Smart Airports: Artificial Intelligence–Enabled Internet of Things Networks Using Blockchain Technology

This article provides a perspective on how an internet of heterogeneous self-service airport terminal systems can be used for data collection, which is stored on a private or consortium blockchain depending on the ownership or operations of an airport or both. Such a setup would help to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve traveler experience at airport terminals. Moreover, it would allow airports to gather data directly from passengers as opposed to waiting to receive the same data from airlines. Subsequently, this data, now on a blockchain system, becomes a data source for other applications such as machine learning. In this way, meaningful insights for immediate and long-term decision-making can be derived. This article can be useful to airport management, blockchain application developers, academics, and researchers who are interested in automating airport terminal systems.