easy air travel every step of the way - sita · 2018-06-27 · continuing strong demand for air...

Easy air travel every step of the waySITA GROUP ACTIVITY REPORT 2017

EASY AIR TRAVEL EVERY STEP OF THE WAY

2 SITA | GROUP ACTIVITY REPORT 2017


SITA BOARD DIRECTORS 4

CHAIR’S STATEMENT 6

COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S STATEMENT 10

SITA COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES 14

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT 18

BUSINESS REVIEW 26

CONTENTS


3SITA | GROUP ACTIVITY REPORT 2017

THE SITA BOARD IS TASKED WITH SUPERVISING THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMPANY AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES TO ENSURE THE EFFECTIVE OPERATION OF THE GROUP

SITA BOARD DIRECTORS



Omar JefriChair

Barbara DalibardSITA CEO

Elizabeth Haun Laurent Jossart Vice-Chair

Christoph Kleinsorg

Patrick Naef Sankar Narayan Roland Schuetz Damian Scokin

A.T. Srinivasan Eash Sundaram Robert Webb Thomas Woldbye




DIGITIZING AIR TRANSPORT - A COMMUNITY ROLE

CHAIR'S STATEMENT

Dr Omar Jefri



Q. WHAT AIR TRANSPORT TRENDS ARE DRIVING SITA’S PRESENT AND FUTURE ACTIONS? A. The air transport industry is accelerating its spend on digitization and the power of IT to transform the journey. This is in response to continuing strong demand for air travel and an expectation from passengers for a seamless and hassle-free experience.

Digitization will profoundly affect the industry over the next 20 years. Some change is straightforward – providing staff and crew with better quality information, for example, or filling the gaps in global coverage so we always know where a flight is.

But other changes will be deep rooted. This is why airlines, airports and others are paying great attention to fast-emerging digital technologies that will reshape the industry. Those technologies include biometrics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, bots, drones, mixed reality and more.

SITA is taking every opportunity to enable these changes. The company aims to introduce new ways of working across many operational areas, with robust replicable community products that can be integrated within any customer environment.

Baggage is one such area. As the only single-source vendor covering all aspects of baggage management, SITA works closely with IATA for implementation of Resolution 753. Airlines and airports can now provide real-time information for passengers and staff on the status of bags as they go through multiple changes of custody on their complex journey.

Q. WHAT ROLE IS SITA PLAYING IN THIS PROCESS OF DIGITIZATION? A. SITA is the ideal partner for the digitization of air transport. This is underpinned by the company’s community-based and co-operative structure. For decades, it has been part of SITA’s DNA to be at the forefront of delivering to the IT and communication needs of the industry worldwide, addressing the pain-points across the journey and handling much of the industry’s operational data.

This means that SITA has always worked in partnership with airline and airport customers, governments,

ground handlers and the ecosystem as a whole. It is a role which fosters the collaboration necessary to digitize processes that involve multiple players.

One of the building blocks for the community’s digitization is SITA’s AirportHub™. This is an airport-wide shared digital platform that offers high quality communications infrastructure to airlines, ground handlers and maintenance companies at the airport. Targeted at 700 airports, AirportHub™ will cover 80% of all airline destinations within three years.

Another critical area perfectly suited to SITA’s collaborative ethos and industry experience is cybersecurity. In the

past couple of years, the company has partnered to introduce a range of services and support, such as the CyberSecurity Aviation Security Operations Center. SITA also operates the Community Cyber Threat Center, a security information sharing service run specifically for the community.

I should also highlight SITAONAIR’s role in digitizing aircraft operations, as the only technology company providing seamless solutions across mixed fleets, regardless of technology. SITAONAIR is bringing digital solutions to address ground and inflight connectivity, cockpit data and air traffic management, as well as aircraft communications for passengers and crew.

CHAIR'S STATEMENT

“SITA is in a unique position within the air transport industry because of its community ownership. It focuses the company’s developments and innovations on areas where we can make a difference and address community issues.”



Q. HOW DOES SITA’S COMMUNITY STRUCTURE HELP TO ADDRESS FUTURE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES? A. SITA is in a unique position within air transport because of its community ownership. This makes SITA constantly relevant to the changing air transport industry. It focuses developments and innovations in areas where SITA can make a difference and address pressing community issues.

Collaboration is the only way for our industry to improve the journey and its operational efficiencies. For example, no single entity owns all of the useful and essential data available. Having a neutral community provider like SITA – in a position to bring together multiple players to make best use of that data – is a strategic industry asset.

SITA’s long-standing work on community systems, shared infrastructures and industry standards also strengthens industry collaboration in areas of concern and opportunity. It means that knowledge

and resources can be shared where it makes sense, delivering opportunity and value.

There are numerous instances where collaborative working and co-innovation are bringing results. They include innovation programs in areas such as baggage, identity management and advanced border controls, artificial intelligence and disruption management. These are all focused on areas of critical importance to our industry.

“SITA has always worked in partnership with airline and airport customers, governments, ground handlers and the ecosystem as a whole. It is a role which fosters the collaboration necessary to digitize processes that involve multiple players.”

THANK YOU“SITA’s success is overseen by the experience and ambitions of the SITA Board and Council. Its Members are drawn mostly from the 400-plus air transport community Member-owners from around the world. As ever, I am grateful for their support and enthusiasm.

“We are also indebted to the drive and energy of SITA’s senior management team – led by CEO Barbara Dalibard, who has provided fresh perspectives, a strength of purpose and focus, and a determination to drive SITA to stronger success.

“Last but certainly not least, the company’s success and its future are dependent on its people. Their industry know-how and commitment are extraordinary, and critical to achieving SITA’s far-reaching and ambitious plans.”



Q. HOW DOES THE BOARD VIEW SITA’S LONG-TERM FUTURE?A. With enthusiasm and confidence. In September 2017, the Board and Council approved SITA’s Long-Term Business Strategy. Developed with leading industry analysts McKinsey, it looks ahead to the next 10 years and provides the basis for SITA’s Three Year Business Plan 2018-2020.

The strategy makes clear that digitization offers opportunities for SITA’s solutions and services to continue addressing community needs and aspirations.

It builds on SITA’s unique strengths in the air transport industry, such as the ability to integrate many stakeholders, real-time interconnectivity between systems, operational reliability, and global coverage and scale.

These are all attributes that make SITA continuously relevant and valued by the industry, as underlined by the feedback received from Members (see page 22). Highlighting SITA’s deep knowledge and experience, the strategy confirms the company’s focus on operational processes at the airport and for the aircraft.

For this reason, in driving for growth, SITA will further invest in digitizing and optimizing core air transport processes, while developing advanced data insights across those processes. Our focus will be where we have a strong track record and are unique: operations at the airport and for the aircraft.

We will therefore see important developments in SITA’s portfolio in passenger processing and baggage at the airport, airport operations, cabin and aircraft communications, and border management.

Overall, the Board was pleased to be able to confirm and approve several long-term strategic directions for SITA. They include operational excellence and growth opportunities at airports, for airlines and airframers. They also comprise a streamlined portfolio – with standardized core products as well as Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) – along with a focus on partnerships where appropriate, and a simplified organization.

The ambition is high but SITA has perhaps never been better prepared to deliver to the long-term benefit of the community it serves.

Dr Omar Jefri Chair of the SITA Board

BOARD CHANGESSITA is driven by the expertise of the Board and Council, whose Members are drawn mainly from the organization’s 400-plus air transport community Member-owners from every continent.

In 2017 the following directors left the Board as Member Directors following their departure from their respective airlines: Matthew Billings (Virgin Atlantic) and Klaus Goersch (Air Canada). Effective 1 Jan 2018, Robert Webb (Etihad) is no longer a Board Director.

The following directors joined the Board in May 2017 as Member Directors: Christoph Kleinsorg (Swissport) and Sankar Narayan (Xero).




THE VOICE OF MEMBERS

COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S STATEMENT

Jappe Blaauw



Q. THE SITA COUNCIL PLAYS A PIVOTAL ROLE IN SITA’S GOVERNANCE. CAN YOU REMIND US WHY?A. The Council’s main job is to contribute to the strategic direction of the business. We do this by providing guidance and expertise on air transport community needs, and by championing the interests of SITA Members.

