Düsseldorf Airport and SITA today hailed the success of a unique IT outsourcing agreement which has seen the airport manage 20% growth in passenger numbers while replacing its entire IT infrastructure over the last five years.

In addition to significant cost savings, the number of third party customers has grown to 250 representing 30% of sales for the joint venture, SITA Airport IT (SAIT), established five years ago by Dusseldorf Airport and SITA.

Thomas Schnalke, Managing Director, Düsseldorf Airport, said: “This is an important milestone for Düsseldorf and SITA as we have genuinely broken new ground for the air transport industry. Looking back over the last five years there is no doubt that we have proved the case for the value and feasibility of airport IT outsourcing.

“Through a period of 20% growth we have introduced cost-efficient technology that benefits our passengers, the airlines and all our tenants. SITA is delivering results that allow us to focus on the overall development of Düsseldorf to ensure its future success on the back of $350 million investment over the last five years.”

The visible benefits of this investment are 320 workstations for airline check-in, 74 self-service check-in kiosks and more than 1,000 newly formatted flight information displays. SITA’s Baggage Reconciliation System, which ensures the right bag, belonging the right passenger is on the right plane, has also been introduced to reduce the level of mishandled luggage.

Christian Jahncke, Managing Director, SITA Airport IT, said: “In addition to what we have achieved in terms of cost savings through the effective deployment of shared airline infrastructure such as the check-in facilities, data centre and telephone system, we are now looking at other areas for development. Innovative technologies in the area of professional mobile radio services, mobile workforce solutions and foreign object debris detection are all planned for the near future.”

SAIT also manages airport TV, an airport customer loyalty card, car park online reservations and management, hosting of the airport website and 24x7call centre. SAIT received ISO certification last year which included ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) training for all employees.