The Problem
Airports are complex.
Passengers shouldn't feel that way.
GPS doesn't work indoors. Once passengers enter the terminal, they're on their own — and it shows. Every missed gate, every confused passenger, every staff interruption is a measurable cost in time, satisfaction, and revenue.
GPS signals stop working the moment a passenger walks through the terminal doors. Every airport has this problem.
Asking passengers to download a dedicated app creates friction most won't tolerate — especially international travellers on roaming data.
Traditional BLE beacon solutions require hardware installation across the entire terminal — expensive, slow to deploy, and hard to maintain.
How It Works
How airport indoor navigation works.
From boarding pass to gate.
GlidePath runs entirely in the browser — no install, no friction. Passengers open a link and start navigating immediately, on any smartphone.
Opens as a link — no download
Passenger taps a URL or scans a QR code at the terminal entrance. The indoor navigation app loads instantly in the browser — no app store, no download, no account. Works on iPhone, Android, any device. Already inside the terminal? The app detects which airport you're at and anchors your starting position automatically.
Scans boarding pass, live gate detected
One scan of the boarding pass QR code reads the flight number, resolves the live gate and departure time from multiple flight data providers, and calculates the optimal multi-floor wayfinding route. If no boarding pass is available, passengers can still select a gate manually and add live flight updates with flight number and date.
Turn-by-turn indoor guidance
Real-time blue-dot indoor positioning, distance-triggered turn instructions, and automatic floor-switching. The map follows the passenger and the route updates if they go off-path.
Gate Mode
Will I make my flight?
Answered in real time.
The moment a passenger links a flight, GlidePath calculates exactly how much free time they have — and updates it live as they walk. A persistent HUD shows free time remaining, walk time to gate, leave-by time, and a visual progress bar that drains in real time. Departure times stay canonical in UTC for logic and are displayed in the airport's local timezone.
- 🟢 ON TRACK — plenty of time, you can add stops along the way
- 🟡 HURRY — under 15 minutes of free time, start heading to the gate
- 🔴 GO NOW — under 5 minutes, urgent alert fires and the HUD turns red
Built for the Real Terminal
Every passenger scenario. Handled.
From the family juggling kids and luggage to the frequent flyer cutting it close — GlidePath adapts to every situation.
Smart itinerary planner — one tap, optimal stops
Passengers tap ✨ and pick categories — coffee, restroom, pharmacy. The system calculates which specific location on the route minimises detour, finds the optimal stop order, and shows the total time cost against their free time. Never sends passengers to the wrong floor or the far end of the terminal.
Live path control — reroute passengers instantly
Operations staff close a corridor or gate pier with a single tap. Every passenger navigating through that path receives a silent automatic reroute — no announcements needed, no confusion.
Turn-by-turn + full route overview
Distance-triggered cards fire at exactly the right moment — "Turn left in 20m", "Take the escalator up". Tap the instruction pill at any time to open the full route overview: every floor section, every transition (escalator / stairs / elevator), every waypoint, your current position, and destination — all in one glance.
QR anchors — zero drift
Fixed QR codes at security checkpoints, escalators, and gate entrances instantly reset positioning drift. Each anchor costs under €1 to print and deploy. No servers, no power, no maintenance.
Accessibility-aware routing
Passengers choose a travel profile — wheelchair, stroller, reduced mobility, visual impairment. Routes automatically avoid stairs and escalators where needed. Walk time estimates adjust to the passenger's actual pace. One tap to request staff assistance, with live location and ETA sent silently to the operations team.
Nearby discoveries — en route
While navigating, passengers are quietly surfaced points of interest close to their path — a café they'd pass anyway, duty-free, a pharmacy. A non-intrusive card lets them detour in one tap, or skip. Appears once per location, never repeatedly.
Safe excursions — shop with confidence
When a passenger is near their gate with enough time to spare, GlidePath surfaces a curated list of shops and restaurants they can visit and still make their flight. The system calculates walk time to each option, checks that the shop is actually open at arrival time, enforces a minimum browse window, and sets a hard leave-by deadline. At the deadline, the passenger is recalled automatically. Multi-leg routing: gate → shop → gate, seamlessly.
Nearest anything — one tap
No search needed. One tap on a category — toilet, coffee, pharmacy, ATM — and the passenger is routed to the nearest one from where they're standing right now. The route uses actual walking distance through the terminal, not a straight line.
Multi-stop routes, optimised automatically
Add multiple stops to any journey — the system finds the most efficient visiting order across the whole terminal, not just the floor you're on. Add stops mid-route. The overall ETA and leave-by time update instantly to reflect every addition.
Checkpoint alerts — no surprises
When a route passes through security or passport control, the passenger sees a heads-up before they arrive — so they're already prepared. No stress, no fumbling at the queue. The alert is automatic, contextual, and requires no configuration per journey.
Gate change & delay alerts — always in the loop
When a gate changes, every passenger navigating that flight gets an instant in-app alert — old gate, new gate, and a one-tap reroute from their exact current position. If the flight is delayed, the departure time updates automatically and the whole journey recalculates. No PA announcement. No staring at the board. The app just knows.
Your terminal, on a real map
Indoor navigation anchored to real-world geography — the terminal map aligns with the actual building footprint. Passengers always know exactly where they are in relation to the outside world: which side of the terminal, which entrance, which pier.
Guidance you hear and feel
Turn-by-turn voice instructions in five languages. Paired with subtle phone vibrations at every turn and on arrival — so passengers can follow the route without looking at the screen. Opt-in, with immediate effect. No download, no Bluetooth speaker.
Zero Infrastructure
Indoor navigation with no hardware.
Deploy in days, not months.
