BIAL inks deal with IBM to set up ‘Airport in a Box’ platform

To create a new ‘Airport in a Box’ platform that supports end-to-end travel experience for passengers at the Kempegowda International Airport, IBM has entered into a a 10-year partnership with IBM and Kyndryl.

The partnership is designed to help the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) improve its productivity, automate its information technology services, increase operational flexibility to handle future growth in passenger traffic and reduce costs, a BIAL spokesperson said.

The airport operator chose IBM Global Business Services, IBM hybrid cloud capabilities and Kyndryl, the new, independent company that will be created following the separation of IBM's Managed Infrastructure Services business, to design and implement a next generation architecture with a dynamic delivery model.

BIAL said the new platform will enable it to improve employee productivity, upgrade utilisation of IT assets, reduce costs through streamlined inventory control and improve incident management.

Enabled by an open hybrid cloud approach from IBM and supported Red Hat Ansible Automation, the platform will also generate Artificial Intelligence-powered insights from IBM Maximo enterprise asset management technology to optimise inventory management and total cost of ownership.

IBM and BIAL, the airport operator said, will work to support sustainability projects and the community at large. BIAL had recently achieved its goal of net energy neutral status in the 2020-21 financial year, consuming energy from renewable sources.

The platform will be advanced once the ecosystem is fully operational. IBM works with over 150 airports globally for innovative transformations. It was named World's Leading Airport Travel Technology Provider 2020.