Edinburgh Airport is currently experiencing and forecasting further growth in international travel. This has driven increased demand on immigration services. At the same time, UK Government is working to expand the use of e-Passport Gates at the border as part of the “2025 UK Border Strategy”.
Edinburgh Airport is interested in analysing the number of eGates required to keep queueing at the border within 15 minutes while simultaneously minimising the number of additional eGates installed. This project involves developing a simulation model to test different demand scenarios and process enhancements (i.e. increased eGate availability). Sensitivity analysis is also needed to understand the robustness of the recommended solution. The strongest recommendation will be used to inform the strategic direction of Edinburgh Airport’s investment in e-Gate technology.
This project offers the experience of solving a real-life business problem, with the option to get involved in Edinburgh Airport operations.
• Passenger arrivals schedule
• Split of coached vs contact passengers (%)
• Arrival rate distribution assumptions (bulk for coaches, Poisson for contact)
• Service Level Agreements (100% of people queue 15 minutes or less)
• Maximum hall holding capacity (goal is not to overflow the hall)
• eGate versus Desk split scenarios
• Maximum number of desks and average transaction times (distribution assumptions can be agreed)
• Number of eGates and average transaction times (distribution assumptions can be agreed)
• eGate reject rate
We cannot provide any data or split statistics based on country or origin.
• Several different eGate scenarios (minimum 10 eGates)
• KPIs including queue length, queue time, hall overflow
• Recommended number of eGates
• Robustness of the recommendation
There is also the opportunity to extend the project to a second phase that assesses the ideal layout of the hall to minimise queueing congestion and maximise flow.