We have 32 Council Members representing SITA’s 400-plus co-owners who make up the SITA Membership.

A perfect example of helping to provide guidance is the role we played during 2017 in jointly approving, with the SITA Board, SITA’s Long-Term Business Strategy.

Critical tasks include recommending SITA Board Directors, as well as the SITA Council President and Deputy President, for appointment by the Annual General Assembly (AGA).

As for governance, the Council creates an open and busy channel between SITA and its Members. SITA managed forums, committees and conferences all play as essential part in evolving the relationship between SITA and Members.

“The SITA Council helps SITA to maintain its deep understanding of the air transport community’s needs and challenges – for both the long and short term.”

Q. WHAT AREAS OF INNOVATION ARE YOU FOCUSED ON, AND WHAT IS THE COUNCIL AWARD?A. The Council and the Board have validated areas of innovation that specifically benefit the community, as priorities for the future.

This is our role, as the representative body of Members. We help SITA maintain its deep understanding of the air transport community’s needs and challenges – for the long and short term.

The areas of innovation identified by SITA focus on where the community has significant and rapidly evolving requirements. They include cybersecurity, disruption management, identity management, airport connectivity and bag tracking.

Some impactful innovations for the air transport community are now being proven in the marketplace.

Examples include trials of biometric-based automated boarding gates, as well as Day of Travel business intelligence and Airport Management Solutions. The high level of development and innovation activity is reflected in 80 patents granted to SITA in 2016-17.

The ‘Business Review’ has details, but I do want to highlight the growing take-up from Members with the SITA Community Cyber Threat Center, launched in February 2017. By the end of the year, the Center had 25 customers.

At a time of increased concern over the malign use of technology, this was a particularly welcome move by SITA to address community-wide security concerns.

Regarding the Council Award, the Council approved this towards the end of 2017. It will further encourage innovation as well as better customer service. In short, Council Representatives will judge the best SITA employee or team initiative that will deliver innovation and ‘Step up for the customer’, one of SITA’s values.

This is an exciting collaborative step for the Council. It will closely engage our representatives with SITA initiatives.

It will motivate SITA teams too, so that they drive the changes needed in SITA in innovation and service, which in turn will enhance SITA’s value to the air transport community.



Q. SO HOW DO YOU MEASURE THE VALUE SITA PROVIDES TO THE COMMUNITY? A. The Community Value Index (CVI) is a survey of all SITA customers and Council Representatives. It is seen by SITA as a key metric for executive management and the SITA Board – and a core element of SITA’s corporate objectives for all employees.

Through the CVI, SITA monitors three areas of community value: collaboration, industry engagement to bring about positive change, and SITA’s people.

It is measured against 10 community value drivers through an annual survey based on two groups: the SITA Council (50%) and SITA Members and Non-Member customers at large (50%).

We are delighted with the 2017 CVI survey results. They come from more than 800 customers and 26 SITA Council Representatives. A strong CVI score of 3.61 was recorded in 2017, up from 3.56 in 2016 and slightly above target.

The Brand Health Index was introduced in 2016. Almost 700 customers, Council Representatives and prospects answered the second survey.

I am pleased to report that SITA’s key brand strengths continue to be adding value and being relevant – both now and in the future – with improvement seen across all service delivery areas and all regions.

Across the business, 91% of respondents agreed SITA is an admired brand, with 50% absolutely or strongly agreeing.

The global Brand Value Index, based both on the extent to which people admire SITA, as well as on an un-weighted average of non-specific brand value statements, delivered a score of 3.57 out of 5 (against 3.44 in 2016).

“I am pleased to report that SITA’s key strengths continue to be ‘adding value’ and being ‘relevant to the air transport community’.”

COUNCIL CHANGESThanks are due to those who have moved on from the SITA Council in 2017 and to new representatives who took their place.

The following left the Council during 2017: Matthew Billings (Virgin Atlantic Airways), Takayuki Fujiwara (All Nippon Airways), Phinda Ncala (South African Airways), Daniel Ho (Qatar Airways), Tan Kok Meng (Malaysia Airlines), Anton Eremin (Siberia

Airlines), Javed Malik (Jet Airways India), Sunita Marwah (Air India), Karamu Ford (American Airlines), Jassim Haji (Gulf Air) and Roland Schuetz (Deutsche Lufthansa).

The following were appointed to the SITA Council during 2017: Suzan Doniz (Qantas Airways), Roberto Jiménez (Latin America & Caribbean Group) (LATAM Airlines Group/TAM), Aleksey Kukanov (CIS & Russia Group) (Volga Dnepr), Juan Pablo Munoz (LATAM Airlines Group), Ken He (North Asia Pacific Group)(Hainan Airlines), Siti

Hafsah (Malaysia Airlines), Javed Malik (Jet Airways India), Ashish Jain (Qatar Airways), Uma Maheswari Sudhakar (Air India) and Jim Phoenix (American Airlines).



Q. SITA’S LIFE-BLOOD COMES FROM ITS MEMBERS. HOW VIBRANT IS THE MEMBERSHIP?A. For almost 70 years SITA has been co-owned by its Members, now numbering around 400.

SITA’s role has always been to help the air transport industry adopt IT in the

face of challenges, such as technology advances and growing passenger demands. This has been achieved by working collaboratively in every corner of the world.

It is good to see SITA’s increased drive to engage with Members, through enhanced communications and exclusive Member offers.

Members are critical to SITA’s strength and focus. They guide SITA’s direction and strategy. They help to ensure that SITA continues to invest in the technology needed by the industry today and tomorrow.

So it will be pleasing at the Annual General Assembly to welcome 13 new Members – and to celebrate 34 major Member milestones, including two 50-year Members and five 60-year Members.

Q: THE COUNCIL SET UP THE SITA AIR TRANSPORT COMMUNITY (ATC) FOUNDATION IN 2015 TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN AFRICA TO ACCESS IT AND EDUCATION. HOW HAS THAT PROGRESSED IN THE PAST YEAR?A. As part of SITA’s wider Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, the ATC Foundation delivered a number of programs in Ethiopia, Uganda and South Africa, including a further 13 new ICT suites at primary and secondary schools. We continued our support for students at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, and saw 14 of them graduate by year end.

We’re also pleased to be supporting young entrepreneurs at the Tshimologong Precinct in Johannesburg as they develop innovative solutions for technology and local needs.

We have some new programs we will be supporting in Zambia for 2018, and I am particularly excited about an innovation challenge we are setting for students at Wits and Tshimologong around the needs of the first-time air traveler in Africa.

We will also take the opportunity in early 2018 to undertake a review of the Foundation, and several of my Council colleagues will be actively engaged in the process.

Since the program started: over 1,250 PCs have been provided across 63 computer labs; 230-plus teachers have received ICT training; and 76 students have received funding support for their tertiary studies. To date, around 20,000 students have been positively impacted.

Jappe Blaauw SITA Council President

“The high level of development and innovation activity is reflected through 80 patents granted to SITA in 2016-17.”



SITA BOARD DIRECTORS

Jappe BlaauwKLM Council President

Brant VeniceUnited Parcel Service Council Deputy President

Radin Asrul Adza(Malaysia Airports) Representing the Airport Group

Kelly CunninghamUnited Airlines

Abe DevEtihad Airways

Susan DonizQantas Airways

Giorgio CallegariAeroflot

Richard ForsonCargolux Airlines International

Greg Gilchrist(Sabre) Representing the ICT Group

Siti HafsahMalaysia Airlines

Elizabeth HaunBritish Airways

Ken He(Hainan Airlines) North Asia Pacific Group

SITA COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES



WE HAVE 29 COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES WHO ARE THE VOICE OF SITA’S 400-PLUS MEMBERS

Roberto Jimenez(LATAM BRAZIL) Representing the Latin America & Caribbean Group

Omar JefriSaudi Arabian Airlines

Ashish JainQatar Airways

Laurent Jossart(Luxair) Representing the Southern Europe Group

Hazem Khalil(Egyptair) Representing the Middle East and North Africa Group 2

Aleksey Kukanov(Volga-Dnepr) Representing the CIS & Russia Group

Jim PhoenixAmerican Airlines

Juan Pablo MuñozLATAM Airlines Group

Jean-Christophe LalanneAir France

Kerry PeirseCathay Pacific Airways

Uma Maheswari SudhakarAir India

Roland SchuetzLufthansa

Eash Sundaram(JetBlue Airways) Representing the North America Group

Laeke Tadesse(Ethiopian Airlines) Representing the Sub-Saharan Africa Group

Angie Tinsay(Philippine Airlines) Representing the South Asia and India Group

George WangSingapore Airlines

Arnaud van RietschotenEmirates



SITA’S MEMBERS



WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS IN 2017Name Entry Date Country SectorJuneyao Airlines Co. Ltd March 2017 China Airline

