CASE STUDY
Better Airport and physical distancing: How London Heathrow Airport has overcome Covid-19 related challenges in check-in through proactive planning.
London Heathrow Airport
80.9 mill. passengers (2019)
214 Destinations
Heathrow Airport, also known as London Heathrow, is the main international airport serving London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others being Gatwick, City, Luton, Stansted and Southend).Â
In 2022, it was the second-busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic and the busiest airport in Europe as per March 2023 serving more than 80 million passengers. It is also the airport with the world’s most international connections as of 2023, with an extensive route network of more than 200 destinations.
Introduction to the collaboration with London Heathrow Airport.
This case study on how London Heathrow Airport utilized Better Airport to overcome Covid-19 related challenges in check-in through proactive planning was written by Shaun Dee, Capacity Planning Manager at London Heathrow Airport.Â
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The Challenge:
At Heathrow’s Terminal 2, check-in desk capacity has been temporarily reduced by 36% due to the proximity of some check-in desks being less than 2 meters apart whilst we develop screening solutions to mitigate the limitations of physical distancing.
Managing physically distanced queues and congestion is particularly challenging and requires a good level of predictive insight to plan effectively.
The Solution: Better Check-in
We are currently using Better Check-in (part of Better Airport®) to show redundant desks to be avoided on the plan and have built the restrictions into the demand calculation and rules, thus enabling desks to be allocated around the redundant desks.
Better Check-in’s Queue Vision feature provides valuable insight of queue capacity and an early warning indicator of potential spillage (due to physical distancing) outside designated queuing areas.
Variable m2 values per passenger can be applied to ensure personal passenger space meets physical distancing guidelines, and when combined with the m2 capacity of each queue area, enables our teams on the ground to plan more effectively in advance and ensures physical distancing can be maintained across the check-in concourse.Â
Outcome achieved:
At Heathrow’s Terminal 2, check-in desk capacity has been temporarily reduced by 36% due to the proximity of some check-in desks being less than two meters apart whilst we develop screening solutions to mitigate the limitations of physical distancing.Â
We look forward to hearing from you
We know that investing in and implementing new airport technology can result in a lot of questions. We will happily guide you through the process and answer all your questions.
To see if there is a fit, we offer an obligation free demo of our Better Airport software for you to experience it.
