Frankfurt Airport: AI image analysis to speed up aircraft handling

At Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt am Main, AI technology is to help optimize and therefore speed up the handling of aircraft. This was announced by the operating company Fraport and Lufthansa on Thursday. The two companies have agreed to introduce “innovative camera technology” that will photograph and time-stamp all handling steps to increase the quantity and quality of available data. The technology called “Seer” is already being used at five positions at the airport, with a further 15 to be added by the end of September. This will be followed by a comprehensive expansion.

Better service for passengers

The camera-supported AI is intended to make handling processes visible, analyzable, and controllable in real time, explains the Managing Director of the Lufthansa subsidiary ZeroG, which is developing it. According to Manuel van Esch, this will not only bring more transparency for airlines and airport operators but also greater punctuality and better use of resources. This should work because the images will give everyone involved a more accurate picture of handling and identify optimization potential. Optimized handling would ultimately also benefit passengers through higher punctuality and better service quality.

Depending on the type of aircraft, handling at Frankfurt Airport currently takes between 35 and 120 minutes, the dpa news agency was informed by Fraport. To get an aircraft ready to take off again once it has landed, a large number of service providers have to carry out different work steps in a coordinated manner. These include, for example, docking the boarding bridge, unloading baggage and refueling. The AI-supported optimization has an “intensive development and pilot phase” behind it, which began in 2023. A test lasting several months took place at Frankfurt Airport in the spring of last year, the parties involved explained.

(mho)