Innovate UK and SITA join forces to tackle airport emissions

Innovate UK and SITA aim to develop solutions to curb carbon emissions by 20 per cent at airports.
The two entities are seeking innovators to present innovative solutions to tackle this persistent challenge.
The successful solution will initially be piloted in either South Africa, Nigeria or Kenya airports.

SITA, the global leader in technology solutions for the air transport industry, has formed an alliance with Innovate UK, the national innovation agency of the UK Government, to roll out strategies to cut African airport emissions.

In the deal, Innovate UK and SITA aim to develop solutions to curb carbon emissions by 20 per cent at airports in the continent by among others, optimizing aircraft turnaround times.

This initiative is opening the doors for innovators to step forward and pitch their solutions to SITA. Successful pitches stand the chance to get GBP25,000 in seed funding from Innovate UK Global Alliance Africa* and will collaborate with SITA on a trial project.

Participants have been challenged to engage with any suitable touchpoint in the target area, including hardware, software, device, infrastructure, and more. Additionally, the challenge is opening entries from, but not limited to, the following sectors: aviation, transport, telecoms, digital, creative, AI and Blockchain, machine learning and computer vision, data, design, sensors, imaging and business intelligence and forecasting

According to the two organizations, although many systems are available for large airports today, they are not economically or technologically feasible for smaller facilities with less complex infrastructure and more limited resources.

Pilot activation of the selected innovation is scheduled to start in January next year in a contest that will see lucky innovators announced next month.

Tackling a pressing challenge – Africa airport emissions

The goal is to achieve a one-fifth reduction in caborn dioxide emissions and wasted resources caused primarily by the use of aircraft auxiliary power units (APUs) when the aircraft is stationary and being serviced between flights.

“With the aim of generating concrete emissions reductions, this challenge directly contributes to sustainability efforts, vital to a climate-sensitive region like Africa. And the benefits of optimizing aircraft turnaround times don’t end there, with research showing that reducing turnaround times by just 10 minutes can lead to a two percent saving in related operating costs,” said SITA President for Middle East and Africa, Selim Bouri.

“This is crucial in Africa, where demand for air transport is set to double over the next 15 years, but where connectivity between markets is often inadequate and airlines struggle to make a profit amid infrastructure inefficiencies,” added Selim Bouri.

Operational efficiency as a priority for SITA and Innovate UK

Studies show that several regional African airports are unable to efficiently capture and analyze data for aircraft turnaround. This can lead to operational delays, congestion, and missed flight connections. Current processes will leave smaller airports unable to cope with the expected rise in traffic.

Innovative solutions such as the ones called for in this challenge, are poised to boost the efficiency of ground operations such as disembarkation, cargo and baggage unloading, refuelling, and more, helping reduce congestion and ultimately fuel burn.

Innovative solutions are needed

“We are pleased to be working with SITA’s enthusiastic team to find innovative solutions to cut emissions and improve efficiency at regional African airports. Our Open Innovation programme has an excellent track record of working with African partners to find solutions to their technical challenges, and we are looking forward to doing the same here for SITA and their aviation associates, by connecting them with global innovators,” noted Babar Javed, Open Innovation Lead for Innovate UK Global Alliance Africa.

Proposed solutions should be scalable, with real-time functionality, as well as measurable. They should also be capable of processing the limited data collected by smaller airports. Additionally, the selected solution will initially be trialled in either South Africa, Nigeria or Kenya.

Benefits for participants

In addition to the seed funding, successful entrants will benefit from SITA’s technical support and sector expertise from Innovate UK. They will also receive support in the development of a prototype or pilot, invitations to participate in Innovate UK events or further competitions, as well as introductions to investors (if investment is required).