Tashi Air Pvt Ltd March 2017 Bhutan Airline

Capital Airports Holding Company March 2017 China Airport

Mistral Air S.r.l. March 2017 Italy Airline

Darwin Airline SA March 2017 Switzerland Airline

Hong Kong Air Cargo Carrier Ltd. April 2017 Hong Kong Airline

Air Mediterranean S.A. May 2017 Greece Airline

Hamad International Airport PJSC May 2017 Qatar Airport

Sundair GmbH May 2017 Germany Airline

9Air Co., Ltd. May 2017 China Airline

Alphaland Aviation Inc. October 2017 Philippines Airline

Cobaltair Ltd October 2017 Cyprus Airline

Atitech SPA October 2017 Italy Travel

MEMBER MILESTONES Member name YearsCubana de Aviacion 60Czech Airlines 60Finnair 60Royal Air Maroc 60South African Airways 60China Airlines 50Thomson Airways (now TUI Airways) 50Arkia Israeli Airlines 40Flybe 40Kenya Airways 40Air Austral 30Air Transat 30Corsair 30

Member name Years Ryanair 30Hadid International Services 20Jasa Angkasa Semesta (JAS Airport Services) 20PAL Express 20Raya Airways Sdn Bhd 20Thomas Cook Airlines U.K. 20TUIfly Nordic 20Widerøe 20Xiamen International Airport Group 20Air Bagan Limited 10FlyFirefly Sdn. Bhd. 10Hahn Air 10TUI Airlines Nederland 10

SITA’S MEMBERS




OUR TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER‘S REPORT

Barbara Dalibard



ADDRESSING OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES This was a good year for SITA – a return to growth after two years of maintaining steady revenue levels in a difficult market environment.

Driven by our vision of ‘Easy air travel every step of the way’, we continued to work towards creating the seamless journey for passengers, enabling a ‘walkthrough experience’ right up to the aircraft.

This seamlessness will increase as our airline, airport and other customers adopt digital ways of working, enabling them to add more value at every touchpoint and interchange between airlines and their passengers – as well as airports, ground handlers, border agencies and other stakeholders who make the journey happen.

SITA is well-placed to address the opportunities and community pain-points, as made clear by the following examples of our activity and portfolio evolution during 2017, across airport operations, baggage processing and more.

Airport operations – working collaboratively

At the airport, SITA worked collaboratively during the year with many customers across the world to improve the passenger experience – from British Airways and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority to Air Mauritius, Lufthansa, Aeroflot, and Boston Logan International Airport.

We continue to develop airport management capabilities, for example, providing advanced business and operational intelligence, collaborative decision support systems and Airport Operations Control Centers.

These rely on connectivity, data availability and analysis to get clear views of operations and enhance accurate and timely responsiveness.

Examples of 2017 contracts in this area include:

• VINCI Airports, which operates 13 airports in France, 10 in Portugal, three in Cambodia, two in Japan, six in the Dominican Republic and one in Chile. VINCI became a major customer for SITA’s multi-Airport Management Solution.

• Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, where we implemented Airport Management in 2017.

• Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana, where, along with Airport Management solutions we introduced SITA’s passenger and baggage processing technology.

Other airport portfolio contracts signed in 2017 include 140 kiosks and common-use workstations at Cancun’s new terminal, and a range of airport, passenger and baggage processing solutions for one of the world’s most ambitious projects, Istanbul New Airport.

Additionally, we saw a major CUTE deal with the Airports Authority of India and airport services for Bahrain Airport.

On the airport innovation front, in May 2017 we used Microsoft HoloLens to analyze and manage airport operations in a mixed reality environment, releasing early results of research carried out with Helsinki Airport.

Work is continuing to explore how the technology can be used for airports and airlines in areas such as operations, maintenance and training.

“Looking at air transport over the next five to ten years, all attention will be on creating the seamless journey for passengers, enabling a ‘walkthrough experience’ right up to the aircraft.”



Baggage processing – meeting the industry need for tracking

Baggage tracking was another major area of activity for SITA, and a topical example of new technology at the airport. SITA is committed to IATA’s Resolution 753 for baggage tracking, enabling customers to meet this core industry requirement.

During the year, Aeroflot implemented BagJourney to become the first airline in Russia to provide real-time location information for all the baggage it handles.

SITA BagJourney builds on SITA’s baggage data delivery services to provide a precise picture of a bag’s current location, no matter how many airlines or airports handle it.

Turkey’s İGA – the contractor and designated operator of Istanbul New Airport – implemented BagJourney at what is set to be one of the world’s largest airports.

And in early 2018, the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which manages 126 airports across India, expanded SITA’s baggage management solution to 15 of the country’s key airports.

Border management – creating the ‘walkthrough experience’

At the border, we are investing in cutting-edge biometric and automated identity management, including ground-breaking work for JetBlue and British Airways, as well as Boston, Brisbane, Miami and Orlando airports.

Starting in June 2017, JetBlue and the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) joined together at Boston Logan Airport to test SITA’s biometric scanning technology for a paperless and device-less self-boarding process, using a quick photo.

Passengers flying with British Airways from Orlando International Airport in Florida, US to London Gatwick were also recently given the option of using biometric boarding at the gate in a three-month trial.

Early results suggested a near-100% take-up of the scheme. In February this year, as a result of this work, SITA was presented with the respected ‘Air Transport World Aviation Technology Achievement Award’.

The adoption of UN Resolution 2396 in December will further drive the implementation of Advance Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record/biometrics solutions, as will the US Government announcement that the biometric exit program will be extended to all major US airports within four years.1

The combination of mobile technologies, biometrics and blockchain promises huge advances in making air travel easier.

Miami International Airport became the first in the world authorized by CBP to integrate Mobile Passport Control into the airport’s mobile app, offering quick passport pre-clearance functionality.

In March 2017, Brisbane Airport and Air New Zealand launched Australia’s first trial using facial recognition technology at check-in and boarding, with SITA’s Smart Path™ technology, capturing passengers’ details via a facial scan at the first touchpoint in the journey.

Plans are underway to extend to additional passenger touchpoints during the rest of 2018.

“SITA is working towards the seamless journey, driven by our vision to make air travel easier. This seamlessness will increase as our airline, airport and other customers adopt digital ways of working.”

1CBP Trade and Travel Fiscal Year 2017 Report, February 201820 SITA | GROUP ACTIVITY REPORT 2017


Airline operations – enhancing performance and experience

In our airline operations market, SITA’s key objectives are to enhance our delivery performance and customer experience.

We will use our ‘natural’ access to air transport industry data as a key enabler of insight and work with customers to ensure they benefit from evolutions in communication and infrastructure technology. See ‘Sharing and bridging data’ (page 22).

With a focus on airport centricity, in 2017 we embarked on a transformation journey to innovate in community messaging and air transport data exchange, invest in integrated and managed services – particularly Cybersecurity, and to become an application delivery provider at the airport (through ATI Application Hub).

This builds on our AirportHub™ footprint, SITA’s airport-wide shared connectivity platform. It is now online at more than 440 airports worldwide and we are on track to cover 80% of international destinations by 2021. By 2019 Airport Hub will be SDN-enabled.

Among our airline contracts in 2017, we saw a major new business and renewals agreement for network, cloud and voice services with Lufthansa.

Aircraft – a dynamic market

In the dynamic connected aircraft market, SITAONAIR’s 2017 airline contracts included the nose-to-tail activation of high-speed broadband aboard Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and the upgrade of Philippine Airlines’ B777 fleet to GX Aviation. The year also saw inflight connectivity deals with Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and SaudiGulf.

