What is Silent Airport?
by Elizan MECİT
Have you ever noticed how many different sounds you hear while traveling through an airport? Every year, millions of people travel with various airlines, spending a considerable amount of time inside airport terminal buildings. During this process, it becomes nearly impossible not to hear the constantly repeated announcements. Although these announcements may seem routine, they can often be disturbing for passengers. This is why some airports have implemented the ‘Silent Airport’ project. The goal of this project is to reduce noise pollution inside terminal buildings and provide passengers with a better experience. According to research, continuous announcements create stress among travelers.
The Silent Airport project was introduced by Zurich Airport, creating a unique concept in the country and significantly improving the passenger experience. In fact, this improvement can be considered a form of disruptive innovation. Since 2018, Zurich Airport Brazil has been operating with the aim of providing passengers with the best travel experience using a comfortable, reliable, and as innovative an approach as possible. Zurich Airport identified that passengers experience excessive stress while waiting in line or during the boarding process due to frequent announcements. Taking action on this issue, Zurich Airport developed the ‘Silent Airport’ concept by implementing technological innovations and transforming airports in Brazil into quieter environments. By focusing on three key aspects—passenger experience, innovation, and process improvement—Zurich Airport tackled noise pollution. During this process, airline announcements were redesigned, software was developed to consolidate notifications, and visual tools displaying boarding stages were introduced to assist passengers throughout their journey. Additionally, the boarding procedure itself was restructured.
The Silent Airport project involves multiple stakeholders. From software developers to visual communication tools and passenger services, it is clear that significant efforts have been made. With the help of an intelligent audio system, passengers can receive travel-related information both explicitly and subtly. As a result, long queues will no longer be as chaotic as before. As passengers experience the Silent Airport concept, they have started providing feedback. However, some travelers have also shared negative feedback. There are even humorous comments about this topic on Twitter.
Here is a short list of airport hubs where you should not expect to hear a final boarding call announcement:
1- Amsterdam Schiphol, Netherlands
2- Cancún International Airport, Mexico
3- Cape Town International Airport, South Africa
4- Delhi Airport, India
5- Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates
6- Helsinki Airport, Finland
7- Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore
Not included in the list but also implementing and progressing with the Silent Airport concept is San Francisco International Airport, the 7th busiest airport in the U.S. Previously criticized for its extremely high noise levels, San Francisco International Airport has significantly reduced in-terminal noise by more than 40% through the Silent Airport initiative.
Silent Airport Project in Turkey
In Turkey, the Silent Airport Project, initiated by DHMI, aims to reduce noise pollution and enhance the passenger experience. The project seeks to prevent unnecessary announcements and allow only selected, essential announcements while reinforcing communication through visual tools. In line with this goal, TAV and IGA have adopted the Silent Airport approach. On the airside, only ‘last call’ and ‘wait in lounge’ announcements are permitted once.
DHMİ General Manager Hüseyin KESKİN addressed the issue on Twitter, stating: “To ensure passengers can easily access their flights and reduce announcement pollution, only essential announcements will be made; instead, flight information screens and visual communication will be used.” Undoubtedly, passengers will need time to adapt to this new process. However, they must pay close attention to the screens to avoid missing their flights.
In reality, while this initiative allows passengers to have a better experience at key touchpoints, the improper implementation of its infrastructure has led to major issues. Specifically, at IGA, this project has not been well received by passengers so far.
“My child has disappeared. I went to the information desk and they said they couldn’t make an announcement, the airport management had to give permission. The police have no authorization. A child can disappear in seconds. Even though I cried, they made the announcement in 27 minutes. The police officer told me not to shout. He told me that he also had a daughter and that he understood me. I realized that we are people who like to create problems, not solutions.“
IGA’s response to this is;
“Dear guest,
We have received your notification and will contact you as soon as possible.
We would like to emphasize that your feedback is valuable for us to host you better on your next journey and to provide you with a more enjoyable airport experience. As Istanbul Airport, you can send us any questions, suggestions and complaints regarding our services via customercare@igairport.aero or our call center at 444 1 442 (IGA).
We wish you a beautiful day,
Istanbul Airport”
When we examine the project in this context, in order for this application to fulfill its purpose, the infrastructure such as visual communication tools must be fully provided and the user experience related to the application must be tested. Otherwise, the scenery and situations encountered may not be pleasant. At the same time, it is important that the information transfer to the passengers about this issue is done correctly in order to manage the process correctly.
References
Marques, F., & Wagner N. (2021) Silent Airport: Innovation and tranquillity when boarding (https://www.internationalairportreview.com/article/171482/silent-airport/)
DHMI official page (https://www.dhmi.gov.tr/Sayfalar/VizyonerProjelerDetay.aspx?q=40)
Euronews.travel, The future of stress-free travel? Silent airports are appearing all over the world
TRT Haber, (https://www.trthaber.com/haber/turkiye/havalimanlarinda-sessiz-terminal-donemi-basliyor-461209.html)
Airport Technology, Why is San Francisco Airport making terminals quieter? ( https://www.airport-technology.com/features/san-francisco-quiet-airport/)
Pictures: twitter.com, pexels.com, sikayetvar.com
