Beyond “bytes not bricks”: delivering system wide change in airport operations
Alan Newbold
Arup’s Aviation Business leader Alan Newbold reflects on the key challenge for airports: how to increase capacity and resilience while maintaining passenger experience, and doing so in a way that is both sustainable and cost-effective
In the period following a busy financial year end, I have taken time to reflect on conversations with clients and colleagues across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North America. Despite the variety of contexts, a consistent set of themes has emerged.
A key challenge for airports is how to increase capacity and resilience while maintaining passenger experience, and doing so in a way that is both sustainable and cost-effective.
image: Heathrow Airports Ltd
From a digital and technology perspective, the natural response is to look at how data and systems can support these outcomes. The concept of “bytes not bricks” is widely referenced, but in practice, it is still not implemented at scale across the aviation sector. There is still significant opportunity for airports to treat data as a core operational asset, alongside physical infrastructure, to improve decision-making, reduce cost, and enhance passenger flow.
However, despite the potential, large-scale digital transformation in aviation remains limited.
There is significant opportunity for airports to treat data as a core operational asset to improve decision-making, reduce cost, and enhance passenger flow
In my experience, one of the main reasons is that it requires a long term commitment to becoming a data driven organisation. This is not a quick transition. It involves investment, organisational change, and a shift in how decisions are made. In many cases, solutions are still developed within individual operational areas rather than across the system as a whole. While this can deliver local improvements, it often results in bottlenecks being displaced rather than resolved.
For example, improving performance in one area, such as airport check in can create pressure in the security processing. Similarly, optimising aircraft turnaround times can expose constraints in airfield capacity or gate availability. These interdependencies highlight the limitations of siloed approaches.
A further challenge is data fragmentation across the airport ecosystem. Airports do not typically control or access all the data required to optimise end-to-end performance. This makes collaboration across airlines, operators, and service providers essential. Without this, decisions continue to be made within organisational boundaries rather than for the benefit of the wider system.
Decisions continue to be made within organisational boundaries rather than for the benefit of the wider system
This challenge is becoming more pressing as legacy IT and operational systems reach end of life. In some cases, these systems are being integrated into wider IT estates, increasing exposure to cyber risk and limiting opportunities for innovation and interoperability.
What is needed is a more comprehensive and joined-up approach to technology across the airport ecosystem. This means developing an enterprise architecture that connects people, processes, technology, and physical assets in a coherent way. The aim is to enable more consistent, system-wide decision-making rather than optimisation at a departmental level.
This change is achievable, but it requires a shift in how airports, airlines, and the wider supply chain collaborate on data and technology. The focus needs to move towards shared operational outcomes, rather than improvements within individual silos.
Alan Newbold is Arup’s Aviation Business Leader for the UK, India, Middle East and Africa region and leads Arup’s Digital Aviation business globally. Alan has 30 years of experience bridging the gap between people, process, technology and the built environment to deliver digital transformation that drives sustainability, innovation and change.