Ibrahim Ibrahim, managing director of Portland Design, our London-based sister company that focuses on transportation and design hubs, explores the different ways in which aspects of airport design will be accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Touchless technology, for example, is likely to be implemented at a much quicker rate.
“We are seeing five years’ innovation in five months, and much of the impact will be permanent,” Ibrahim tells CBNC. “We will see a turbo-charged uptake on tech-driven zero-touch check in, security and boarding.” For passenger identification, passports are being replaced with facial-recognition and iris-scanning biometrics.
Ibrahim also expects an increased use of digital payment systems in airport retail. “Queues will eventually be anathema in stores.”