Schiphol Deep Turnaround camera-based turnaround monitoring and delay prediction

Deep Turnaround was built at Schiphol to cover a blind spot in airport data: what happens on the stand between on-block and off-block. Using AI image-based processing of camera footage, it detects more than 70 turnaround events in 30 processes and can flag delays as early as 30 minutes before the target off-block time, according to Schiphol's Aviation Solutions unit, which now sells it.

Jeffrey Schäfer, Schiphol's process owner for aircraft turnaround, says on the product page that it gives "invaluable insights for operational decision making". Schiphol says the predictions draw on 1 million turnarounds and that the tool can reduce turnaround delays by up to 30%, a vendor claim rather than a published Schiphol result. Results reach users through a dashboard or a data stream, and APU detection is offered to cut emissions.

Eindhoven started with two cameras at each of four stands in November 2023 and extended the system to all 14 stands in summer 2024, reporting 96% to 98% reliability, according to a Schiphol blog of 21 October 2024.

Schiphol has not published how many of its own stands are covered. Nor has it released before-and-after delay figures from its own operation.