London Gatwick turns on SmartStand trial alongside EasyJet

London Gatwick and UK budget carrier EasyJet are midway through a small-scale operational trial of a new AI-enabled remote gate-monitoring system which could boost airline efficiency through optimising turn times. Dubbed “SmartStand”, the system takes a host of existing technologies – AI image recognition, automated foreign object detection, and remote-controlled air bridges, for example – and knits them together into a single system, allowing turn co-ordination to be carried out from a central control station rather than at the gate itself. “It is a completely different way of managing the turn,” says Abhi Chacko, London Gatwick’s head of innovation. To date, the SmartStand concept has been tested on stand 101 at the airport’s north terminal, with the monitoring station located in the south terminal in a soon-to-be-inaugurated innovation lab overlooking the passenger check-in area. Chacko says the impetus for the concept came as the airport began to recover from the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. “We asked ourselves – how do we build back efficiently and make sure that the passenger experience is better, and that operational efficiency can be maintained?” he says. Alongside its technology partners – turnaround monitoring specialist Assaia and air bridge automation firm Dimaim Systems – EasyJet, and its ground handling partner DHL Aviation, were also recruited for the effort.<br/>