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BetterSecurity
Case Study

Overcoming lack of influence on security planning:

How Hannover Airport integrates third party's staffing plans with its own operational data.

 
Airport

Hannover Airport (HAJ)

Passengers

5,2 mill. passengers (2024)

Destinations

66 destinations

Client overview: Hannover Airport (HAJ)

Hannover Airport (HAJ) is Germany’s 9th largest airport. It is located 11 km north of Hannover and is a key international hub in northern Germany. 

 In 2024, it served over 5.2 million passengers, with direct connections to 66 destinations across 24 countries via 27 airlines. As the home base of TUIfly, it plays a central role in European leisure travel. The airport also supports major cargo operations and has capacity for up to 10 million passengers annually.

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The collaboration with Hannover Airport.

With security handled by a third party, Hannover Airport had little influence over planning and no way of anticipating potential queues. With Better Forecast and Better Security, the airport was able to integrate the third party’s staffing plans with its own operational data. Hannover can now see how the staffing plan will affect passenger flows through the terminal – and it can react accordingly.

The Challenge:

Security screening at Hannover is handled by a third party. With no direct involvement in security operations, Hannover had little influence over planning or staffing. Worse, the set-up left the airport in the dark in terms of how the third party’s staffing plan would impact passenger flows. With limited knowledge as to potential wait times at security, Hannover found it difficult to plan ahead.

The Solution: Better Forecast and Better Security

The staffing plans from the security vendor are now uploaded to the Better Security module which quickly provides expected wait times and queue lengths at security. By providing a transparent overview of how the staffing plans will impact passenger flows, Hannover knows when and where queues will occur and can optimize its operational activities.

Better Forecast’s integration with boarding card scans also gives Hannover better passenger insights. Show-up profiles are continuously adjusted in line with the show-up data from similar historic flights.

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Outcome achieved:

Previously, Hannover had little way of knowing how its security partner’s staffing plan would impact operations, forcing them to rely on gut instinct. With actionable forecasting, they can take real-time operational decisions with clarity and confidence. And because the forecasting is automated, Hannover’s operations teams spend fewer hours planning, making it a truly cost-effective solution.

By providing an objective, data-driven basis for operational discussions, Better Security and Better Forecast have also made Hannover’s relationship with its security provider more collaborative. The two parties can now work together to optimize the execution of security screening for the benefit of all stakeholders: airport, security provider, airlines, and passengers.

As an added bonus, the addition of the two Better Airport modules is another step on Hannover’s journey to full digitalization of its business and processes.

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Results:

Improved decision-making
Automated, actionable forecasts enable real-time operational decisions with greater clarity and confidence.

Time and cost savings
Operations teams spend significantly less time on manual planning, making the solution highly cost-effective.

Enhanced collaboration
A shared, data-driven view has strengthened cooperation with the security provider, improving execution and alignment across stakeholders.

Progress toward digitalization
The implementation supports Hannover’s broader goal of fully digitalizing its operations and processes.

Next steps in the collaboration:

After completion of its Better Forecast and Better Security roll-out, Hannover will also add the staff planning element of Better Security, giving it even more control over planning processes.

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