The recent mysterious death of Patna-based Sanskriti Sinha, a technician working for Air Deccan, though claimed to be a hit-and-run case at the taxiway in the ever-busy Delhi airport, raises all kinds of doubt over traffic movement on the tarmac. No doubt, accidents at the tarmac are on the rise with the increasing traffic flow both inbound and outbound as well.
However, for the first time in the country, a vehicle tracking system at the taxiway will soon be in place. The efforts are being put forth by GMR Infrastructure, part of the GMR group, which has taken an initiative to roll out radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for vehicle tracking at the tarmac in Delhi and Hyderabad airports.
The RFID tags are being provided by Bartronics India Ltd. Interestingly, GMR will be using the same technology for Istanbul airport as well. According to Sudhir Rao, MD, Bartronics, this technology is currently available only in five airports in the world which include the US, Australia, Italy, Germany and Hong Kong. The estimated cost per tag is about $25. And Hyderabad airport would be the first one to adopt this system in the country. Similarly, baggage tracking system is also in the cards, he added.
??We are in the final stages of discussion for providing the RFID tags and we would be soon signing an agreement with GMR Infrastructure,?? Rao said. The plan is to go in for automating vehicle traffic which is now being facilitated manually. All the vehicles would be RFID tagged and would be monitored by readers. ??The Hyderabad airport would be first airport in the country to become RFID-ready by March 2008,?? he said adding that plans are ahead for other airports too.
According to V Bhanuprakash, an RFID expert, the business potential for vehicle tracking RFID tags in airports alone is close to Rs 40 crore. RFID tags are something unique because no airports, including international airports, in the country have this technology to track vehicles which ply on the taxiway such as cargo vehicles, food vehicles, cleaning vehicles, buses, etc using RFID tags. The movement of traffic nearer to the runway or bay is close to 500 vehicles per day in smaller airports.
According to a Gartner report, the adoption of RFID would continue to gather momentum. From $504 million in 2005, and with broader industry adoption, Gartner forecasts worldwide RFID spending to surpass $3 billion by 2010. The automated data collection technology uses radio frequency waves to transfer data between a reader and an RFID tag to identify, track or locate that item, without specifically needing require physical sight or contact between the two. However, Gartner analysts feel that RFID tags shouldn?t be thought of as bar code replacements; rather the two technologies would coexist with users applying the right technology for the right process situation.