SITA and Nice Airport Just Made Travel Nicer with Beacon-Powered Shopper-Friendly App

Nice Côte d’Azur airport has applied SITA’s beacons and Common Use Beacon Registry technology services to support a new multifunctional app which will give travellers personalised suggestions on activities, concessionaire services, and shopping.

The release of the app was timed to coincide with the opening of Nice’s refurbished Terminal 1 retail area.

With beacons to guide positioning, passengers using the app will get real-time, contextualised information, including localised retail information and special offers from retailers.

Airport Premier Club passengers who use the app will also automatically earn points as they walk through the airport.

“Increasingly passengers are demanding more control over their airport experience. They want to personalise the services they receive from the airport to their own requirements or needs,” said Jean-Pierre Torres, Head of IT at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport said.

He added, “SITA’s beacon technology allows us to deliver on this expectation and offer a highly tailored experience to our passengers, in particular our frequent flyers. Indeed this technology will simplify access to Fast Track Security for Airport Premier Gold members, allowing them to use their frequent flyer card automatically.”

• Nice Côte d’Azur airport is the second largest airport business in France after Paris, and served 12 million passengers in 2015.
• From the airport passengers can travel to 107 direct destinations on any of 61 scheduled airlines which serve a total of 37 countries.
• It is also Europe’s second largest business aviation airport.
• Outside Paris, Nice is the only French airport which offers daily flights to New York and Dubai.
• It is managed by Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur Group which also manages Cannes Mandelieu and Golfe de Saint-Tropez airports.

Dave Bakker, SITA President, Europe said of Nice’s new beacon-powered app:

“Beacon technology unlocks a world of opportunity for airports. With a clear view of who the passengers using the app are, and where they are in the airport, Nice Côte d’Azur Airport is able to offer a wide range of tailored services.”

“We will continue to work together with the airport team to leverage this technology to further enhance the overall passenger experience at Nice,” he added.

SITA’s beacon registry stores information which describes the beacons placed at various locations throughout an airport. When accessed through SITA’s Beacon Registry API, app developers can use the beacon’s location to trigger contextual information, like boarding times or information on a connecting flight. SITA also provides APIs which can share weather, baggage tracking and flight information with apps.

Nice Côte d’Azur Airport opened the first part of the refurbished Terminal 1 in October of last year, and included a new retail area with a broader range of shopping outlets and more room for leisure, aiming to make the terminal more enticing and welcoming for departing passengers from around the globe.

This SITA beacon infrastructure, linked to the airport’s app, will also support the new commercial area of Terminal 2 which will open during 2016 after an ongoing refurbishment.