High-speed, low-latency, and high-capacity capabilities – 5G networks hold the key to unlocking the next level of passenger experiences as well as operational efficiency for the airports that provide them. Long thought to be the lynchpin that will hold together a series of emerging digital technologies, maximising their effectiveness, 5G is coming out of its pilot phase, and firmly into the future-facing strategies of every major international airport.
From a mere $1.2 billion valuation in 2023, in a single decade the global 5G in aviation market will rise to over $50 billion by 2033. This astonishing 45.4% CAGR underlines both the central importance of 5G in the digital infrastructure of next-generation airports, and the speed with which they are being adopted.
Five Focus Areas for 5G in 2025
1. Enhanced Passenger Experience
• Faster Connectivity: Passengers now expect and even insist on ultra-fast internet access that enables seamless streaming, communication, and navigation within the airport.
• Smart Check-ins and Security: As they become the norm rather than the exception, increasingly sophisticated biometric-based security systems must be powered by 5G to consistently deliver quick and accurate check-ins, boarding, and security clearances.
• Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) Applications: While AR/VR-based airport navigation and immersive duty-free shopping are still largely viewed as gimmicks or novelty tech demonstrations, this will quickly change as 5G leverages their full capabilities, providing unforgettable experiences.
2. Improved Operational Efficiency
• Real-time Data Sharing: 5G’s ability to enable real-time communication between baggage handling, gate scheduling, and air traffic control is becoming a vital pathway for reducing delays and errors.
• Predictive Maintenance: With IoT sensors connected via 5G, airports can monitor infrastructure and equipment, identifying potential failures before they occur.
• Automated Systems: Larger airports are building out larger fleets of driverless vehicles for ground operations, drones for security, and even robotic cleaners and guides. 5G will allow these autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles to function more effectively without overloading the airport’s existing digital systems.
3. Advanced Security Measures
• AI-Powered Surveillance: Airports need to ensure they have ‘eyes on’ all potential threats, at all times. 5G is now essential for enabling sufficient coverage of high-resolution video feeds and AI analytics for improved monitoring and threat detection across all critical areas of the airport. Tailor-made control rooms, like those designed and delivered by Global Airports Forum exhibitor LundHalsey, will become the beating heart of next-generation airport security operations.
4. Sustainability Goals
• Energy Management: 5G-powered IoT devices are already optimising energy use in terminals and wider airport operations through more accurate monitoring of fluctuating energy demands and the elimination of wastage.
• Efficient Traffic Flow: 5G connectivity allows better management of ground vehicles in and around the airport. This reduces fuel consumption and emissions of the airport’s own fleet as well as taxis and passengers’ own vehicles as they navigate its roads and access points.
5. Support for Future Technologies
• Digital Twinning: Creating and running wholly accurate virtual replicas of airport infrastructure presents invaluable opportunities for predictive scenario planning, problem solving and future development strategies. 5G is integral to building viable digital twins for structures as complex as airports.
• Futureproofing: It is becoming increasingly clear that the future development of all smart infrastructure – from airports to hospitals, rail networks and even office blocks and homes – will depend heavily on an adaptive telecommunications network that can quickly leverage new digital innovations and iterations of existing technologies. Airports need to build out viable 5G networks to lay the groundwork for future technological advancements.
Airports in the Spotlight – 5G Early Adopters
Incheon International Airport (ICN): South Korea’s ICN was one of the world’s first 5G connected airports, and was ideally placed to utilise the technology for coronavirus screening back in 2020. MEC (Mobile Edge Computing), enabled by the 5G network, allowed an AI system to simultaneously check thousands of passengers for Covid-19 symptoms as they navigated the airport’s arrival and departure halls. Since the pandemic, Incheon has updated and expanded its 5G capabilities, allowing for comprehensive real-time security monitoring, IoT smart maintenance and even smart robots for cleaning and patrolling.
Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX): Completed and inaugurated in 2019, PKX opened with 5G networks already in place. In the following five years, the airport’s capabilities have grown to include some of the fastest internet connection and download speeds in the world, bleeding-edge biometrics and baggage tracking, hundreds of seamless self-service kiosks, robotic helpers capable of parking and retrieving passenger vehicles, and more.
Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ): While Heathrow usually takes the limelight for UK-related airport tech news, ABZ is set to become one of the country’s most connected hubs as December 2024 saw its 5G network installation completed. Within the next few months, passengers will enjoy unparalleled connection and download speeds across the airport, while ABZ’s controllers are already eyeing new projects focusing on intelligent automation to energy efficiency and enhanced security, all supported by the new 5G network.
5G is the new baseline for airport connectivity and future readiness
As passenger volumes increase, the strain on airport security, support operations, retail, access and general in-airport facilities will only become greater. Not only is demand rising, so is the overall complexity of modern airport operations as they integrate emerging technologies to keep pace with consumer expectations and the logistical realities they face.
5G is quickly becoming the must-have solution for any major airport looking to not only meet but exceed those expectations. It provides a solid foundation for all interconnected digital infrastructure to be built upon. Smart sensors, robotics, biometrics, self-service, passenger experiences – the entire physical and digital setup of an airport now hinges on whether its networks have sufficient strength and connectivity to support the ever-widening range of new technologies that are needed to transform its operations and overall commercial offering.
