Assisted travel platform Ostrum and its digital companion Purple Door started out with trials at two UK airports. Now the developer has signed commercial deals with operators at Santiago airport in Chile, Belgrade in Serbia, JFK in New York and Schiphol in Amsterdam.
The digital service aims to improve the experience of disabled people or persons with reduced mobility moving through airports, and supports seven languages. It has been launched by software company Ostrum Tech with the support of Connected Places Catapult, and is accessed through a mobile browser, the Apple App Store and Google Playstore.
The product has been tested with airport passengers through the Scaling Innovation programme managed by the Catapult as a partner of the ncat consortium: the National Centre for Accessible Transport.
Development of the technology had previously been taken forward through two rounds of the Transport Research and Innovation Grants (TRIG) programme – delivered by the Catapult on behalf of the Department for Transport – and demonstrated at Luton airport.
“Connected Places Catapult did a fantastic job to help us get things done.
“Receiving grant funding was extremely valuable to us in getting our solution off the ground, and several networking events made us feel part of a community with lots of other people to talk to. Both the ncat Scaling Innovation programme and TRIG helped to move us forward.”Abhi Chacko, Founder, Ostrum Tech
Ostrum’s assisted travel platform is currently used to support 1.3 million passengers across 70 airlines; with the company’s annual revenues increasing from around £100,000 in 2022 to £1 million this year. Employee numbers have grown from 10 in 2021 to 35 today.
“Next year, we are hoping to achieve close to £2 million of turnover,” says Abhi. “While it is always difficult to get your first few customers, our target should be possible because we have seeded the ground in different locations around the world and we have a solid purpose-built platform.
“We are in discussions with two UK airports to roll the service out commercially, and talking to half a dozen other aviation clients in Europe, the Far East, Australia and North America.”
Purple Door works by asking users to create a personal profile and to indicate how much support they think they will require at the airport. They can share their profile with any aviation staff directly, helping them to simplify their interactions at various airports around the world.
Once the profile is created, the hope is that users don't have to repeat their access needs in the future.
Purple Door users who make assistance bookings at participating airports automatically have their mobility needs and real-time location relayed to airport assistance teams. Passengers using the app can get to see the status of their flight and location of their assigned assistant on a map, to provide them with reassurance that help is nearby.
At present, this sort of airport integration to the Purple Door service is only available at Santiago airport.
Passengers can access the service by downloading the app, or by scanning QR codes inside the terminal or at assisted travel kiosks, Abhi adds.
Purple Door was developed after Abhi learnt about the frustrations felt by some persons with mobility needs accessing airports. He remembers walking out of a terminal towards the train station one winter’s evening, along a narrow corridor.
“There was an elderly couple sitting there, and they asked if I knew how they can find the wheelchair agents, as they have been waiting for more than 30 minutes. They felt forgotten as there was no-one around, it was getting dark, and were concerned they may miss their flight.
“There should never be a need to leave passengers isolated like that, especially if they are already on the airport campus. Whoever came to pick them up just didn’t find them due to some communication gap.”
Abhi says Purple Door is designed to give an appropriate level of support to passengers, which doesn’t mean everyone receives the same level of assistance. “Some people may require help just to check-in, or to pass through security, or only when they want help while taking their journey on their own.”
He adds that until recently, assisted travel “hadn’t really changed for the last 30 or 40 years; whereas things certainly had moved on in the consumer world, such as using digital solutions to book trains, call taxis, and watch movies.
“Aviation is a fragmented ecosystem with so many different organisations responsible for various things. Until now, there hasn’t been anything that is pulling everyone together, from the point of view of a passenger who requires assistance.
“Our platform acts as a glue among all stakeholders, including passengers, assistance team, check-in and boarding agents, ground handlers and cabin crew, who have a shared interest in ensuring a seamless assisted travel service," says Abhi.
“We want to roll the platform out to many more airports and maximise the number of passengers who benefit from it. We hope to work with 10 airports by the end of next year and 20 the year after.
“It is possible, once the stakeholders comprehend the value it can deliver and it is our job to make it clear to them.”
Find out more about ncat, the National Centre for Accessible Transport and the Transport Research and Innovation Grants programme.