SITAONAIR is both transforming and innovating to maintain leadership in cockpit services and evolving to an ‘open cabin’ for a harmonized experience in mixed-fleet environments.

As a leader in e-Aircraft Data Management, SITAONAIR will pioneer solutions in aircraft data acquisition, ground data management and more, while enabling new ways of working for the aircraft, flights and crews.

To achieve its goals, SITAONAIR is investing strongly in its cockpit and aircraft solutions, as well as in platform consolidation, new products and innovation. See also: ‘Business Review’ (page 26).

“To meet future air transport community needs, we have embarked on the process of strengthening and transforming SITA’s portfolio in our target markets – where we are leaders and can make a difference.”



OUR LONG-TERM BUSINESS STRATEGYLooking ahead, SITA is targeting further growth, guided by our Long-Term Business Strategy, which was approved by the SITA Board in 2017, along with our vision of ‘Easy air travel every step of the way’.

Our strategy builds on SITA’s unique strengths, such as our industry proximity and ownership by 400

Members. We remain a strong global provider to the air transport industry, with a presence in 200 countries and territories at over 1,000 airports and on more than 80% of the world’s 100-plus seat passenger aircraft.

As we formulated our strategy, we drew on feedback from customers and Members who cited SITA’s in-depth knowledge of aviation operations and processes, particularly at the airport and for aircraft.

They expressed the merit of SITA’s ability to bring together industry stakeholders, through collaborative working, and the fact that we are positioned strongly to enable data sharing.

Equally, it is recognized that as a provider to air transport for almost 70 years, SITA has demonstrated its ability to constantly transform over time, remaining continuously relevant to the industry.

Sharing and bridging data

Underlying much of SITA’s portfolio and its evolution is data. This is why we remain focused on creating value from data across airline operations, airport management, baggage processing, border management, passenger processing and aircraft.

We ‘naturally’ have access to large volumes of air transport data, bridging around 60% of the industry’s data exchange among airlines, airports, aircraft and border agencies.

It is SITA’s responsibility to ensure the air transport community benefits by encouraging and enabling data sharing. This means evolving our data management platform, and building

on our experience in handling data through APIs, as well as airline, airport and government systems.

We are further exploring advances in big data and data mining, business intelligence and analytics, predictive disruption management, baggage processing technology, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud and more. Many of these innovations have implications for the way we will work in the future.

For example, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or drones, may one day be carrying cargo or even people. But there is currently no proper infrastructure to record, manage and monitor drones and their airspace activity.

To address this need, SITAONAIR has collaborated in the development of Europe’s first registry for UAVs to support safe, efficient and secure access to European airspace for millions of drones.

Blockchain is another area of keen interest. In November 2017, SITA issued ‘FlightChain’, a paper outlining the findings of research conducted with British Airways, London Heathrow Airport, Geneva Airport and Miami International Airport into ‘smart contracts’ residing on a blockchain.

More research is required but FlightChain has shown the opportunities for shared control of data with our industry partners.

“Our strategy sets out a clear transformational journey for SITA.”



OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES Building on these strengths, our strategy sets out a clear transformational journey for SITA, while providing the framework for our Three-Year Business Plan. The plan has four strategic priorities in the areas of: customer satisfaction, portfolio, growth and systems integration.

Enhancing customer satisfaction

We are focusing strongly on improvements to achieve operational excellence, including greater efficiencies in our customer service and support, through our SITA Global Services organization.

Initiatives involve continuous improvement in project management and delivery, to ensure best practice for the benefit of customers.

We are adopting new approaches, such as DevOps, to IT development and service, as well as introducing Smart Infrastructure Management and IT automation for a better customer experience.

We are determined to deliver these improvements and have rigorous KPIs. By 2020 we expect strong improvement in our Net Promoter Score, along with a 20% reduction in the number of incidents per customer.

Portfolio – focusing where we make a difference

To meet future air transport community needs, we have embarked on the process of strengthening and transforming SITA’s portfolio in our target markets – where we are leaders and can make a difference.

Those markets include airline operations, airport management, baggage processing, border management and passenger processing.

At the airport, for example, we are building on SITA’s presence and operational know-how to improve our product standardization and time to market for new innovations. This will be boosted through investment in accelerator teams and start-up investment in chosen areas of focus. See ‘Business Review’ (page 26).

We are among the leaders in the aircraft market too, through SITAONAIR, which saw an increase in the number of activated aircraft, along with higher revenues and growth in Datalink and Flight Plans.

“A strategic priority for SITA is to provide more systems integration capabilities for customers, as their own business transformations will depend on integration.”



Growth – driven by investments and partnerships

To achieve our strategic priority for growth, we will make multi-million-dollar investments in infrastructure and portfolio. At 9% during our three-year business plan, this represents a substantial proportion of our revenue.

We aim to grow inorganically, through partnerships or acquisitions, as well as organically, from higher revenues due to our portfolio transformation towards new generation solutions.

New generation solutions, and those launched in the last three years, are a big focus area. They will account for a rising proportion of SITA’s revenue (30% by 2020), while offsetting declining revenues from commoditized and legacy products.

We will also grow organically by adopting lean, agile product creation, development and innovation practices.

That includes re-architecting existing applications, driving the use of APIs, and embedding common services across platforms for messaging, data and API usage.

We recognize the importance in today’s market of accelerating innovation with new incubation and ‘accelerator’ approaches, as well as establishing an efficient ‘software factory’ to reduce time to market.

As a result, we will invest in platform consolidation and new product creation, as well as capital expenditure for product development, which on average will be double that of 2017 (on an annual base).

Systems integration – helping customers to digitally transform

As digitization spreads within and between companies, a strategic priority for SITA is to provide more systems integration capabilities for customers, as their own business transformations will depend on integration.

We will offer high quality operational platforms, along with high levels of custom integration for customers’ legacy systems or systems they share with their partners.

Our initial focus is on airport management, border management, airport master systems integration, cybersecurity and selective outsourcing. By 2020, we expect systems integration to represent a significant proportion of SITA’s business.

OUR PERFORMANCEAs I said at the outset, SITA had a good year in 2017, with healthy revenue growth of 4% and targeted growth in the years ahead. Revenues, margin and cashflow were all strong and well ahead of 2016. We saw improvements in our key performance indicators (KPIs).

And, as we have seen, we saw a good mix of new and sustained business in the renewal of contracts. This provides a solid foundation on which to build our future.

By fully executing our Long-Term Business Strategy and Three-Year Business Plan, combined with our transformation program, we will deliver good revenue growth and significantly increase SITA’s EBIT margin.

I am realistically optimistic that we will achieve our ambitions to remain a major player in the growing market for air transport IT.



EVOLVING SITAOur performance and activity in 2017 have brought us to a turnaround point in SITA’s evolution. In January 2017, we embarked on a major change program called ‘EVOLVE’, to drive further transformation and steer SITA to further success in the future.

Strategy

Made up of three areas, the program comprises our strategy, which consists of our Long-Term Business Strategy and Three-Year Business Plan.

Culture

The second area is culture. SITA has a far-reaching culture program which underpins our EVOLVE change program. It is shaping behaviors and delivering values across the organization.

Through these values we are encouraging our people to: Step up for customers, Keep things simple, Work together closely in teams, and Be our best, constantly pushing for the best outcomes.

By the end of December 2018, we will have run 140 Culture and Value workshops – called ‘The SITA Way 5.0’ – across 23 locations. These are focused on people, tools and methodologies. We expect over 3,000 staff to attend our workshops in that timeframe.

Transformation

Third, to help deliver our strategy, we have in place transformation initiatives across SITA to simplify processes, encourage customer-centric practices with the ‘customer journey’ in mind, and strive for excellence in our operations – from solution deployment and delivery to product creation and roll-out.

Continued success depends on building and maintaining the strengths and skills of our people. We are investing in their skills, constantly improving our technology, project and product management, sales and customer solutions.

We are also expanding our graduate program, focusing on introducing the new blood we need to consistently deliver better results for our customers.

Again, we are rigorously applying KPIs to achieve our transformation goals. They range from evaluating account plans and billing processes, to the on-time delivery of projects in line with industry practice.

Our KPIs will measure the reduction of development and innovation time to market, and the growth of our key professions to represent around 50% of the organization by 2020.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT I want to thank all of my colleagues for their commitment, enthusiasm and hard work.

