Airport software maker AeroCloud says it plans to expand after raising $12.6 million.
The British company announced the Series A funding in a news release Monday (Feb 20), saying it would allow it to scale what it says is the only cloud-native solution in its industry.
“Airports are fast-moving domains, requiring smooth coordination of multiple factors in a high-pressure environment, from security to passengers and airlines,” the company said.
“A lack of coordination between these different factors can affect an airport’s performance — in some instances, airports operate at only around 66% capacity.”
AeroCloud says it helps airports improve their performance in areas such as passenger processing times and improved self-service check-in with an artificial intelligence and machine learning-driven platform.
The company says its cloud-based tool allows users to hold unlimited licenses, “so an airport’s entire stakeholder base can access the platform at no extra cost,” and from any device wherever the airport’s team is based.
AeroCloud’s new funding comes as the airline industry is facing a number of challenges, as United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby noted during an earnings call last month.
Among them: a dearth of pilots, a staff shortage that’s still tied to COVID, supply chain troubles and unpredictable weather events.
“The FAA and most airlines, with the exception of the network carriers, have outgrown their technology infrastructure and simply cannot operate reliably in this more challenging environment,” Kirby added.
The reference to FAA infrastructure followed a Jan. 10 system glitch that grounded flights across the country in a daylong systemwide disruption.
Meanwhile, other companies are employing innovations to take some of the pain out of the airport experience.
Among them is The Landline Company, which said in December it plans to underused real estate near airports into next generation aviation infrastructure hubs.
“Anywhere that is a natural gathering place, like an old shopping mall, that location can eventually become a node,” founder David Sunde told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster.
“If we can push traffic to [existing] places that are well suited to handle it, but just aren’t being used today because of a business model failure, that’s a great place for us to be.”
The company’s vision isn’t confined to traffic and parking, Sunde said. Landline wants to take all of the worst pinch points and bottlenecks associated with travel and put them in nearby refreshed properties.
“It might seem far-fetched, but this travel company’s business model has already been backed by investors via a $28 million fund raise in April, and is also partnered with American Airlines, United Airlines and Sun Country Airlines, as well as the Transportation Security Administration,” PYMNTS wrote in December.
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