easyJet, the UK’s largest airline, has become the first airline to trial iBeacon technology across Europe to help passengers navigate their way through the airport.
The strategically placed beacons, which are being trialled at London Luton, London Gatwick and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airports, trigger helpful notifications to passenger’s mobiles during critical points of the airport journey.
The notifications are automatically activated as passengers approach bag drop and security – prompting them to open their boarding pass at the right time so it is ready to be scanned and advising when passports need to be presented.
easyJet is trialling the innovative technology during peak summer with a view to rolling it out across Europe if it proves popular with passengers.
Peter Duffy, Commercial Director for easyJet, said:
“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.
“We are trialling the use of iBeacons at three of our busiest airports and if they prove popular we will roll them out across Europe. Customers travelling through London Luton, London Gatwick or Paris Charles de Gaulle with an Apple iPhone and easyJet app can benefit from the technology from this week, enhancing the in-airport experience when interacting with our beacons in the trial this summer.”
Beacons are small Low Energy Bluetooth transmitters that can trigger the easyJet app to send helpful notifications. The app uses the customer’s Bluetooth signal to estimate their proximity to a beacon – enabling it to deliver the right message at the right time.
easyJet has worked with the three test airports to strategically position the beacons in the correct locations, which will ensure messages are sent when it is most relevant to the customer.
easyJet is not the first airline to experiment with iBeacon technology. Virgin Atlantic has been trialing it in the Upper Class Wing at Heathrow Terminal 3.
American Airlines is involved in the industry’s biggest deployment at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
