Breaking barriers
Check-in dramas could be a thing of the past with mobile e-gates
Combining emigration with boarding will make the process smoother and ultimately easier for people and airport operators.
Saying goodbye to family at an international airport can be an abrupt, nerve-wracking and even tearful experience, requiring us to part ways early on, at the doors to the emigration hall. Will we ever be able to accompany our loved ones to their boarding gate?
It’s a question Senior Associate David Holden has been pondering when he thinks about the inevitable transformation of Australia’s airports over the coming years.
Like their counterparts around the world, Australian travellers experience a bottleneck during the airport check-in process.
Anyone can opt to go through security in a domestic airport, but only international passengers can move through an emigration line into the world of airside retail and hospitality – and then onto a final check of their details at the boarding gate.
Moving emigration to the end of the departures experience also unlocks more of the airport experience for all. Its a win-win for passengers and airports.
A gate on wheels
David has been developing the concept of the ‘Mob-e-gate’ – a prototype of a mobile e-gate. In the simplest terms, it’s a self-driving, autonomous ‘vehicle’ that can allocate it-self to a gate and process your emigration details as you line up to board the plane. While compact, their impact could be far-reaching. Mob-e-gates could be remotely controlled from a central hub. Their flexibility means that airports could avoid expensive retrofits to existing infrastructure, travelling to where they’re needed before moving on to the next scheduled flight. One Mobe-gate could serve multiple boarding gates, saving on space and upfront investment for airports. Moving the emigration line backwards in the departures experience also unlocks more of the airport experience for all. Its a win-win for passengers and airports.
Passengers
-With checkpoints streamlined, passengers can spend less time queuing and waiting. More importantly, their loved ones can accompany them all the way up until boarding their flight.
-Airports bring out a heightened emotional state for lots of travellers and can be intimidating for neurodivergent travellers. Being able to take family through to the boarding gate would alleviate unnecessary stressors for a comforting experience.
Airports
-Opening the doors to family and friends would improve visitation revenue
-Removing the physical emigration lines gives prime value retail space back to the airport.
-Investing in flexible and mobile infrastructure as opposed to permanent extensions will ensure our airports can be agile as new technology continues to affect the aviation industry.
How we get there
It may only be hypothetical, but David and our Aviation team think Mobbegate could address one of the challenges at the heart of Australia’s airports, making them not just a place for tearful goodbyes but somewhere to spend quality time with the people we love.
They’re also a step toward retrofitting our airports with small but high impact interventions. Helping future-proof them for tech transformations in flying and security.
But bringing an idea like Mob-e-gate to life needs to be a collaboration with the Australian Border Force to push the boundaries of what can be automated in the future.
Across the world, this shift is already happening as airports move towards automated processes like biometrics, to avoid constraints on passenger numbers and wait times. Mob-e-gate could be the next step that unlocks the space for everyone.
Our Aviation team is focused on this and other innovations that will support the ongoing evolution of our airports.
