With 70% of its traffic in transit, the equivalent of 70,000 passengers in transit a day at Dubai airport, Emirates has launched an app called Journey Manager aimed at facilitating the transit experience.
Sameer Poonja, head of digital design at the airline, said a hand-held device has been deployed to all customer-facing airport staff to make it easier for them to handle customer queries.
“All they have to do is type in the information and they can tell passengers the boarding gate and also help with check-in. Our aim is use mobile technology to improve customer service.”
The Journey Manager in action
The Journey Manager enables real-time information to help staff respond to customers’ needs with greater efficiency, regardless of where they are in the airport.
Developed by Emirates in cooperation with Samsung and Etisalat, Journey Manager runs on the recently launched Samsung Note 4.
At a glance staff are able to check the status of both inbound and outbound flights, which helps them to assess potential areas of concern and better manage operations, especially in the event of a disruption.
Up to 20,000 transit passengers go through transfers desks during peak times in a six-hour period, with 40% of these customers queuing to get information about which gates their next flights depart from.
Poonja’s department is also exploring the use of iBeacon as a marketing tool and location finder to offer customers personalized messages and services.
Meanwhile, following the launch of its iPad app in April this year, the airline last month launched its iPhone app which allows passengers to check in and download their boarding passes.
Emirates iPhone app, released last month
Available through the App Store, the Emirates App for iPhone also features push notifications for check-in, flight boarding, gate changes and baggage belt numbers. Boarding passes will be sent to Passbook.
The app also provides the ability to book flights, select seats and meals, manage Emirates Skywards accounts and chauffeur drive alerts. Personal flight details, credit card information, and product and service information are stored in the app, so users can view it offline too.
Boutros Boutros, Divisional Senior Vice President Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand at Emirates, said it has launched the mobile app on the iOS platform first as iPhones account for the majority of mobile traffic to its website.
“Work is underway for an Android version, even as we continue to look at new features for our iPad and iPhone apps,” he said.
Poonja said they were seeing higher repeat visitors on the iPad app than on the website. “People engage more on the iPad and we are seeing higher value transactions.”
