Achieving a ‘silent airport’

Achieving a ‘silent airport’ – without compromising on passenger information – is now easier thanks to AviaVox’s intelligent announcement system.

Amsterdam, August 1st 2024 – Dutch software company AviaVox, the world-leading developer of intelligent passenger announcement systems for airports and airlines, is inviting ACI North America’s Annual Conference and Exhibition delegates to visit their booth to discover how AviaVox’s smarter passenger announcements can support ‘silent airport’ environments. Copies of the AviaVox white paper on silent airports will be available on their booth, which is stand 418.

Silent airports aren’t actually silent. The idea is to reduce the overload of both noise and information, so that what passengers do hear is noticed, understood, and acted upon. This smarter design of the announcement landscape leaves passengers with the impression that there are fewer announcements, even though the overall number may remain the same – or even increase.

Most airports are a cacophony of sound. These are environments which already have poor acoustics because of all the hard surfaces, crowds, noisy equipment, and aircraft sounds. The addition of relentless and repetitive public address announcements can be too much for passengers to deal with, so they ignore them – either without realizing that they’re doing so, or by wearing headphones or earbuds, for example.

Traditionally, airports broadcast almost every PA call to almost every passenger in the terminal. But this is counterproductive, because passengers become overwhelmed and stop listening. But by using AviaVox software to make much more targeted announcements, only the most relevant messages are received by the right passengers, in the right zones, at the right times.

This is done through the intelligent application of zoning and timing; by making announcements in passengers’ own languages (AviaVox supports over 35 languages and dialects); and even by delivering PA calls to kiosks, to the FIDS, and to passengers’ mobile devices as sound or text.

The ‘silent airport’ movement continues to gain in popularity because it decreases stress for passengers and staff alike, and improves the passenger experience. However, there are also many commercial, operational and brand-related advantages for airports and airlines. For example, passenger flow is improved; late departures (and regulatory sanctions) are decreased; airport staff can be more effective; retail and hospitality spend increases; passenger complaints are reduced; and achieving regulatory compliance becomes easier.

According to Johan Godin, CEO of AviaVox: “We already know that most passengers are stressed when they arrive at the airport; from there on, it’s largely up to the airport as to whether they allow those stress levels to rise, which is helpful to no one, or whether to work on reducing that stress. Designing a genuinely effective public announcement system is in everyone’s best interests, not least because passengers will know what they need to do and when, so they can relax and make it to their departure gate on time.”