Aviation

Augmented reality app will allow airlines to track late passengers

London’s Gatwick Airport has installed about 2,000 beacons as an indoor navigation system that uses augmented reality wayfinding for passengers.

The goal is to make it easier for passengers to find their way around the airport and avoid missing flights. The airport is using augmented reality and navigation beacons because of a lack of satellite signals that makes Google or Apple maps unreliable indoors. Gatwick claims it is the first airport to use AR as a source for navigation inside an airport and says the technology is more reliable than GPS.

The beacon system enables an AR wayfinding tool allowing passengers to be shown directions in the camera view of their smartphone. This can point passengers in the right direction to check in areas, departure gates or baggage claim.

The airport is integrating the technology into its own proprietary apps and is also working with other airlines to enable the indoor positioning system and wayfinding tools on these airlines’ apps. While no personal data is collected, the technology does monitor population density in different airport locations to improve passenger flow and ease congestion.

Future iterations of the technology could include sending reminders to passengers if a flight is delayed or sending information to airlines about late running passengers. The beacons could also potentially be used by retailers or third parties to detect proximity or promotional messages.

Aviation

No More Jet Airways. Supreme Court Says “No Choice”, Orders Liquidation

Jet Airways was once one of India’s leading airlines, known for its service and extensive network. Founded in 1993, it served millions of passengers, connecting cities across India and international destinations.

However, since grounding its flights in April 2019, Jet Airways has struggled to navigate financial turbulence, leading to years of efforts to revive the airline and return it to the skies.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the liquidation of Jet Airways, citing “no choice” but to take this decisive step after the resolution plan failed to meet creditor obligations. The court invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142, which allows it to make orders for “complete justice” in any case, overriding previous tribunal rulings.

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The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC), which had won the bid to revive Jet, faced criticism for not fulfilling payment commitments to creditors, which included major banks like the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank.

The Supreme Court’s ruling pointed to “peculiar and alarming” issues surrounding the resolution plan’s implementation, leading to its conclusion that liquidation was the only feasible outcome.

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Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, alongside Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasized that while liquidation should be a last resort, it was necessary as the resolution plan was “no longer capable of implementation.”

In line with this decision, the court ordered that the ₹200 crore already infused by JKC be forfeited and directed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in Mumbai to appoint a liquidator to oversee the process.

JKC, a partnership between Murari Jalan, a UAE-based Indian entrepreneur, and Florian Fritsch, a Jet shareholder through Kalrock Capital Partners Limited, had taken ownership of Jet Airways two years after it was grounded. The consortium’s inability to fulfill its financial obligations has now led to this final verdict, marking the end of an era for Jet Airways in India.