For us, innovation means leading the transformation of infrastructures to anticipate new needs and modes of mobility, with an emphasis on the sustainability of the solutions implemented. We are convinced that innovation will profoundly change the way people move around, and therefore we place it as a strategic lever in our way of doing business.
Our subsidiary Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) implements the strategy of the Atlantia Group, making innovation one of the pillars of its strategy to ensure safe and comfortable travel for passengers. ADR is a promoter for innovation, taking on the role of a leader in the airport industry in spreading the culture of innovation. For example, in July 2021 Aeroporti di Roma and Aena signed the first innovation-focused Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between two international airport operators, creating the "Airports for Innovation" network. This alliance aims to adapt the airport experience to the new expectations of passengers, which have changed drastically due to the spread of Covid-19 and are oriented towards the highest level of health and safety. In this context, ADR and Aena have decided to focus on accelerating the implementation of new technologies and digital processes to allow its public to enjoy airport services in a secure and contactless mode by identifying innovative solutions that can cover the entire passenger experience in the post-pandemic context.
In addition, ADR from June 2021 is a member of Aeroporti 2030, the new association that brings together the airports of Rome Fiumicino, Rome Ciampino, Venice, Treviso, Verona, Brescia, with the aim of strengthening and promoting innovation, digitalization, and environmental sustainability in Italian airports. For the 5 airports, which together account for about 40% of Italian traffic, it has become a priority to make a radical change to the system, participating proactively in the change taking place. Increasingly, ADR has grasped the need to project itself towards an innovative vision that guarantees the take-off of the connectivity of the future, abandoning the stereotypes of the past.
To convey its role as an innovation leader in the airport sector to its passengers, ADR relies on the adoption of the latest technological innovations. For example, ADR has recently adopted the use of the latest technologies in the passenger check-in and boarding systems market, which include biometric facial identification of passengers to make their transit through the airport smoother, faster, and safer. This project, in partnership with Delta Air Lines and in collaboration with Sita, a global supplier of technologies for the air transport sector, involves the installation at certain areas of the airport of devices capable of detecting the biometric characteristics of passengers' faces to guarantee their identification by temporarily acquiring the information contained in their identification documents and boarding passes.
