A team of researchers from the Dehradun-based University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) have developed an airport management tool – “AeroOpt”, to help the aviation industry improve efficiency of counters, requirements of staff, in immigration security and boarding gates without compromising on social distancing norms.
“This is going to be a huge challenge in post-Covid era especially after flight operations are resumed in full swing,” said UPES researchers – Akhil Damodaran, Tarun Dhingra and Sheetal Khanka.
The team is talking to the Airports Authority of India to take this project further. “Indian airports are dependent on foreign software for operations. This tool would give a good boost to the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan,” said Damodharan, adding, “It can be tailor-made for use according to the needs of different areas such as pickup and drop off points, boarding gate, security check etc., is web-based – so the need for installation of the software does not arise, can be securely locked at the airport server level and above all it is an Indian.”
“AeroOpt has huge value proposition. The tool would not only provide the desired service to passengers, but also help the aviation industry deploy resources efficiently, in a scientific manner through optimisation and resource scheduling. Specially trained algorithms determine the resource requirement, which in turn would help achieve quality service, enable appropriate deployment of human resources in society, minimise variable cost while still meeting quality objectives,” Ashwani Khanna, Managing Director, Aerotech Support Services explained.
Aerotech is the industry partner.