Kerry company SafeScore headquartered in the RDI Hub in Killorglin, has launched an exciting new partnership with a mainland European hub, Ljubljana International Airport, of the Fraport group.

Slovenia’s flagship airport is putting their passenger experience first by ensuring their easy access to clear and useful travel information. Their recent partnership with Irish based travel data company, SafeScore, allows them to keep travellers up-to-date and prepared for their journey.

Accessed via a widget on Ljubljana International’s website, SafeScore offers users everything from testing requirements to vaccine brand acceptance, all condensed into bite-sized paragraphs. This feature, allowing passengers to access information via their phones, laptops, or tablets, has already been used by over 10,000 visitors, and that number is growing daily.

Frustrations and delays have become standard scenes witnessed in airports around the world. Heathrow famously experienced ‘hours-long’ queues, further exacerbated by a staff shortage thanks to self-isolation requirements. Complicated documentation requirements add to queue-waiting times, as passengers arrive under-prepared, some have bought and paid for the wrong COVID test, and are denied boarding, while others are faced with last minute quarantine costs they hadn’t anticipated. In Portugal alone, over 2,500 passengers, and 41 airlines were fined for failing to meet the local PCR testing requirements over December and January.

Now, Ljubljana Airport is changing this narrative, and the positive passenger experience reflects this. Speaking about the project, Monika Jelačič, communications expert and the head of the project at the airport said “this is exactly what our passengers need, personalised, simple explanations of the travel restrictions".

"Other airports are simply providing a link to a Government website, but this isn’t very helpful. We’ve gone the extra mile with SafeScore and are very pleased with the results."

SafeScore’s CEO, Nicholas Gorman added that “Ljubljana airport is extremely progressive".

"They are the first airport on mainland Europe to take this approach and the response has been incredible. We expect fewer passengers to be denied boarding at the airport in the coming months, shorter queues, happier passengers and cost-savings by freeing up airport staff capacity. We’ve solved a very complex problem and personalised it for Ljubljana.”

The travel and tourism industry has faced a massive loss of jobs, and revenue during the pandemic, an estimated 62 million in 2020 alone, according to the WTTC. Changing travel rules and requirements exacerbate the tenuous situation, and confusing passengers does little to re-ignite travel enthusiasm.

SafeScore and Ljubljana airport are working to alleviate these struggles.

“By putting our customers at the heart of everything we do, we are doing our part to restore confidence in travel as soon as possible. Other airports offer food delivery, waterfalls, expansive duty free options and other great experiences. We begin looking after our customers before they even arrive," Jelačič said.

This new partnership marks SafeScore’s second in Europe, as Kerry International Airport launched its SafeScore Travel widget in October of 2021.