Technical Visit to Smart Airport
By Ir Dr. Irene Poon
The Logistics and Transportation Division (LTD) organized a technical visit to the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) in the afternoon of 19 July. The visit was divided into three sessions and was led by Mr Chris Chan, Assistant General Manager, Smart Airport Department, and Mr Stephen Tsoi, Officer. This was indeed a valuable chance for our participants to understand how HKIA shapes a world class smart airport.
During the first part of the visit, Mr Chris Chan introduced the HKIA smart airport ecosystem and various smart infrastructures developed, including travel smarter, myTAG, automated self-serviced check-in and the use of face as a single token of journey. He explained how these smart applications improve passengers’ experience, enhance services and efficiency, and strengthen safety and security. More upcoming smart infrastructures are also introduced, e.g., 4K CCTV upgrade, application of drones, 5G/private LTE network for mission critical operation.
As regards the second part of the visit, participants went to the Innovation Lab and Mr Andrew Chan (Manager, IT (Planning and Innovation) – Information Technology) briefed them the design and showed the prototypes of some smart applications, e.g., terminal patrol robots, driverless tractor for baggage/cargo and e-security gate.
In the last part of the visit, participants visited the automated self-serviced facilities installed in the departure hall. Ms Sandy Chui and Mr Winsor Chiu, both are Assistant Managers in the Smart Airport Department, explained the detailed operation of smart mobile check-in kiosk, self-bag drop and departure e-security gate. Participants gained an in-depth understanding and witnessed how these automated facilities improve passengers’ travel experience.
The LT Division would like to express their sincere thanks to the Smart Airport Department for their generous hospitality and for making this technical visit a success.