At least half of all Emirates passengers choose to use Sara, the first robotic check-in system in history, or the airline’s self-check-in technologies.
Adel Al Redha, chief operations officer of Emirates, said: “The simpler and more reliable a system is, the more confident people are to use it. Like online shopping or booking airline tickets, once people are more confident to use it, they continue using it.”
Speaking during a media roundtable held following the opening of the Emirates Innovation Center Ebdaa at Expo City Dubai, was Al Redha. According to him, the center will serve as a model for building the future.
“We want to export initiatives from Dubai. So, this center is an open platform to work with every entity that has something to offer in regard to improving efficiency, sustainability, deploying of technology,” he explained.
An aircraft robotics lab, developed in partnership with Dubai Future Labs and other leading worldwide robotics companies, is housed at the center.
It contains yet another first for the world: an in-house created, AI-powered customer service robot. Sara, the robot, aims to be inclusive by supporting sign language, providing an early look at the future of customer-robot interactions.
Innovation
Al Redha mentioned that Emirates has been investing in technology on a constant basis and provided an example of the team’s collaboration with the Department of Naturalization and Residency Dubai (DNRD).
He said: “The last few months we’ve been working with our partners at the airport to install the biometric path. I can say with confidence that it is the only path that have been developed at this level of accuracy globally. The units are able to pick up an individual’s data without you having to stare at something or look in a specific angle.”
He explained how customers can just walk in and the system will recognise them. “Your physical appearance gets compared with stored data to process in a very efficient manner,” he said. “Your path through the airport, your path through the various touch points within the airline- whether it is accessibility to the lounge, to boarding the aircraft- is mapped. That came through a collaboration between us and the various team and the various suppliers. It involved taking an idea, taking a vision and trying to really see how we can transform it into a reality.”
Technology
According to Al Redha, Emirates is also using its immersive technology to further introduce its future employees to Dubai. “When we have a new employee from outside who has never visited Dubai, who doesn’t know what to expect in Dubai, they will be able to explore Dubai in real time to get a feel of the different places, understand the accommodation that he might be living in, and understand the airport environment when he arrives,” he said.
“This is going to give comfort to people and is going to make them much more familiar with the area before they come in.”
