
management functionality and
electronic connectivity to airlines.
NO CUSTOMS BURDEN
CHAMP continues to play a leading
role in customs too. It is an area where
a huge burden has been placed on
cargo carrying airlines, with customs
authorities demanding tighter control
and advance cargo information about
the import and export of freight
transiting their borders.
CHAMP’s Traxon Global Customs has
resolved the issue, as a one-stop,
global solution for advance customs
information that greatly reduces
declaration errors and delays in
shipment clearance. It means cargo airlines can exchange
information electronically with
customs authorities regardless
of format, communications
protocols and processing rules. The
system recognizes existing air cargo
information exchange standards such
as IATA CargoIMP, making the interface
to customs easy and immediately
available without the need to invest in
new technologies.
By year-end more than 80 airlines,
ground handlers and forwarders were
deploying the solution for electronic
filing with customs authorities in over
62
40 countries – in compliance with the
EU-ICS (Import Control System) and
other national customs requirements.
CHAMP has also implemented the latest
US advance declaration requirements
in Traxon Global Customs. Late in the
year, SITA launched a Customs Gateway
solution with Argentina Customs
who mandated advanced customs
information. As part of the engagement,
CHAMP developed and deployed
the platform to power the solution,
delivering one of the first IATA CargoXML enabled communities in the world.
COMMUNITY PORTAL
Early in 2014, CHAMP launched the
CargoUpdate community information
portal, which provides a means for the
cargo community to exchange news
and operational information. The portal
is fully optimized for smartphones
and tablets and integrates additional
value-added eCargo services, such as
Track&Trace and ebooking.
DRIVING SEAT
Last year, CHAMP celebrated 10
successful years of commercial
operation. In that time, the cargo
community has changed almost
beyond imagination. CHAMP has
remained constantly in the driving seat,
introducing technology breakthroughs
and connected thinking to the perennial
challenges of moving freight from one
place to another.
“The new technology will support
continued growth of our airline
and help to meet the expanding
expectations of our cargo
customers. The changeover to
the new technology will ensure
that Cathay Pacific Cargo
continues to improve customer
service levels, efficiency and
productivity.”
“We were looking for a system
that would support our goal
of performing centralized and
optimized load planning, to
ensure safety and also to reduce
fuel consumption across our
freighter fleet. We are confident
that CHAMP’s Weight & Balance
will help us achieve this aim.”
Younus Habib, IT Director, Saudia
“We expect this next generation
of CHAMP to deliver substantial
advantages in terms of enhanced
efficiency and increased
functionality. This platform is
clearly a good fit for Cargolux’s
other internal and external IT
systems currently in place.”
Henrik Ambak, International Vice
President, Cargolux Airlines
James Woodrow, Director Cargo,
Cathay Pacific
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST CARGO COMMUNITY
450+
CHAMP professionals
focused on air cargo IT.
1,500+
stations in
100+
countries around the world.
200
Air cargo carriers, general sales
agents and handlers, 3,000+ freight
forwarders and around 40 customs
authorities – as part of the world’s
biggest cargo community with
connectivity all along the supply chain.
80+
15,000+
USERS
Airlines, ground handlers and forwarders by
year-end deploying CHAMP’s customs solution
for electronic filing with customs authorities in
40+ countries – in compliance with the EU-ICS
(Import Control System) and other national
customs requirements.
300m
messages a year
10
Successful years of
commercial operation
for CHAMP in 2014.
20m
shipments a year
5,000+
Man-years of investment.
63
COLLABORATING FOR
COMMUNITY VALUE
SITA Bureau Service (SBS) is a prime
example of SITA’s commitment to
creating business ventures to explore
and invest in new areas that will provide
value to the air transport community.
Still in its start-up phase, SBS
has been working closely with the
community to develop a solution
that meets a pressing communitywide need, improving the financial
flows between Air Navigation Service
Providers (ANSPs), airports and
airlines for aeronautical charges.