I also want to thank the executive team for their support, and last but not least, I want to thank the SITA Board and the SITA Council for their own support and dedication to our current and future success.

SITA remains a unique and extraordinary organization. It has been an integral and essential part of the industry for almost 70 years.

We intend that it should remain so for many decades to come, with clear goals to strengthen our market relevance and maintain a long-term sustainable, leading market position in our chosen areas of activity.

Barbara Dalibard SITA CEO

“SITA customers and Members have recognized the merit of SITA’s ability to bring together industry stakeholders, through collaborative working.”



BUSINESS REVIEW BUSINESS REVIEW

BUSINESS REVIEW

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BUSINESS REVIEW

BUSINESS REVIEW 26 SITA | GROUP ACTIVITY REPORT 2017


SITA’s vision, ‘Easy air travel every step of the way’, is driving developments and innovations beyond traditional new product investment. It requires collaboration among many of the journey’s stakeholders to enhance efficiencies while integrating the initiatives of airlines, ground handlers, airports and government agencies. and airport customers, governments, ground handlers and the ecosystem as a whole.

To realize the vision, SITA is undertaking a wide range of programs and investments.

This Review highlights just some of those areas, looking at:

• The seamless journey – biometrics and bag tracking

• The industry’s digital transformation

• The value of industry data for airport operations and connected aircraft

• Collaboration to address community issues

• SITA’s customer service

• SITA’s people

SITA’S STRATEGIC FOCUS IS ON MISSION CRITICAL OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES AT AIRPORTS AND AROUND THE AIRCRAFT, ACROSS THE TARGET MARKETS OF AIRLINE OPERATIONS, AIRPORT MANAGEMENT, BAGGAGE PROCESSING, BORDER MANAGEMENT, PASSENGER PROCESSING AND CONNECTED AIRCRAFT.



THE SEAMLESS JOURNEY – BIOMETRICS AND BAG TRACKINGBiometrics and mobile are high on the agenda of transformative technologies in air travel.

SITA’s capabilities are playing a part in industry programs utilizing biometrics to bring about a ‘walkthrough travel experience’, such as the IATA/ACI New Experience in Travel and Technologies (NEXTT) initiative introduced in 2017.

Biometric identity management is one of SITA’s investment areas. The aim is to introduce a scalable solution that spans all process steps and stakeholders in the end-to-end journey, from booking to destination.

During 2017, SITA’s Smart Path™ technology demonstrated its ability to create a more seamless passenger experience. It is designed to easily integrate into multi-airline and airport systems and government databases for secure access, boarding, immigration and border checks.

Providing several airport and airline customers with biometric identity management across multiple touchpoints, the solution captures a passenger’s biometric details through a facial scan at the first touchpoint.

Checked against travel documents, Smart Path™ creates a secure single token. Then, at every step in the journey – be it self bag-drop, border control or aircraft boarding – facial scanning removes the need to show a passport or boarding card.

Brisbane Airport, in partnership with Air New Zealand, launched Australia’s first biometric check-in and boarding using facial recognition technology. It allows passengers to board the aircraft without having to show their passport or boarding pass.

Additional passenger touchpoints such as bag drop and security are planned for 2018.

“Working closely with SITA at Orlando has allowed us to explore various ways of incorporating the US biometric exit check. Together we have designed a really smooth and secure departure process for our customers.”Raoul Cooper, Digital Airport Design Manager, British Airways



More innovation in biometrics

More innovation is underway with the first trials of SITA’s Smart Path™ Mobile in 2018. An industry first, this application allows passengers to create a secure biometric credential on a mobile phone that can then be used at every touchpoint in the journey.

JetBlue became the first US airline to use biometric facial recognition to board passengers in a single step without needing to show either boarding pass or passport.

Working collaboratively with JetBlue and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Boston’s Logan International Airport, SITA demonstrated the power of biometric technology in reducing friction points in the airport experience.

The solution was the world’s first biometric boarding system using facial scanning – integrating checks

with government systems – to board passengers while completing the US customs and border exit checks, one of the hardest challenges to resolve.

SITA’s work with JetBlue and CBP won it the ‘Air Transport World Aviation Technology Achievement Award for 2018’.

This led to a similar trial in early 2018 with British Airways and Orlando International Airport using biometric boarding at the gate. The process involves just one quick photo to board the international flight – no passport, no boarding card.

The evolution of fast border entry was further enhanced when Miami International Airport became the first in the world authorized by CBP to integrate SITA Mobile Passport Control into the airport’s mobile app, offering quick passport pre-clearance functionality.

“SITA’s role as our technology partner helped us bring this innovative approach to boarding from an idea to reality. We hope to work with SITA in future iterations of our self-boarding program.”Joanna Geraghty, Executive Vice President Customer Experience, JetBlue

3.1 BILLION BAGGAGE INFORMATION MESSAGES

360 ‘SCAN&FLY’ OR ‘DROP&FLY’ UNITS INSTALLED

COMPLIANCE WITH IATA RESOLUTION 753


Better baggage management and tracking

Equally high on aviation’s agenda is baggage management. As another major SITA investment and innovation program, baggage processing was marked by a number of developments in 2017.

SITA continues to work on developments with IATA to reduce mishandled baggage volumes, including real-time baggage location tracking.

Compliance with IATA Resolution 753 will provide tracking capability, from origin to final destination. For example, SITA BagJourney offers a core platform and a ready-to-go solution for airlines looking for a cost-effective way of fulfilling Resolution 753, including data collection free of charge.

It builds on SITA’s baggage data delivery services and their global coverage, giving a precise picture of a bag’s location, based on harnessing 3.1 billion baggage information messages a year across 250 airports, for 550 airlines.

As the CEO Report says, successes in 2017 include Aeroflot, Istanbul New Airport, the Airports Authority of India, and Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana.

New opportunities

Taking advantage of tracking technologies, SITA Lab trialed a number of innovations, including a WorldTracer Baggage Delivery Service that tracks mishandled bags to passengers’ homes or hotels.

For a second trial, involving a number of European and Asian airports, SITA collected tracking data in its baggage repository from airport systems through automatic tag readers. And a third trial demonstrated how a low infrastructure/low cost tracking device interfaced to SITA baggage repository could track at any touchpoint defined by Resolution 753.



Embracing bag-drop

As leader in the field, SITA is changing the airport experience through Scan&Fly and Drop&Fly, its award-winning and patented solutions.

Scan&Fly’s plug-and-play design allows bag-drop to be easily installed onto existing airport check-in desks, maximizing terminal space while minimizing infrastructure investment.

Drop&Fly was awarded the prestigious 2017 ‘iF Design Award: Public Product’, in recognition of its state-of-the-art design and intuitive user interface.

Today more than 360 ‘Scan&Fly’ or ‘Drop&Fly’ units have been installed in over 30 airports, including Adelaide and Mumbai International. During the year, new customers included Bologna and Stuttgart.

“Baggage is such an important area for passengers and through this solution (SITA BagJourney) we will be able to provide them with more certainty on where their bags are at every step of the journey.”Kirill Bogdanov, Deputy CEO for IT, Aeroflot

“SITA’s Scan&Fly fits the bill perfectly, allowing the airport to use proven self-service technology to speed up the baggage process while providing passengers with more self-service options along their journey.”Rajeev Jain, CEO, Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd



THE INDUSTRY’S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION The industry’s digital transformation involves the use of digital technologies to improve service, operations and efficiency.

SITA will continue to work with airlines and airports, governments, ground handlers and others to evolve their digital infrastructures and programs.

Systems integration

Digital infrastructure is characterized by procuring the best components, and how well they integrate.

Harnessing the benefits of new and disruptive technologies and solutions requires complex systems integration capabilities, a major focus of SITA’s strategy in line with increased customer demands. See also: CEO Report (page 24).

Digital infrastructure

Critical to this transformation is the digital infrastructure being put into place with the roll out of SITA’s AirportHub™. This airport-wide shared digital platform is a key part of SITA’s program to evolve the air transport industry’s digital infrastructure and communications capabilities.

AirportHub™ offers a high quality infrastructure to airlines, ground handlers and maintenance companies at the airport. It addresses the need for high bandwidth, on-demand communications, as well as the performance requirements of new generation aircraft and applications.

