Airport capacity has been significantly reduced by COVID restrictions, with reports putting it at between a quarter and 40% of pre-pandemic levels.
The issue is one of five challenges the air transport industry is currently navigating, according to aviation IT specialist SITA.
The company points to Eurocontrol studies that suggest that when traffic is back to 75% of 2019 levels, waiting times could reach five hours at airports, rising to eight hours for normal traffic levels.
Sergio Colella, president for Europe at SITA, describes this as an unacceptable situation adding that the solution is digitalization.
He says that traffic was at 53% of 2019 levels in the fourth week of June because of growth mainly in southern Europe.
Alongside the challenge of managing the health requirements, SITA identified automating the passenger journey through mobile on the ground and in the air as further challenges in its Your Runway to Success report.
It also says more collaboration and cost efficiency is required at airports as well as increased efficiency and sustainability of aircrafts.
Colella says: “We need to do more with less, more collaboration, more cost efficiency. What was considered impossible pre-covid is now considered possible because there is a common intent to drive efficiencies.”
SITA also highlights a number of solutions to the challenges in the report including its Smart Path technology which uses biometrics for a more seamless passenger journey.
The company highlighted aviation industry technology spending priorities earlier this year with passenger services via mobile coming top for airlines.
* The Your Runway to Success report can be downloaded here.