Traditional indoor positioning systems require hundreds of BLE beacons, months of installation, and a mandatory passenger app. GlidePath needs none of that — no procurement cycles, no installation crews, no app store submissions.
| Traditional IPS | GlidePath | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware installation | 100s of BLE beacons | None |
| Passenger app download | ✕ Required | ✓ Not required |
| Setup time | 3–6 months | Days |
| Multi-floor routing | ✕ Often manual | ✓ Automatic |
| Works on iOS + Android | ✕ App required | ✓ Any browser |
| Works offline | ✕ Requires connectivity | ✓ After first load |
| Upfront cost | €80K – €200K+ | Contact us |
Digital Twin
A live digital twin of your terminal.
Built from your floor plans in days. Every gate, every corridor, every floor — connected and navigable.
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Built from your floor plans
Import existing CAD or PDF floor plans. Our team maps every node, edge, and POI within days.
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Multi-floor, multi-terminal
Stairs, escalators, and elevators are modelled as first-class connections. Routing works seamlessly across levels.
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Every POI, every service
Gates, lounges, shops, restrooms, medical — all searchable and reachable from anywhere in the terminal.
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Grounded in the real world
The indoor map is geo-referenced to the actual building — so you see exactly where each corridor and gate sits within the real terminal footprint.
For Airport Operators
You get more than a wayfinding app.
Behind the passenger experience is a full operational layer — live session analytics, passenger flow visibility, and real-time terminal management tools.
Passenger flow analytics
Every navigation session is recorded and mapped to the graph. The live dashboard shows which areas are busiest right now, session counts, average walk times, and a 12-hour activity chart — all without any extra instrumentation.
Real-time route management & congestion alerts
Block a corridor during cleaning or an emergency — passengers reroute silently within seconds. When multiple passengers cluster at the same node, an automatic congestion alert fires on the operator dashboard before it becomes a problem.
Flight & gate management
Map flight numbers to gates in the admin panel. Updates instantly reflect in all active navigation sessions — no app update, no re-deployment.
Live flight data integration
GlidePath queries multiple independent flight data sources simultaneously, so gate assignments, departure times, and delay information are as accurate as possible. Venue IATA codes filter live lookups to the right airport, while airport timezone settings keep passenger-facing times in local terminal time.
PRM passenger monitoring
When a passenger with accessibility needs starts navigating, ground staff are silently notified — location, destination, and estimated arrival time included. A live assistance dashboard tracks pending requests and wheelchair station availability across all floors.
Feeds your existing BI tools
Live passenger metrics — sessions, navigation patterns, walk times — stream directly into the tools your team already uses. No new dashboards to learn, no separate reporting environment. Your data, in your systems.
Retail dwell analytics
Track the full excursion funnel — offers shown → accepted → arrived → completed. Per-shop attribution shows dwell time, acceptance rate, and conversion at each step. Shop keepers get their own login scoped to one or multiple POIs — a concessionaire managing five locations sees only their own data. Recommendations respect shop opening hours and support commercial priority ranking.
Automatic gate change rerouting
When a gate changes, every passenger navigating that flight gets an instant in-app alert and can reroute from their exact current indoor position with one tap. No PA announcement needed. No staff intervention. The route update is immediate, from where the passenger is actually standing.
About
Built by an engineer.
Solving a real problem.
GlidePath started as a frustration — watching passengers wander confused through perfectly connected airports — and became a fully working browser-native navigation platform.
Aviation is not just a domain — it's an obsession. A senior backend engineer with 20+ years building production systems, I spent several years working in the aviation industry integrating flight, passenger, and baggage data — and that time was enough to understand how much is still broken for the passenger once they're inside a terminal. Built GlidePath from scratch with a stubborn belief that passengers deserve better than printed signs.
Early Access
Looking for the right airport partner.
GlidePath is in active development and looking for a real-world partner to take it to the next level. If you work at an airport and see the problem we're solving, let's talk — your terminal becomes the proving ground, and you get a navigation system built around your specific layout and passenger flows.
Get in touch →FAQ
Common questions about
airport indoor navigation.
Does indoor navigation work without GPS?
Yes. GPS signals don't penetrate buildings, which is why traditional outdoor navigation fails inside airport terminals. GlidePath uses proprietary sensor fusion to guide passengers indoors with turn-by-turn accuracy — no GPS, no beacons, no hardware required.
Do passengers need to download an app?
No. GlidePath runs entirely in the browser. Passengers open a URL or scan a QR code at the entrance — and navigation starts immediately. No app store, no account, no install. It works on any modern iOS or Android browser.
What hardware does the airport need to install?
None. GlidePath requires no BLE beacons, no WiFi upgrades, no proprietary sensors, and no on-site hardware installation of any kind. Deployment requires only your existing floor plans and a one-time map setup process.
How long does it take to deploy at an airport?
A single terminal can be mapped and live within days. The process involves importing your floor plans, placing the navigation graph, adding gate and POI data, and testing routes. No construction, no procurement, no downtime.
Does it work on iPhone (iOS)?
Yes. GlidePath is designed to work on both iOS (Safari, Chrome) and Android. The full turn-by-turn navigation experience works on all modern smartphones.
What is an airport digital twin?
An airport digital twin is a real-time 3D model of your terminal — every floor, every gate, every corridor represented as a navigable graph. GlidePath builds a live digital twin from your floor plans, enabling passenger wayfinding, route visualisation, and operational analytics from a single platform.
Can it route passengers across multiple floors?
Yes. GlidePath supports full multi-floor routing including stairs, escalators, and elevators as first-class route segments. The system automatically suggests the best floor transition for each journey and switches floor views as the passenger moves through the terminal.
How accurate is the indoor positioning?
Typical accuracy is under 5 metres in a mapped terminal. The system maintains this accuracy throughout the journey without requiring any additional hardware infrastructure.