How to drive passenger airport experience: A decision support system based on user profile

This work presents a decision support system for providing information and suggestions to airport users. The aim of the study is to design a system both to improve passengers’ experience by reducing time spent queueing and waiting, and to raise airport revenues by increasing the time passengers spend in discretionary activities. Passengers’ behaviour is modelled with an activity-choice model to be calibrated with their mobile phone traces. The model allows to predict activity sequences for passengers with given socio-demographic characteristics. In order to predict queue length at check-in desks and security control and congestion inside commercial areas, passengers’ movements are simulated with a microscopic simulation tool. A system to generate suggestion has been designed: passengers are advised to perform mandatory activities when the predicted queue length is reasonable and specific discretionary activities according to time available, user profiles, location distance, location congestion and airport management preferences. A proof-of-concept case study has been developed: passengers’ behaviour in both cases of receiving and not receiving suggestion has been simulated. In the first case, passengers experienced less queueing and waiting time; the time saved was spent in discretionary activities, improving passengers’ airport experience and increasing airport revenues.