Aéroports de Lyon and H7 are launching a call for projects to reinvent the passenger experience at the airport

Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport welcomes more than 10 million passengers every year. Since 2019, Lyon Airport has been one of VINCI Airports’ three Centres of Excellence for Innovation, dedicated to improving the customer experience. With a view to designing and building the airport of tomorrow, the airport is examining, testing and implementing innovative solutions for passenger flows, customer support and relations, as well as developing new services, and supporting their deployment in the other airports in the VINCI Airports network.

With this in mind, from 23 September to 27 October 2024, Aéroports de Lyon and H7 - a responsible accelerator and digital hub for the City of Lyon - are launching a call for projects aimed at innovative French and European start-ups, to improve the quality of service provided to passengers at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport. The selected projects will have to meet the specific needs of different types of passengers (families, people with reduced mobility, business travellers, etc.) by offering tailored solutions to improve their travel experience.

4 key topics have been put forward:

• Enabling passengers to travel with ease through guidance, real-time assistance, information, etc.
• Managing and occupying waiting times at transition points such as check-in, security checkpoints and border controls, departure lounges, etc.
• Entertaining passengers through disruptive services for relaxation, leisure, work and shopping.
• Enriching the passenger experience through e-commerce, intermodality, integrated mobility solutions and decarbonisation initiative.

Successful applicants will have the opportunity to present their solutions or services to the Aéroports de Lyon and VINCI Airports innovation teams with a view to a possible collaboration.

Link to call for applications: here.

“Innovation is a key lever for developing and improving the passenger experience at VINCI Airports. In Lyon, our partnership with H7 allows us to benefit from their expertise and network to identify new technologies and new solutions for our customers, and foster a culture of innovation in our teams,” says Cédric Fechter, Chairman of the Board, Aéroports de Lyon.

Renewal of the Aéroports de Lyon – H7 partnership

As part of its innovation strategy to enhance the passenger experience, Aéroports de Lyon is renewing its partnership with H7 for the fifth year running, with this call for projects as its first order of business.

“We are delighted to be strengthening our partnership with Aéroports de Lyon through a national and European call for applications. The tourism sector is rapidly changing: the travel experience is going digital and needs to be more sustainable and responsible, in line with today’s environmental issues. We are thrilled to be supporting Aéroports de Lyon in sourcing solutions that are relevant and of the standard expected by VINCI Airports for one of its centres of excellence”.

Over the past five years, the partnership between Aéroports de Lyon and H7 has already enabled a number of start-up projects to get off the ground, including:

• The online inspiration channel: https://tv.lyonaeroports.com/en/ with FrancePlay, travel inspiration media, already provides free access to 200 online videos helping you discover the destinations available from Lyon and find out about all the airport services to make your journey easier
• Tshoko, an audio experience solution, uses a connected jukebox to offer Terminal 1 passengers the choice of a musical atmosphere in their boarding area.
• Carot', a smart fridge company, which provides airport employees with a catering service consisting of fresh, balanced dishes prepared by chefs.