As a newly formed business already
generating revenue, SBS is expected to
contribute to growth in the years ahead
through its Flightyield solution.
Throughout 2014, the business
witnessed increasing levels of interest
from potential customers around the
world – particularly in Asia Pacific,
Middle East and Africa. It culminated
with the signing of the first contract
in early 2015, as the SBS business
continues to gather pace and to
work with partners to develop
new approaches.
BIG CHALLENGES
The task of managing bills and charges
of ANSPs can present big challenges.
As a collaborative initiative, SBS was
formed mid-way through 2013 to help
set a new industry standard in airspace
billing and revenue management
64
services, aiming to leverage efficient
and agile cloud and data analytics
technology, using SITA’s ATI Cloud.
SBS partners with CANSO (Civil Air
Navigation Services Organisation)
and Airways New Zealand, the ANSP
of New Zealand. The company was
founded in response to a request
by CANSO members for a purposebuilt aeronautical billing and revenue
management service to simplify
processes and to address long-standing
and significant hidden costs that have
impacted the industry globally.
Those hidden costs result from an
inability to apply flexible ANSP policies
and pricing models, processing of
incomplete data, entry errors, invoice
delays and more.
NEW WAY FORWARD
In early 2014, SBS launched Flightyield
as the only fully outsourced and
managed air transport industry billing
and revenue management service
capable of addressing ANSP and
airline concerns.
At its simplest, Flightyield enables
ANSPs to optimize charges and
put a stop to the growing costs of
managing revenue that result from
current processes and systems. It
supports next generation airspace
yield management, as well as invoice
processing, managing enquiries,
and accepting payments from
ANSP customers.
As an automated service using the
latest cloud technology, Flightyield
can deliver significant increases in
revenue accuracy, especially in cases
of ANSPs operating mainly manual
data management systems, benefiting
both ANSPs and airlines.
In December 2014, the solution was
given SSAE16 Type 1 certification,
an important step in the continuing
enhancement of the financial security
credentials of the service.
Launch customer Airways New Zealand
saw the first two phases of a threephase plan implemented during 2014,
with the final phase due to be completed
over the second quarter of 2015.
The capabilities and resources of SBS
have the potential to be extended to
include airport billing and collection.
Aimed at airport operational
management, it would provide the
same efficiencies to the handling
of charges such as landing fees,
departure taxes, towing, bridges and
building charges.
As it evolves, SBS will continue to
integrate IT and financial services
to provide business processing
and management, meeting the
community’s requirement for services
that address long-held and widespread
concerns about aeronautical charges
and billing.
A quality service from
civil air navigation services organisation
“Flightyield has the capability to transform aviation billing,
collection and revenue management and will lead to reduced costs
and increased efficiency.”
Jeff Poole, Director General, CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation)
GROWING INDUSTRY INTEREST
US$40m
Expected revenue by the
end 2017.
1,000+
DOZENS
Monthly page views on
flightyield.aero website.
Of potential customers in
discussion with SBS with multiple
contracts expected in 2015.
MEETING A COMMUNITY NEED
6%
12%-35%
90%-100%
Weight of ATM related revenue
vs total airport revenue.
Weight of ATM related revenue
vs total ANSP revenue.
“Inefficiencies in billing customer
and revenue management can cost
ANSPs around 6% of their revenue.”
Source: Revenue Management – A commercial
necessity, CANSO Airspace, Q1 2014
€20bn
Worldwide charges
estimation.
€6bn
Addressable charges estimation
(excluding Eurocontrol and US domestic).
FLIGHTYIELD: A LONG-NEEDED SOLUTION
Flightyield delivers a long-needed industry standard in billing and collection. It takes data directly from multiple
sources without manipulation, and validates it automatically with invoices generated. It enables a customer billing
policy and provides advice on global standards, as well as timely invoicing thanks to managing data at source.
