EasyJet Pilots iBeacon Airport Navigation Scheme

easyjetAirline EasyJet is to install beacons in several airports across Europe to help passengers navigate their way through the airport.

The beacons will be placed in strategic locations in Luton, Gatwick and Charles de Gaulle airports, and trigger notifications to passengers mobiles during critical points of the airport journey, such as bag drop and security, prompting them to open boarding passes for scanning and advising them to ready their passports.

The scheme is being piloted during the peak summer period, with a view to rolling it out across the rest of Europe if it proves popular with passengers. EasyJet worked with the three airports involved to make sure the beacons are located in the most relevant, crucial positions.

“This is another example of how EasyJet is innovating to make travel easier for passengers across Europe. By becoming the first airline to trial iBeacons across Europe we can help speed up the airport journey and provide assistance to our passengers making it even easier to fly with EasyJet.

Peter Gough, design partner and founder at ORM, said “the news that EasyJet is trialling iBeacon technology to help passengers navigate through airports is an interesting development presenting a number of opportunities. Noticeably there are some overlaps with the hospitality industry which can be taken into the airport.

“Automatic location check-in is obvious, together with the ability to see which high value, and therefore loyal, customers are in iBeacon vicinity. Its like concierge for added personal service. However, its worth nothing that iBeacons shouldnt be just about push notifications and offers – they can be used in the background to detect where the app user currently is. This provides data analytics of popular footfall, what areas are working and where and when actions are triggered.”