Importantly, it enables data sharing across the airport, which has the potential to change processes and generate new insights into operations for all those within the ecosystem.

In 2017, AirportHub™ reached 440 airports, with 38 new sites deployed in the last quarter alone. Targeted at 700 airports, the service is expected to cover 80% of international destinations by 2020.

More than 300 customers are now using services based on AirportHub™ infrastructure, representing over 7,000 connections.

Clark International, serving a large area to the north of Manila in the Philippines, was one of many airports to take up AirportHub™. The airport cited the need for world-class, resilient and cost-effective communication services for the growing number of airlines using the airport.

They include Cathay Dragon, the regional airline of Cathay Pacific Group, which uses AirportHub™ at 74 airports worldwide to ensure consistent global service standards.

Another airport to join the AirportHub™ network in the past year was Port Moresby Jackson’s International Airport in Papua New Guinea, linked to SITA’s international network via dual international private circuits to Australia.

“As an airline we need to be agile and be able to open new routes quickly and easily. Being able to connect to AirportHubTM removes the complexity of dealing with local telecom providers. It is streamlined and efficient…”Kerry Peirse, General Manager, IT Infrastructure and Operations, Cathay Pacific

AIRPORTHUB™, SITA’S DIGITAL PLATFORM, WILL COVER 80% OF INTERNATIONAL DESTINATIONS BY 2020.


THE VALUE OF AIR TRANSPORT DATASITA’s digital platform is a building block for digitization of airport processes, touchpoints and interactions – from baggage tracking to border intelligence, passenger flow to disruption management.

Digitizing these processes generates massive amounts of data. SITA’s remit is to integrate and better exploit data for the benefit of individual customers as well as for the operations of the worldwide community.

One focus area is SITA’s Application Programming Interface (API) capability, through the developer.aero website, which provides a channel into the vast amounts of rich data generated and required by airlines, airports and travelers.

SITA’s APIs open up possibilities for advances across the passenger

journey, including travel planning and booking, airport operations and security, baggage, aircraft connectivity and in-flight cabin and cockpit operations.

Airport management

Important to SITA’s work in this area is Airport Management Solution. This suite of integrated software applications provides central control of all operations – from service level agreements to passenger communications, generating billing charges to real-time management of fixed and mobile resources, including staff. In addition to Airport Management contracts in 2017 with VINCI and Nice Côte d’Azur Airport (see CEO Report), came a deal with Istanbul New Airport, one of the world’s largest and due to open in 2018. The airport operator, iGA, adopted SITA Airport Management to centralize flight related information from all airport systems.

The implementation of SITA’s technology at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport takes the airport closer to joining 20 of Europe’s busiest airports in achieving Airport Collaborative Decision-Making (A-CDM) certification from EUROCONTROL.

SITA Airport Management Solution was also selected by Brazil’s Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport, managed by Zurich Group Airport. The integrated solution included AirportCentral – for a single source of operational information – and AirportResource Manager for real-time management of equipment and staff.

Additionally, SITA provides the solution to other Zurich Group airports, including Curaçao International Airport and El Dorado International Airport in Bogota, Colombia.

Other new customers for the solution included Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana.

“In building a new facility, we have the opportunity to implement technology or the capacity to accommodate new technologies and changing requirements. Working with SITA, we have implemented passenger and operational systems that support evolving demands, assuring the long-term future of Istanbul New Airport.”Ersin İnankul, CIO, İGA Airports Construction

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Mixed reality control center

In mid-2017, in partnership with Helsinki Airport, SITA Lab took integrated Airport Integrated Control Centers to a new level through visualization and interaction with the airport’s operational data – including aircraft movement, passenger movement and retail analytics.

Based on a feed from SITA’s Day of Operations technology, researchers used Microsoft HoloLens to reproduce the airport operational control center in a mixed reality environment. It opens the possibility of accessing the control center environment from any location, on or offsite.

The work won SITA the accolade of ‘Technology Innovation of the Year’ at the Aviation Business Awards 2017.

Defeating disruption

By visualizing data, collaborating more effectively and making the right decisions earlier, airline Operations Control Centers (OCCs) and Hub Control Centers (HCCs) can prevent and mitigate disruption before impact, potentially saving billions of dollars a year.

In mid-year, SITA developed an innovative disruption management solution for Airline OCCs and HCCs, to be called SITA FlightAssist.

Yet to be officially launched, and built in collaboration with CTI (Constraint Technologies) in Melbourne, Australia, this complements existing airline core systems by identifying, in real-time, flight delays and the impact on subsequent flights, crew assignments, connecting passengers and baggage.

Meanwhile, SITA Lab continues to explore artificial intelligence (machine and deep learning) to deal with disruption. Together with selected airline and airport partners, it assessed the viability of machine learning to accurately predict flight delay.

Using years’ worth of historical flight movement, weather and air traffic control data, and by training the latest machine learning and artificial intelligence platforms, SITA Lab was able to develop an accurate flight prediction service.

Long look-ahead windows of up to 24 hours are possible for airport users, increasing to a target of 72 hours for airline users once that model is developed.

Based on SITA Lab’s work, SITA FlightPredictor was subsequently launched in March 2018. This cloud-based service predicts flight landing times, delivered via a web-based GUI or an API for integration with an operator’s existing systems.

Connected aircraft – ‘flying data centers’

Ten years after the first ever inflight cellular data transmission by Mobile ONAIR, one of the most significant technology developments in air transport is the concept of the connected aircraft – services and solutions serving either side of the cabin door, from the air to the ground, and back again.

100% GLOBAL FLIGHT TRACKING DATA

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION OF THE YEAR

ENHANCED INTERNET ONAIR WI-FI PORTAL ON 86 SAUDIA AIRCRAFT


Providing connectivity for 400-plus airlines and 16,000-plus aircraft, SITAONAIR is showing how the industry can enhance performance and service by unlocking vast amounts of data from the cockpit, cabin and aircraft engines.

This data is helping cabin crew improve passenger service, furnishing real-time access to flight information and documentation in the cockpit, and enabling aircraft data management in-flight and on the ground.

SITAONAIR achieved a number of inflight connectivity successes in 2017, including:

• The industry’s first delivery of in-flight mobile 3.5G connectivity.

• Deployment of the enhanced Internet ONAIR Wi-Fi portal on 86 Saudia aircraft.

• Nose-to-tail high-speed broadband on Singapore Airlines’ fleet of Boeing 777-300ER.

• Provision of global high-speed passenger connectivity for Philippine Airlines.

In the cockpit, SITAONAIR and Teledyne signed an agreement for the industry’s first aircraft comms cellular service and the expansion of the portfolio with Inmarsat’s Swift-Broadband-Safety.

Real-time tracking

A growing number of airlines have committed to SITAONAIR AIRCOM® FlightTracker, which gives access to minute-by-minute, 100% global flight tracking data. They include Jeju, South Korea’s first low-cost carrier to adopt the technology.

Of particular importance was the decision by Malaysia Airlines to enlist SITAONAIR, Aireon and FlightAware to be the first airline to adopt a joint-solution that resolves any remaining data feed coverage gaps, particularly over oceanic and remote airspace.

The space-based system ensures that Malaysia Airlines’ operations center receives real-time position updates of its airborne fleet.

“Real-time global aircraft tracking has long been a goal of the aviation community. We are proud to be the first airline to adopt this solution using space-based ADS-B data as part of SITAONAIR’s AIRCOM® FlightTracker.”Captain Izham Ismail, Chief Operating Officer, Malaysia Airlines



Open architecture

As ‘flying data centers’, new generation aircraft rely on secure global connectivity to exchange information on everything from engine data, passenger requirements to updates at the destination.

SITAONAIR’s e-Aircraft DataCapture, launched in 2017, offers fully managed and automatic aircraft-to-ground acquisition of data from multiple aircraft systems – enabling improved safety, flight operations and maintenance reporting.

Following trials, the solution was deployed across the Air France fleet.

Second inflight revolution

SITAONAIR believes that fully open system architecture is the only way airlines can become fully empowered with choice and flexibility in inflight services, and fully optimize the benefits of high-speed connectivity.

