Speaker Biograghy: Stephen has worked in the aviation industry for over 25 years. He directly oversees and owns the digital strategy for Heathrow.com and mobile app and has extensive knowledge and experience of delivering new digital services to improve the passenger experience and drive commercial revenue. Innovation and pushing the boundaries are at the heart of everything he does, from location-based marketing, indoor navigation, beacons and AR, to blockchain and AI, in his relentless quest to deliver a seamless, stress-free, digital passenger experience to over 78 million passengers who travel through Heathrow Airport each year.


Day 1 - 20 March
Session: Commercial Development, Retail & Concessions

15:00 - 15:30 - Airport commercial revenues in times of the digital shopper
Synopsis: The latest research in the channel shows that the traditional travel retail model is under threat, with airports’ non-aeronautical revenues slipping steadily due to rapidly changing purchasing behaviours, shifting traveller demographics and the rise of disruptive technologies. Airports and airport retailers seem to be struggling to address these challenges. Digital solutions to counter e-commerce lack the single-platform integration needed to function effectively. Listen to the company that launched a digital revolution in travel retail with its Omnichannel Airport Revenue Digitisation Platform, on the new digitally transformed vision for non-aeronautical revenues, which proposes proactive solutions to these challenges.

Audience will learn:

• Changing user behaviour in travel retail
• Customising a digital retail and service offering
• The airport as a digital marketplace solution
• Fighting disruption with innovation
• The quaternity of travel retail

Day 1 - 20 March
Session: Future Airports

17:00 - 17:30 - Panel Discussion: Part 2: Are hackathons a good method for innovation at airports?
Synopsis: In June 2017 the {re}coding aviation hackathon took place. Some figures: 7 airports, 35+ APIs, 154 participants, 37 ideas, 19 nationalities, 48 hours of hacking. One great vibe and on top of it, an incubation. So was it a success? We'll tell you all about it and answer all your questions on using hackathons as a way to innovate.

Audience will learn:

• The journey in organising a successful event with multiple airports
• How to co-create with brains external to your company
• What everyone gained from the event
• When every airport speaks the same language (ACRIS Seamless Travel API)

Day 3 - 22 March
Session: Customer Service & Passenger Experience

09:35 - 10:05 - The augmented airport – practical applications in AR
Synopsis: With Apple and Google’s recent efforts to bring augmented reality capabilities to every mobile device, AR will achieve widescale adoption. Airports present tremendous opportunities to take advantage of this entirely new computing canvas to provide real value to travellers and solve practical problems. This session will explore augmented reality initiatives undertaken by airports in partnership with airlines. We will discuss the key use cases and problems being addressed, as well as what technology and investment is required to deploy at scale. It may be less effort than you think.

Audience will learn:

• State of AR technology on each mobile platform
• Top problems AR can help solve for travellers
• Examples of AR launching in 2018
• Requirements to AR-enable an airport
• Challenges and improvements still to come