Indoor Mapping & Airport Routing launched by Aena & Telefonica

Today, thanks to a collaboration between Aena, Telefonica, CARTO, and Situm a new Indoor Mapping solution called ‘AenaMaps’ is being launched to assist passengers during their navigation through airport environments.

Indoor Mapping and Analytics isn’t just for the innovators any more. Location data generated from WiFi networks, beacons, and GPS apps make it easier to optimize layouts & maximize efficiency, answering pressing business questions.

AenaMaps - Airport Navigation

Aena is the largest airport management company in the world, with over 275 million passengers passing through its 46 Spanish airports last year. With AenaMaps, passengers will be able to visualize their entire journey and locate key points of interest such as restaurants, shops, toilets, or security controls, as well as the time required to reach the boarding gate.

The solution allows:

• Ability to view live location within the airport
• View and search of all points of interest
• Guidance to a specific point in the airport
• Calculation of the travel time and distance

Available via the Aena app on Android and iOS, routes can be followed both visually and by voice. The maps and routes can also be viewed on Aena’s website.

The solution will evolve to offer a service to passengers with reduced mobility, complying with accessibility needs, and will provide other important information such as live waiting time at security checkpoints. In addition, the application will be integrated with other location tools outside of the airport, in order to obtain the complete route from any origin. The service will be available in a first phase at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, but will soon be rolled out at other airports in the Aena network.

Development Partners

During the solution’s development, CARTO has participated in the cartographic enrichment of Aena’s airport maps and plans, route development, and architecting this advanced analytics solution. Situm has provided key technological components and geopositioning services within the airports.

Using Location Intelligence solutions to navigate the new normal of travel and leisure is crucial for the industry to evolve. Aena and Telefónica’s solution is pioneering and will pave the way to continue improving the passenger experience, making more spatially-aware decisions across their airports.
Jorge de Lara, VP Global Sales at CARTO

This project is a key part of the digital transformation project that Aena and Telefónica are jointly undertaking to offer innovative solutions to passengers, with the overall goal of providing a superior customer experience

With the digitization of services and companies, we have the opportunity to improve the lives of citizens and society in general. Aena's move to a more digital model will give it the opportunity to offer passengers additional experiences that go beyond the use of its facilities to simply access flights.
María Jesús Almazor, CEO of Telefónica Spain

Aena is constantly working to bring new technologies to the table with two key objectives:

• To improve the passenger experience at all stages of their trip by incorporating solutions that make it easier and more comfortable to move through its airports.
• To develop digital initiatives that increase the competitiveness and accessibility of its commercial services.

Along these lines, Aena also launched an initiative this summer for startups around the world that align with its strategic business initiatives. The call, which ends on October 14, will select five projects which will later be developed in partnership with their different business units. The challenges posed are:

• Agility in procedures and travel to the airport
• Passenger experience
• Passenger communication
• Sustainability
• Luggage

Interested startups can register through the website www.aenaventures.com.

Telefónica Empresas (Telefónica’s B2B division) aims to facilitate digitization for companies, relying on 6 major technologies: connectivity, cloud, IoT, security, big data and solutions that make the digitization of the workplace possible. Telefónica offers a centralized, end-to-end service for each of the projects.