This will allow airlines to make passenger connectivity part of the airline brand rather than a lock-in to a supplier’s refresh cycle.

It will also solve complexities such as the Airbus A350 handling large data exchange with its own unique protocol – Media Independent Aircraft Messaging (MIAM). Working with Air Mauritius, SITAONAIR has developed a solution to understand MIAM and simplify integration into airline systems and processes.

“We are extremely proud to be realizing our complete, connected aircraft ambitions with SITAONAIR, our long-standing, trusted partner … Philippine Airlines is at the forefront of the connected aircraft revolution, and we are excited about the future.” Jaime Bautista, President and Chief Operating Officer, Philippine Airlines



PASSENGER SOLUTIONS IN A CHANGING MARKETAs a newly streamlined organization, SITA’s Passenger Solutions Line (PSL) continues to service tier 2 carriers – including Air India, S7, Jeju and Air Europa – while its focus for new business embraces airline tiers 3-4, as they seek help in developing and growing their own organizations.

This includes increasing numbers of carriers across Africa. Fifteen African airlines and ground handlers use SITA’s Horizon, including Air Senegal – who in 2017 chose Horizon to manage every aspect of their operations – and Egyptair, who selected SITA Airfare Insight in May.

With the Horizon Passenger Service System (PSS), airlines have control of the parameters that enable growth and evolution, as well as the flexibility to integrate third-party technologies to ensure they have the right mix for specific needs.

Product development

An extensive range of product enhancements were introduced in 2017, including greater automation, along with capabilities for customers to improve efficiency, fine tune operations and better use business intelligence.

Following a 2016 beta test, Horizon Departure Control (HDCS) has been in successful use with Air Arabia since September 2017. Further releases are planned in 2018, rolling out to additional airlines and ground handlers.

HDCS is integrated with Horizon Weight&Balance – implemented with more than 20 customers – as well as newly introduced Horizon Government Access, a multi-governmental platform to transmit passenger data to government agencies.

Horizon continues to be developed in compliance with related industry and government mandates, such as the New Distribution Capability (NDC) and ONE Order.



COLLABORATING TO ADDRESS COMMUNITY ISSUES Often, fast emerging technology requirements demand community-wide responses. SITA has always worked closely with the air transport industry, steering technology and change.

SITA has pioneered common-use self-service solutions as a community response to the need for effective and cost-efficient use of valuable airport space.

Results from SITA’s IT Trends Insights research show that airlines and airports are forging ahead with self-service implementations spanning the journey – from booking and check-in to bag drop, boarding and border control.

At the forefront are pre-airport and intelligent baggage self-service, with most airlines and airports now providing self bag-tag and self bag-drop options. See also: ‘Embracing bag-drop’ (page 31).

Rise of the kiosk

What started out more than a decade ago as an efficient platform for flight check-in has evolved to include numerous functions across the airport journey that can now be completed from the kiosk.

At the start of 2017, the company celebrated the rollout of its 10,000th kiosk, embracing check-in, biometric credential enrolment, bag-tag printing, seat changes or flight re-booking, and the filing of missing bag claims.

Border management can also benefit, through the use of secure self-service kiosks for the verification of biometric travel documents and completion of pre-border clearance and customs forms.

SITA’s automated border control kiosks are in use in countries in all regions of the world, but with an early lead in the US – including Boston, JFK New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Diego and Tampa.

An important development in 2017 was the introduction of SITA AirportConnect Common Use Payment Service. An industry first, this enables transactions by multiple airlines on a single payment terminal, regardless of departure control system.

The service is the culmination of work with IATA’s Common Use Working Group in collaboration with payment industry leaders.

The latest kiosk concept was revealed in 2017: KATE is a proof-of-concept intelligent check-in kiosk that can autonomously move to busy areas in the airport as needed.

KATE’s collision avoidance technology, combined with various data sources, decides where it should be – at a busy area to ease congestion or a docking station to recharge.

It uses existing SITA data systems such as Day of Operations business intelligence and the FlightInfo API.

“SITA has already demonstrated excellent capability and agility in pioneering and optimizing biometric exit checks for the boarding process at HIA. We believe that such joint efforts will contribute to digital transformations across the air transport industry.”Badr Mohammed Al Meer, Chief Operating Officer, Hamad International Airport (HIA)

“SITA’s technology plays an integral role in helping us realize our ambitions to implement a truly end-to-end self-service experience for our passengers. The new self-service kiosks with the Chinese card reader functionality is a big bonus for Air China’s passengers.”Ms. Li Lei, Terminal Management Department, Beijing Capital International Airports



Cybersecurity - protecting data and infrastructure

To protect their infrastructure and data, air transport companies have made cybersecurity a key topic on their risk agendas.

Launched during the year, as the Chair notes, the SITA Community Cyber Threat Center (CCTC) is a collaborative initiative providing a security information sharing service run specifically for the community. It supports a community-wide response by promoting the proactive and timely exchange of contextualized, actionable information between Members.

Since its launch, the Center has shared 24 threat intelligence advisories with the Center’s 21 Member organizations and 111 alerts, providing actionable warnings to those affected.

In addition, SITA’s CyberSecurity Aviation Security Operations Center provides an integrated combination of processes, people and technology to detect, analyze, respond to, and report on cybersecurity incidents.

Another key 2017 development was a partnership combining SITA’s aviation industry expertise and Airbus’s leadership in advanced cybersecurity services.

The year also saw the launch of the industry’s first dedicated Aviation SOC (Security Operations Center) to provide stakeholders with a set of detection services for the monitoring of unusual cyber activity.

ATM-ready for drones

Another example of SITA’s industry collaboration was celebrated in September, with the first live demonstration of U-space – the infrastructure, services, and procedures that will support integration into European airspace for millions of drones.

Championed by the European Commission, SESAR (Europe’s Single European Sky initiative) and EASA (the European Aviation Safety Agency), the project has been pioneered by a set of project partners, including SITAONAIR.

Following a proposal from SITA Lab, these partners have also developed a drone registry as the foundation layer for U-space capabilities – as called for by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).

The registry will ensure that drone pilots and UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) can be registered and identified. SITAONAIR is now taking the registry concept to the next level.

ACCELERATING INNOVATION FOR THE COMMUNITYBeing 100% owned by the air transport community, SITA develops solutions for the community, tackling community issues with common approaches and shared solutions and services.

The focus is on reducing costs, increasing efficiencies and introducing new ways of working. And the purpose is to look into the future at promising technologies or new ways of doing things that could have a big impact on the air transport community.

To that end, the company continues to focus on some of the industry’s most pressing challenges, in the areas of:

• Baggage tracking

• Identity management

• Disruption warning system

• IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard

• Cybersecurity



FlightChain – a single version of the truth

In November 2017, SITA Lab published results from research carried out with British Airways, Heathrow, Geneva Airport and Miami International Airport into ‘smart contracts’ residing on a blockchain.

The ‘FlightChain’ project demonstrated that blockchain is a viable technology to provide a single source of truth for data for airlines and airports, specifically for real-time flight information.

Further work is being done to add more airlines and airports to FlightChain for more complete data, to provide extra sophistication to the smart contract and identify a business model.

GDPR AND ITS GLOBAL IMPACTGDPR – the EU General Data Protection Regulation – came into force in May 2018, replacing the existing EU Data Protection Directive of 1995.

The Regulation will effect changes in SITA’s business and those of SITA Members and customers.

Under the direction of the CEO, SITA appointed a Data Privacy Officer to lead the business in managing and implementing the changes required, through a company-wide compliance program.

Throughout the year, a dedicated team worked across the business to:

• Develop a central inventory of processing activities

• Conduct data protection impact assessments where required

• Develop data transfer agreements

• Review and update contracts to ensure GDPR requirements are fully reflected

SITA’s policies and data management processes have been amended where required, while a mandated course on GDPR for SITA staff was implemented in the early part of the year.

“Heathrow’s participation in FlightChain with SITA Lab has been very valuable. We are still early in the blockchain technology cycle and more research is required but FlightChain has shown the opportunities for shared control of data with our industry partners.”Stuart Harwood, Heathrow Automation and Innovation, Heathrow Airport Limited



A MORE SUSTAINABLE COMPANYSITA’s corporate social responsibility activity continued in 2017, with the CEO reaffirming SITA’s commitment to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC).

