Gatwick among international airports to take part in ‘hackathon’

Gatwick among international airports to take part in ‘hackathon’

Event will challenge programmers and computer coders to improve passengers’ travel experience by developing ideas for new apps over a period of 48 hours Continue reading

Gatwick airport is supporting the first ever international airport ‘hackathon’, which will challenge programmers and computer coders to improve passengers’ travel experience by developing ideas for new apps over a period of 48 hours.

Gatwick, and six other airports, will share flight and waiting time data with the developers to help them with the challenge.

The ‘{re}coding’ event, which is taking place in Berlin from June 16-18, claims to be the first time this many international airports have joined forces to collaborate and share data to improve the passengers’ experience.

Gatwick, organisers Schiphol, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Geneva, Munich and Copenhagen are hoping to the ‘hackers’ will come up with ways of managing passenger flows more efficiently and preventing delays and inconvenience to passengers.

The hackathon will be divided into four main themes – Life before the airport, Life at the airport, Life in between airports and Life after the airport – covering the journey from booking to taking the flight.

The developers will be split up into teams and present their ideas to a judging panel, who will award prizes to the winners of each theme.

Gatwick’s chief information officer Cathal Corcoran, said: “Providing our passengers with the best possible experience as they travel through the airport is a key priority for us and by collaborating with other airports in this way we are able to explore and push the boundaries of current passenger facing technology.”