Flightyield does more than fix billing inaccuracies and incompleteness; it gives the industry aeronautical charges
management capabilities that it never previously had access to. Adding value through increased accuracy and
decreased processing time for invoicing, payments and cash flow are simplified and improved, leading to better
overall industry financial flows.
From an ANSP perspective, it provides the ability to fine tune charges to help recover costs and investments – and
optimize the use of existing infrastructure for stronger re-investment, modernization and innovation cases. Charging
can be more granular, transparent and efficient, while allowing for new methods such as performance-based pricing.
65
AVIARETO: A SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY INITIATIVE
Supervised by the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO), Aviareto is
the joint venture between SITA and the Irish Government to establish and
operate the International Registry of aircraft equipment, as required by the
Convention and Aircraft Protocol.
As an International Registry of Mobile Assets, the company was set up
in 2001 by international treaty. It is an initiative for the benefit of the air
transport community, to provide a global registry to safeguard lending rights.
According to 2014 figures, in excess of US$500 billion of assets are now
managed through Aviareto’s processes. Registrations have been made
on over 125,000 aircraft, engines and helicopters using its International
Registry.
The ground-breaking Aviareto community initiative has been quietly
changing the face of air transport asset finance since its inception.
The Registry is the official and legal record for financial interests in aircraft
including mortgages and leases, as aircraft move between airlines, banks,
leasing companies, and others.
For more information, go to:
www.aviareto.aero or www.internationalregistry.aero.
66
SITA AT A GLANCE
The air transport industry is the most dynamic and exciting community
on earth – and SITA is its heart.
Our vision is to be the chosen technology partner of the industry, a
position we will attain through flawless customer service and a unique
portfolio of IT and communications solutions that covers the industry’s
every need 24/7.
We are the innovators of the industry. Our experts and developers
keep it fuelled with a constant stream of ground-breaking products
and solutions. We are the ones who see the potential in the latest
technology and put it to work.
Our customers include airlines, airports, GDSs and governments.
We work with around 430 air transport industry members and 2,800
customers in over 200 countries and territories.
We are open, energetic and committed. We work in collaboration with
our partners and customers to ensure we are always delivering the
most effective, most efficient solutions.
We own and operate the world’s most extensive communications
network. It’s the vital asset that keeps the global air transport industry
connected.
We are 100% owned by the air transport industry – a unique status that
enables us to understand and respond to its needs better than anyone.
Our annual IT surveys for airlines, airports and passenger self-service
are industry-renowned and the only ones of their kind.
We sponsor .aero, the top-level internet domain reserved exclusively
for aviation.
In 2014, we had consolidated revenues of US$1.7 billion.
For further information, please visit www.sita.aero
Follow us on www.sita.aero/socialhub
67
Registered Office
SITA SC
2 avenue des Olympiades
1140 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)2 745 0510
Fax: +32 (0)2 745 0517
Geographic Offices
Americas
3100 Cumberland Boulevard
Suite 200
Atlanta, GA 30339
USA
Tel: +1 770 850 4500
Asia Pacific
11 Loyang Way
Singapore 508723
Republic of Singapore
Tel: +65 6545 3711
Europe
26 Chemin de Joinville
B.P. 31, 1216 Cointrin
Geneva
Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 747 6111
Middle East, India & Africa
Bachoura
Khandak El-Ghamik
Daoud Ammoun Street
SITA Building
P.O. BOX 11-6524
Riad El-Solh 1107 2220
Beirut
Lebanon
Tel: +961 1637 300
www.sita.aero
Printed by Technique
Print Group using
their environmental
print technology.
Printed on Forestry
Stewardship Council®
(FSC®) accredited
paper stock.
© SITA 2015
All trademarks acknowledged. Specifications subject to change without prior notice. This literature provides outline
information only and (unless specifically agreed to the contrary by SITA in writing) is not part of any order or contract.

SITA Group activity report 2014

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