The company also adopted five United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to form a key element of the 2018 CSR strategy. These are climate action, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, quality education, and partnership for the goals.

Environmental performance continues to be monitored and managed across a number of sites. Results for 2017 show a continued decrease in water use, energy consumption, and intensity of energy use and emissions.

Work was also underway to move five large sites from the Environmental Management System standard ISO 14001:2004 to the updated certification ISO 14001:2015.

Value in Volunteer Action program

Through the VIVA (Value in Volunteer Action) program, all employees are entitled to a paid day of volunteer leave. Some of the projects that benefited included:

• Hillingdon Foodbank – Hayes, UK

• Al Barokah orphanage – Semarang, Indonesia

• Bychory Children’s Home – Prague, Czech Republic

• Prostate Cancer Foundation –Montréal, Canada

• Atlanta Community Foodbank – Atlanta, USA

• Dar Al Awlad Orphanage – Beirut, Lebanon

• Rotary blood bank – Delhi, India

‘Be Bold for Change’

SITA celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) in March 2017 under the theme ‘Be Bold for Change’. IWD forms part of a larger program being implemented around diversity and inclusion.

Air Transport Community Foundation

The SITA Air Transport Community Foundation continued to change the lives of young people in Africa through the support of programs in IT and education.

Under the guidance of the SITA Council, the Foundation has extended activities into Zambia, bringing the number of countries supported to five.

Since 2015 over 20,000 students have been positively impacted by gaining access to ICT and education, and more than 230 teachers have been trained. Thirteen new ICT labs have been constructed, with another 50 fitted with equipment.

“Working at SITAONAIR has given me the opportunity to develop my technical skills exponentially as well as improving my teamworking. We’re always encouraged to find a better solution, improve ourselves and do everything as a team and not as an individual.” Michel Najarian, Graduate, Engineering and Technology, Montreal, SITAONAIR




AWARD-WINNING SERVICESITA’s credentials as a world class service organization dedicated to air transport were recognized recently with the presentation of the Air Transport Awards’ ’Service Provider of the Year’.

SITA was also recognized in May 2017 when Munich Airport’s Terminal 2 was named as the world’s number one terminal at the Skytrax World Airport Awards, and the local SITA team was publicly thanked for being an integral part of that success.

Continued investments by SITA in managed infrastructure delivered a 23% reduction in number of major incidents, a 21% reduction in outage duration and a 10%-plus year-on-year reduction in the rate of incidents per asset.

Availability targets were met for 24 out of 24 SITA core applications. In December, SITA Global Services was awarded ISO/IEC 20000-1.2011 Cert in Service Management, for its

Command Centers, Service Desk and Airport Operations, one of only 900 organizations worldwide.

Migration of SITA’s ATI Cloud to the latest standard architecture will be completed during 2018, with SITA starting to move to a hybrid cloud and managed service model.

Enabling Smart Infrastructure Management, this will provide customers with flexibility and choice between public cloud, private cloud and on-premise consumption models.

“At SITA, we are given every opportunity to grow and develop professionally – to be our best.”Ming Yang, Graduate, Business Operations, Air Travel Solutions, Letterkenny, Ireland, SITA



INVESTING IN SITA PEOPLE Transformation initiatives implemented company-wide include enhancing the skills and strengths of SITA’s people, to further drive growth and achieve operational excellence.

Through strategic workforce planning, SITA is building professional capability in strategic hubs, as well as gaining a better understanding of the future skills required to transform the business, while addressing skills gaps.

This means maintaining or ramping up capacity in SITA’s strategic locations – including Delhi, Singapore, Montréal, Atlanta, London and Prague.

The targeted professions are technology management, project management, customer solutions and product management. Initiatives will include increasing targeted professions to represent 50% of SITA’s workforce in 2020 vs 43% in 2017 in identified Centers of Competence.

Diversity, inclusion and wellness

Following a review of workforce structure and trends, diversity is being reinforced in the organization’s core people process. A more inclusive work environment is being promoted through awareness events such as International Women’s Day and deployment of an employee resource groups network.

At the same time, a global employee wellness program has been launched, leveraging existing best practice and supporting the development of a comprehensive program of activities and services in all key countries.

The program supports an inclusive, healthy and productive work environment by promoting staff work/life balance and personal accountability.

“I have been given great responsibilities and opportunities at SITA. It has been very rewarding to be dealing with customer requirements and to be learning the commercial, financial and relationship skills that are vital to my future career.”Steven Lwanga, Graduate, Commercial Support, SITA Global Services, London, SITA



CHAMP – AT THE HEART OF GLOBAL AIR CARGO CHAMP Cargosystems sits at the heart of global air cargo, with its ambition “to be the partner of choice delivering innovative end-to-end solutions and enhanced information intelligence to the global air cargo transport logistics community”.

The SITA subsidiary provides the most comprehensive range of integrated IT solutions and distribution services, while evolving as a virtual integrator for the air cargo industry.

In 2017, CHAMP maintained consistent growth by delivering a broad range of customer projects, including major cutovers to Cathay Pacific and Swiss Airlines.

The company signed new business contracts with carriers, freight forwarders and Ground Handling Agents (GHAs) of all sizes, as well as major renewals with Air China Cargo, Air France / KLM, Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways.

CHAMP also evolved its relationship with Japan Airlines Cargo, with an agreed long-term technology partnership for projects leveraging IT.

An active year

Strategic eCargo contracts signed in 2017 include new airline subscriptions to CHAMP’s Traxon Global Customs service, which supports over 55 countries, as well as new connections to Traxon cargoHUB.

The Traxon cargoHUB platform has been enriched with new functionalities, including premium tracking, barcode generator, conversion to PDF and API access.

Furthermore, CHAMP is now sharing its in-depth insight into ‘lean’ air cargo processes and best practices for its Cargospot customers, as part of a newly launched consulting offering.

CHAMP also signed Flexport, the rapidly growing technology-driven forwarder, for its cargoJSON messaging service. This demonstrates CHAMP’s relevance to the next generation of cargo players who will play a vital role in air cargo and the wider supply chain in the years to come.

More CHAMP 2017 highlights

• CHAMP introduced DataAnalytics, comprising nine different dashboards enabling real-time insights and predictive analytics.

• FREIGHT.AERO was launched, allowing forwarders to price and book shipments online with multiple carriers via one single platform.

• CHAMP began collaborating with a number of leading airlines to further define the Shipply.Vision real-time tracking and monitoring application, to increase transparency and visibility across the life-cycle of a shipment.

• CHAMP launched Traxon Global Security (TGS) to meet the upcoming Pre-Loading Advance Cargo Information (PLACI) regulations.

• Logitude, CHAMP’s freight forwarding Cloud application, continued to enjoy a year-on-year growth of more than 30% in terms of customers, as it reached the ‘500 customer’ mark.



AVIARETOAviareto Limited, owned by SITA with participatory shares by the Irish Government, is based in Dublin, Ireland.

Its sole remit is to operate the International Registry of Mobile Assets, as required by the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol – in the process potentially saving billions of dollars for airlines worldwide.

A critical success factor for airlines is how they finance their aircraft and manage their balance sheets. Financing costs can be substantial. The Registry has introduced market efficiency gains for airlines, lessors and financing firms.

These efficiencies led to reduced financing costs, meaning higher margins. The Registry also benefits from the most sophisticated security based on advanced cryptography.

Following a successful audit by ICAO, the International Registry remains one of the most trusted aviation services in the aviation finance industry, enhancing SITA’s reputation and saving Members significant money.

The figures speak for themselves: over 130,000 registrations in 2017 and more than 60 countries who have ratified the legal regime, with more in the pipeline. Go to www.aviareto.aero.

“SITA’s culture and the many opportunities here are bringing out the best in me. We’re given the chance to develop sharp skills with SITA experts, to bring value to customers, and we’re motivated to become a better version of ourselves. It’s a great learning place for graduates who want to learn important collaboration and development skills.”Aurore Duhamel, Graduate, Air Travel Solutions, Portfolio & Solutions, Singapore, SITA



www.sita.aero © SITA 2018

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.

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Registered OfficeSITA SCRL Avenue des Olympiades 2 B-1140 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 (0)2 745 0510

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