SITA completes regulatory formalities and legal procedures in the acquisition of Materna IPS

SITA, in technology solutions for the air transport industry, has completed the regulatory and legal procedures to acquire Materna IPS. This strategic move will reshape the aviation industry, resulting in the world’s most powerful passenger portfolio for airports and digital travel.

The acquisition represents an unprecedented acceleration of global aviation industry digitalization, streamlining check-in, baggage handling, and security processes. Travelers can expect reduced wait times, smoother journeys, and a new era of personalized digital services.

This strategic move will see SITA become number one in terms of market share of solutions like Self Bag-Drop while it strengthens its leadership of areas such as biometrics, with 85% of international air passengers served globally, and in Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) and Common Use Self Service (CUSS) kiosks. All this will impact the entire travel industry in a very positive way as it tackles challenges to meet pressing industry demands for increased terminal capacities and best-in-class secure solutions leading to easy travel for all passengers. It’ll offer the industry a unique opportunity to transform airports from simple transit hubs to digital, personalized experiences​ for travellers across the world.

The integrated solutions portfolio will allow airports to process more passengers and optimize resources to give travellers a better experience. With a global footprint of around 120 airports around the world, the integration of Materna IPS positions SITA as the undisputable market leader in terms of end-to-end solutions at airports, strengthening existing solutions such as Self Bag-Drop. Materna IPS offers best-in-class secure solutions for all passenger touchpoints, from check-in to baggage claim and boarding. It adds additional and deep specialist knowledge to SITA’s offering as well as a highly customized set of solutions, agile and bespoke support and a broader range of services.

SITA leads the world in passenger self-service solutions at the airport with over 13 billion air passengers using SITA systems. As airports transform digitally and the market accelerates towards solutions such as Self Bag-Drop, SITA and Materna IPS’s solutions complement each other in a powerful way.

“As we complete these final steps, we’re looking forward to Materna IPS joining the SITA Group,” said David Lavorel, SITA CEO. “Our focus will now move to unifying our teams as we work towards combining our solutions and expertise. With the extraordinary talent and innovative solutions brought to the table by both SITA and Materna IPS, we’ll create a unique and unbeatable portfolio of solutions. With this, passengers around the world will be able to look forward to a much easier and more seamless way of travelling as we reshape the future of travel.”

This integration builds on Materna IPS’s common use check-in solutions at kiosks, counters or online – multiple options for user-friendly Self Bag-Drop, and more. It will make a powerful combination with SITA’s portfolio of solutions, including biometrics, computer vision, digital travel, and airport operations management.