Airlines and airports seen spending nearly US$33b on IT in 2017: SITA
AIRLINES and airports are estimated to spend nearly US$33 billion on information technology (IT) this year, according to the latest SITA 2017 Air Transport IT Trends Insights.
SITA's research of the world's airlines and airports shows that IT spend remains strong. Airlines' spend as a percentage of revenue will rise to an estimated 3.30 per cent, or US$24.3 billion, in 2017. For airports, the rise is to an expected 5.05 per cent, or US$8.43 billion, this year.
Looking ahead to 2018 over 70 per cent of airlines and 88 per cent of airports are expecting IT spend to increase or remain at the same levels.
Cyber security, cloud services and passenger self-service are the top three priorities for air transport industry. Nearly all - 95 per cent of airlines and 96 per cent of airports - plan to invest in major research and development (R&D) on cyber security initiatives over the next three years.
Ilya Gutlin, president, Air Travel Solutions, SITA, said the air transport industry is going through digital transformation and focusing its attention on protecting the business and passengers.
"Cyber-attacks are a very real threat in the highly interwoven air transport industry so building solid defenses is essential. Cloud services provide important efficiencies which play a key role in keeping costs down. Investments in self-service improve passenger satisfaction as they welcome the independence and efficiencies it delivers."
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Transport & Logistics
Porsche posts Q1 profit drop on ramp-up costs
Air China orders homegrown C919s in challenge to jet duopoly
Huawei’s smart car tech offers automakers route to China sales
Sri Lanka to hand management of China-built airport to India, Russia companies
Tesla’s plan for affordable cars takes page from Detroit rivals
Toyota is investing US$1.4 billion to build another all-electric SUV in US