Day One News and Views Highlights - inter airport Europe 2025

Wednesday 8th October 2025

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Inter airport Europe opened its doors to its special 25^th anniversary edition yesterday (7 October) at Messe Trade Fair Munich, welcoming a global audience of varied airport industry professionals from over 100 countries and 400 exhibitors. The interest in the two halls and engaging Focus Seminars tackled topics including AI, data and workforce, reinforcing the popularity of this unique networking and brand showcase event, under one roof. As one exhibitor enthused – “We were here two years ago.  We are we back because the contacts we first made here in 2023 are now customers.”

 

Demonstrating that it is inter airport Europe in name only, the seminar programme kicked off with a presentation from  Huyen Dieu Do, Senior Specialist, Airport Operations Department  Airports Corporation of Vietnam. Supported by a 13-strong air transport country delegation, she shared that  Vietnam’s new Long Thanh Airport is on schedule to open in 2026. Located 40 km east of Ho Chi Minh City in Dong Nai Province, the new airport, which is being constructed in four phases, is being built to relieve  the overcapacity of the current Tan Son Nhat Airport. Phase one includes a 4km runway and a 373,000 sqm terminal, resembling the shape of a lotus flower. Upon completion of phase one, the terminal will be capable of handling up to 25 million passengers annually. Looking ahead, ACV envisions transforming the airport into a mega terminal, with the capacity to handle as many as 100 million passengers each year. It will be the biggest of the airport operator’s 22 airports – and each are interesting in exploring state of the art systems and solutions.

 

Artificial intelligence  was an early talking point - not just in the conference agenda where speakers underlined how it is set to play a transformative role, but also in unlocking the full potential the industry needs to move into toward an open, non-adversarial data exchange.  On cue, leading airport supplier ADB SAFEGATE, announced its new advanced platform, AI: Airside Intelligence. With airport systems becoming more IT-driven and complex, bottlenecks are also likely to increase - not just from passenger numbers but technology downtime or maintenance issues. AI can help airports become more targeted and preventative with their maintenance operations commented Thorben Burghardt, Chief Technology Officer.  He shared how his new technology will suit multi-sized airports enabling remote monitoring and preventative maintenance. Even smaller airports will benefit from the ability to offer remote monitoring capabilities to help reduce on site headcount. 

 

ADB SAFEGATE, announcing its new advanced platform, AI: Airside Intelligence

 

“Every stakeholder – from airlines to airports to ground handlers – currently operate in silos with their own set of data. If we can start sharing information more freely across airports and even between airlines, we’ll begin to see major efficiencies emerge. It may sound utopian today, but the value of that transparency and cooperation would be enormous,” he said. 

AI-driven tools can enhance efficiency and deliver capacity gains needed to accommodate rising passenger volumes without compromising service quality.  An expert industry panel tackling Big Data – collaboration across industry determined that AI, has yet to mature. It’s like the Cloud a decade ago when it was being embraced into every (airport) terminal, conceded speaker, Tony Chapman, founder of  aviation and airport advisory  AJC Aviation and former long-time director of industry affairs and alliances at Collins Aerospace.   Dr Joe Perez, Chief Technology Officer at CogniMind warned: If the data fed in delivers bad AI it is going to stir it up extremely quickly. And if data is garbage, you’ll only get garbage out.   The only thing that smells worse than garbage is garbage that’s been stirred up,” he quipped.

Tony Chapman, Founder AJC Aviation

The next five years in the airport ecosystem are going to be revolutionary, Tony Chapman highlighted, where sustainability, too, will no longer be ‘optional.’ Automation, digital processing, predictive technologies will all contribute to reduced energy use, lower emissions, and less paper waste.  Such solutions, many of which are being celebrated at inter airport Europe, support global environmental goals, while ensuring airports remain future-ready.

Speaking in the Innovation Theatre, Laila Odina, Chairperson, RIX Riga Airport diverted us to the issue of drone incursions. On a sunny day it’s not unusual to experience around three drone incursions, she shared.   "Most of the time it's just novice drone users, but we have to take every drone sighting seriously and consider the implications." Reflecting on the blame placed on airports for not detecting drones and the need for individual preparedness, she stressed that airports, regulators and their air traffic management partners all have a responsibility. "However, it’s not clear whose responsibility it is ultimately to monitor and manage drone activity in and around an airport."

 

Laila Odina, Chairperson, RIX Riga Airport

 

 

Exhibitor Highlights

 

Smiths Detection (Stand B-5-1410)  unveiled its latest innovation in airport security technology with its new SDX 10080 SCT screening device. The high-speed computed tomography (CT) scanner combines advanced dual-energy Computed Tomography (CT) to deliver superior detection performance and an optional high-resolution dual view Line Scanner (LS).  The next-generation scanner pledges to transform baggage screening with faster throughput, enhanced detection, and future-proof scalability.  

 

Sustainable airfield lighting company AviaSafe (Stand B5-1710), marking its fifth year of operations at the show, introduced its newly certificated, fully Rotating Beacon. The company is taking orders for the product at the show, disclosing unit prices later. AviaSafe also launched a new BESPOKE product, a tool enabling customers to further design their AviaSafe products to meet immediate and future needs. “Airports are increasingly driven by commitment and want more from their AGL products, so we’ll prioritising resilient, tailored sustainable airfield lighting that delivers a greater than ever return on investment,” commented Parvis Khatibi, AviaSafe CEO.

 

AviaSafe’s newly certifed Rotating Beacon

 

The day closed with the presentation of inter airport Europe innovation awards, voted for industry peers and the show’s advisory board.  The roll call of winners as follows:  Sustainability Innovation  - S4GA for its Solar CAT I Airfield Lighting System, fully powered by solar energy;

Terminal Excellence  - Outsight for its passenger flow management product Spatial Intelligence Platform; Smart Airport & AI Innovation - Leonardo SpA for its morphological analyzer of baggage, Bag Check AI Ground Support Achievement Award - TK Airport Solutions S.A. for the first fully remote operation and centralized monitoring of Passenger Boarding Bridges, Max Automate.  The 25th Edition Impact Award was presented to ADB SAFEGATE for its game changing new products and consistent contribution to the evolution of the airport. Product Launch of the Year – went to Imenco for its FuelSCAN Analyzer.

Editor’s note

inter airport Europe is a must-attend event for the global airport industry, an exhibition and seminar event targeting airport operators looking to source airport equipment, technology and services for ground handling, terminal operations, airport IT and airport design.

The show has always attracted an international audience, offering in-depth perspectives on new and emerging technologies that will help airports streamline their infrastructure, systems, and processes whilst meeting rising costs and compliance, in line with the United Nations’ commitment (backed by 145 countries) to meet net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

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