The Engage 2 project recently delivered a workshop held on 24–25 February 2026 at the Sofitel Athens Airport, Greece. Co-organized with FASTNet, JARVIS and Athens International Airport (AIA) – which hosted the event as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations – the workshop gathered a diverse ecosystem of 80 registered participants from an initial pool of 120 applicants.

The high turnout reflected a rich variety of perspectives, bringing together airport operators, aviation industry tech providers, researchers, European institutions and innovation consultancies to discuss the “Digital European Sky” vision.

Deep dive into the Passenger-Centric Digital Airport

The first day focused on Thematic Challenge #2: Passenger-centric digital airport. Discussions centered on the evolution toward data-centric operations, analyzing passenger dynamics within terminals and the implementation of virtual queuing systems.

Through structured round-table discussions, participants addressed three critical clusters. Drawing from the workshop’s synthesis.

1. Shift toward passenger-centricity

The conversation centered on a fundamental shift from operator-driven processes to a model that prioritizes the passenger at every step. Currently, the journey is often marred by fragmentation and a lack of integrated visibility across different transport modes. Participants noted that travelers face significant stress due to unreliable delay predictions and the anxiety of tight transfers.

To counter this, the vision of a travel companion app gained strong support: a digital tool capable of monitoring the entire multimodal itinerary and offering real-time rebooking. The goal is to provide a seamless experience defined by reliability and simplicity, ideally through a single ticket and one accountable system.

2. Empowering the operator in a multimodal world

As the system grows more complex, the experience of the operator is also evolving. The workshop highlighted that improving this experience is not just about deploying AI, but about a holistic socio-technical transformation. Operators today face the challenge of coordinating across disparate modes (air, rail and maritime) often hindered by siloed data and limited trust between stakeholders.Experts agreed that higher levels of automation do not actually reduce the need for expertise; instead, they increase the demand for high-level decision-making and data literacy. For AI to be a true enabler, systems must offer transparency, clear confidence indicators and robust fallback procedures to build calibrated trust over time.

3. Data governance and the environmental horizon

Bridging these two experiences is the critical role of data, which serves as both a primary enabler and a significant constraint. While data sharing is crucial for managing disruptions and optimizing capacity, it is currently slowed by legal hurdles like GDPR, cybersecurity risks and unclear liability frameworks.

Beyond the digital infrastructure, the Environmental Impact cluster reminded participants that the future airport must balance commercial interests with sustainability. This requires moving from transactional relationships topartnership models that can support long-term resilience and a Digital European Sky that respects both the passenger and the planet.

Airport site visit and practical validations

Day 2 provided participants with a practical, hands-on experience focused on emerging solutions. This included a demonstration of the FASTNet project, where its operational concepts and validated results were showcased.

The event ended with an exclusive visit to Athens International Airport, providing a real-world backdrop to the discussions on multimodal integration and celebrating the airport’s 25 years of operational excellence.

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