Customer story
ACSA — the airport operator managing South Africa’s 10-airport network and handling over 98% of the country’s commercial air traffic — wanted a single mobile app giving travelers precise, interactive information on every airport: flights, parking, ground transport, shopping, weather, and indoor navigation. We built a native cross-platform app for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and Android, backed by a .NET content management system and web services, giving travelers 7-day weather forecasts and GIS-based indoor maps to find their way around any airport in the network.
Engagement facts
Client
ACSA (Airports Company South Africa) — the country’s largest airport operator, managing a 10-airport network
Industry
Aviation / Transportation — no exact match in the site’s current industry taxonomy
Region
South Africa
Service
Cross-platform mobile app development
Stack
Appcelerator Titanium
Webworks (BlackBerry)
.NET
airports covered by the app across the client’s national network
of the country’s commercial air traffic handled by the client
7-day
weather forecast built into the app for trip planning
GIS
in-airport wayfinding via the app’s GIS-based indoor maps
The client
ACSA, South Africa's largest airport operator
The client is a large public company based in South Africa. ACSA is the biggest airport company in the country, operating a network of 10 airports and handling over 98% of the country’s commercial air traffic. The company is focused on creating and operating world-class airports that measure up to international standards.
The need
One app for flights, parking, shopping, weather, and indoor navigation
The client wanted to build a mobile application that would give detailed information on all the airports in the country, in a precise and interactive manner. Key features of focus included: displaying information on airports, flights, parking, and the availability of buses, trains, or taxis to each airport; information on shopping inside the airports; weather forecasts; and interactive maps of each airport’s interior.
The challenge
A native app built to handle a huge volume of airport data
One of the main challenges in developing this application was building a native mobile app that could support the large volume of data required to display all the necessary information, across multiple mobile platforms.
The solution
A cross-platform app backed by a custom .NET content management system
Star Knowledge’s technical team used Appcelerator Titanium to build the app for iOS and Android, and Webworks for the BlackBerry platform. A content management system was also built using .NET to manage data across categories such as Shop & Dine, At the Airport, and To and From the Airport within the ACSA application, with .NET web services connecting the backend content to the frontend.
Benefits
What changed for the client
All-airport coverage
Mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and Android, displaying information about every airport in the country in an interactive manner.
Trip planning
Users were able to organize their trips using the app.
7-day weather forecast
Users could view a 7-day weather forecast to plan their travel.
GIS indoor navigation
Users could locate themselves anywhere inside an airport using the app’s GIS feature.
- Mobile apps for the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android displaying all the information about all Airports in the country in an interactive manner.
- Users were able to organize their trips using the app.
- All the information required for travelling was available handy.
- Users were able to forecast the 7 days weather to make their travel plans.
- Users were able to locate themselves anywhere inside the airport using the GIS feature of the app.
Technology
What we used
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