San Francisco International Airport Presents at the 2025 Esri User Conference
The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is a bustling hub that serves over one hundred thousand passengers daily, operating non-stop around the clock. At the center of SFO’s operations is a cutting-edge dynamic digital twin, managed by a small and innovative GIS and BIM team. This team is at the forefront of integrating real-time information across their entire organization, paving the way for the creation of the groundbreaking Airport Integrated Operations Center (AIOC). The AIOC, serving as a centralized hub of information, is designed to transform the passenger experience, delivering a seamless traveler journey from start to finish. Imagine an airport that operates with the precision and complexity of a city, where assets and operations are meticulously managed in real-time to help ensure seamless travel. This ambitious project will elevate SFO to new heights, enhancing both its operational efficiency and customer service using GIS as the foundation to deliver an extraordinary airport experience.
Here's what you’ll discover in Josephine and Guy’s presentation (video link) :
- The airport serves 100k customers daily and is operated by 50k employees, tenants, and business partners
- There are over 700k features in GIS, supporting an airport consisting of four bi-directional runways, 100 buildings, and 400 miles of underground utilities- all constrained by the environs of the San Francisco Bay.
- The team at the airport has been on a journey- starting 17 years ago as they mapped their underground networks and facilities. Today, they portray in 2D and 3D exquisite details including over 12k airfield lights and 18m sq ft of interior space including 15k rooms
- Keeping up with changes is critical and they conduct regular interior scans to update the changes and floor plans
- SFO is a premier example of an Integrated Dynamic Twin built upon 2D maps and 3D scenes. Powered by 3D mesh, models, and integrated BIM data
- On this foundational GIS and BIM deployment, SFO is integrating real time data into landside and airside ops. This supports the real time investigation and awareness of traffic flow, baggage handling systems, and security checkpoints.
The highlight of the presentation was a behind the scenes preview of the Airport Integrated Operations Center.
- Powered by a portal experience enabling a 3D scene serving as a nerve center for the airport providing a continuous common operating picture
- Live applications support API and business system integration to depict: traffic conditions by level (arrivals and departures); garage occupancy; and the real time status of check-in counters, security checkpoints, and airside gates
- On the airside- FlightAware live feeds provide tracking aircraft including origin, expected gate, timeliness. Integration with SITA provides status of gates and gate utilization metrics.
- Other systems support the tracking of ground-based movement and provide predictive taxi time models via the capture of tracks for analysis of performance
- This situational awareness incorporates the real time integration of weather that impacts inbound and outbound flight operations
As Josephine closes, she makes the point that this body of work is truly the digital heartbeat for operations, decision making, and innovation. I couldn’t agree more!
