Dubai Airports automates resource planning

Dubai’s airports are using automation software to make better use of physical resources such as baggage belts and check-in counters in its two major airports.  

Dubai International airport and Dubai World Central airport, both part of Dubai Airports, will use software from Quintiq, which is part of Dassault Systems, to automate planning.

Airports have to co-ordinate check-in-counters, arrivals and departures gates and baggage belts. This is all automated by the software, which can handle calculations for 40 flights per second and take advantage of information from multiple sources to improve its automation process.

Dubai International – which has 260 airport stands, 143 gates, 561 check-in counters and 28 baggage belts – has been using the system since April 2016, and Dubai World Central is due to start using it.

“We aim to deliver a world-class experience to the airlines that use our airports and the passengers that they carry,” said Frank McCrorie, senior vice-president operations at Dubai Airports. “Quintiq will enable us to maximise utilisation of our current fixed resources and prepare for future expansions.”

This is vital given that Dubai International saw a 7.4% increase in traffic in the first quarter of this year, while passenger traffic went up 29.5% at Dubai World Central in the same period.

Dubai International is one on the busiest airports in the world, with 90 airlines flying to more than 240 destinations across six continents. In 2016, more than 83 million passengers used the airport. Dubai World Central launched cargo operations in 2010 and passenger flights in 2013. The software will mean the airports can handle more passengers and attract airlines to add or retain them as locations.