Airlines are predicting an increase in their technology budgets over the next two years, according to new research.
The 2022 SITA Air Transport IT Insights report reveals that technology investment increased to 4.73% of revenue last year, up slightly on the previous year's 4.66%.
For 2023, 96% of airlines believe their IT budget will either remain the same or increase, while their top priorities for investment are cybersecurity initiatives (95%), mobile applications for passenger services (94%) and cloud services (91%).
Rising in importance for carriers are IT service management enhancement, disruption warning systems and in-house virtual and remote IT services, according to the study.
Airlines are also keen to invest in emerging technologies over the next three years, with business intelligence software, data exchange technologies, artificial intelligence and RFID (radio frequency identification tracking) all highlighted as priorities by SITA.
In addition, NFC (near field communications) and augmented/virtual reality technology are tipped for a bigger slice of the IT budget despite having low penetration in the industry so far.
Airport technology investment is also predicted to increase this year according to 75% of those surveyed.
Top priorities for spend over the next three years include cybersecurity initiatives, self-service processes and cloud services.
Further areas for investment for airports highlighted in the report include business intelligence solutions, common-use infrastructure account, touchless solutions and mobile apps and digital services for passengers.
Source: PhocusWire