VIEWPOINT: Scaling aviation technology across borders 

Randel Darby One of the costliest assumptions an aviation technology company can make is that once a service works at one airport or with one airline, introducing it at another will be relatively straightforward. The technology may be proven, the airline may be ready to expand and the demand may already exist. But that doesn’t mean the next deployment will be easy.  Every new market brings a different combination of airline and airport systems, security requirements, regulatory processes and operating partners. Even relatively small differences in how an airport or airline operates can add complexity, cost and delays. For aviation technology companies looking to grow beyond their home market, this is a familiar sense of risk.   We’ve learned firsthand over more than a decade of building aviation technology how easy it is to underestimate that work. Our expansion over the past year offers practical lessons on reducing deployment risks and making subsequent launches more efficient.  A proven service still needs local integration Baggage touches more systems than almost any other part of the passenger journey. A bag collected at someone’s front door has to enter the same airline systems as a bag checked at the airport. That means connecting departure control, airport baggage infrastructure, ground-handling procedures and local logistics operations. Every handover must be documented, and the bag reconciled with its passenger and accepted into the airline’s system on time.  Each party has its own processes and procedures, and new integrations must take place around live airport operations, leaving limited windows for testing. Every change has to fit around an operation where delays are the primary failure metric. A connection that works for an airline at Heathrow still has to accommodate the systems and procedures used by handlers at Zurich.  Proven technology shortens this work. Carefully calibrated and documented processes help operators understand what a new service changes for them before they attempt to implement it. Companies entering a new market should budget for this coordination as a critical area within the project; this includes identifying existing integrations, new requirements and who is responsible for testing and decisions.  Regulation sets the timeline Security and regulatory requirements introduce another set of dependencies. Approval processes, baggage policies and operating conditions vary from one market to the next, and they rarely appear in a commercial proposal.   In Germany, foreign carriers must document process changes for the Federal Aviation Office (LBA), including a cybersecurity plan and details of any new data exchanges. These are not details to resolve after a launch date has been agreed. A requirement like that, discovered late, can hold up a launch that is otherwise ready to go.  We once spent four years securing regulatory approval in a single market. During that period, our technology and workflows kept developing, which meant repeatedly updating submissions and re-briefing airlines and regulators on how the service operated. That experience showed us how changes made during the approval process can create additional work and extend implementation timelines.  The starting point is to establish the approvals, security procedures, testing and training required locally, then allow for them in the schedule and budget. Technology development can move quickly, but regulatory approvals follow their own timelines.  The compounding network effect The good news is the second deployment at an airport costs far less than the first. Once an airport has the necessary technology integrations, ground-handling arrangements and logistics partners in place, another airline can join with considerably less work. Standardised onboarding, training and service procedures also make subsequent deployments more efficient.  Between January and July 2026, we completed 12 airline and airport deployments, nine of them at Frankfurt, Zurich and Edinburgh. Frankfurt shows the effect most clearly. Our established relationships with Fraport and FraAlliance, a joint venture between Fraport and Lufthansa, helped support three airline deployments there in the first five months of 2026. Each benefited from technology integrations, ground operations and logistics relationships established through earlier work.  What Singapore Airlines’ expansion shows This network effect applies to our airline partners as well. Singapore Airlines has worked with Airportr in the UK for several years, with passenger uptake 30% higher than that of other mature full-service carriers we work with. Checked baggage is included in every fare class, with business travellers accounting for twice the share of its users compared to our other airline partners.   Demand also extends beyond passengers’ home markets. Among Singapore Airlines customers using Airportr, 18% live outside markets where we operate, compared with 10% across our other airline partners.  When Singapore Airlines introduced the service at Zurich in July 2026, it built on our established UK partnership and the airport integrations and infrastructure already in place at Zurich. This reduced implementation work, allowing us to concentrate on the airline’s baggage policies, local operating procedures and staff training.  The partnership also shows how a carrier’s own priorities make expansion easier. Singapore Airlines treats baggage as part of its premium product at home, where Changi Airport Group has announced off-airport hotel check-in for the airline’s passengers. An airline that already values the service internally moves faster through the approvals and adaptations each new market demands.  Partnerships decide reliability A passenger judges our service by whether their bag reaches the aircraft and comes home on time. Delivering that experience across markets depends on airport operators, airlines, ground handlers and logistics providers working to the same standard. No single organisation controls the entire journey. The infrastructure, systems and integrations we have built at Frankfurt, Zurich and Edinburgh – as well as with Singapore Airlines and dozens of other partner carriers – are what allow us to promise reliability in any market we enter.  For technology companies weighing expansion across Asia-Pacific, Europe or both, consistent processes and strong local relationships help, but neither replaces understanding a new airline or airport’s local operating conditions and earning the confidence of the teams responsible for delivery.  A successful first deployment proves the service can work. International growth depends on knowing how to repeat what worked without overlooking what is different. In aviation, that means treating integrations, approvals and operating partnerships as part of the expansion strategy from the beginning, not as challenges to solve once the technology is ready.   (NOTE: Randel Darby is the Founder & CEO of Airportr, a travel technology company that has developed a global Baggage-as-a-Service platform designed to change how travellers interact with baggage and how airlines and airports manage it. He started Airportr to address a persistent challenge in air travel: checked baggage is an inconvenience for passengers, congests terminals, and adds cost and complexity for airlines.) For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Sally Passey at [email protected]