In this issue

In December, Cranfield Airport will become host to the UK’s first digital control tower, a move that hopes to turn the airport into a testing ground for more digital ATC technologies. We profile the project to see what benefits there are to forgoing traditional air control towers.

This issue is heavily focused on airport retail. Between the rise of ‘gate huggers’ and arduous security checks that sap passengers’ will to shop, airports are facing a big challenge when it comes to non-aeronautical revenue growth.

We also look at the pitfalls of free public WiFi in airports, a favourite among travellers, after a new report has shown that signing in might open unsuspecting passengers to hackers.

In security, we present the latest tech solutions presented at the UK’s Defence and Security Accelerator demonstration day and talk to ACI about the some of the work it has done to make sure people are safe, wherever they may be in an airport.