Brussels Airport has adopted BlipTrack, a sensor-based system that helps airports predict passenger wait times more accurately. The technology provides real-time information to travelers by measuring passenger flow and relaying updated wait times on screens and mobile devices through the BlipTrack app.
BlipTrack uses sensors that detect Wi‑Fi signals from smartphones and tablets to estimate queue lengths and movement patterns. By aggregating this anonymous data, the system calculates how many people are in line and how quickly they are being processed, allowing it to produce more reliable wait-time estimates for those about to join a queue.
Many other international airports already use BlipTrack, including New York’s John F. Kennedy International, Amsterdam Schiphol, Barcelona El-Prat, Copenhagen (CPH), Dublin (DUB), Edinburgh (EDI), Cincinnati (CVG), Keflavik (KEF) and Oslo (OSL).
“Today, many airports display wait times. Typically, this is done by measuring the wait time of people leaving the queue. However, these wait times may not be accurate for those entering the queue, especially if the flow of people suddenly changes,” explained Christian Bugislaus, marketing manager at Blip Systems. “BlipTrack works by measuring the number of people in line and the average throughput of the area. With these two measurements, accurate wait times for those entering the line can be displayed. For example, if there are 100 passengers in line and the processing rate of the area is 15 people per minute, the predicted wait time is roughly 6.5 minutes.”