Migrated from numerous, modular software systems to a single powerful platform
Prepared FP&A team for a potential airport expansion with sophisticated planning and forecasting tools
Supporting operational planning such as determining security needs by passenger count
The Challenge: Finding a Robust, Yet Flexible FP&A Tool
Airports are complicated. At any given time, there are likely thousands of people, hundreds of vehicles and dozens of aircraft filtering in and out. To facilitate it all, management and operation teams need powerful tools—tools that can respond to changing conditions quickly, but are also flexible enough to handle the unique use cases and planning needs of airports.
That’s how the finance team at London Luton Airport (LLA) found itself in need of an upgrade from its previous FP&A platform, Anaplan.
Anaplan is “a great tool,” says Chris Collett, the Airport’s Head of FP&A, but it “was far too complex for the size of our business.” As such, “we were left with an archaic system that wasn’t really fit for purpose,” he adds. Chris needed a simpler, more flexible tool—one that could address the specific needs of an airport, but was not overly complicated.
The airport also needed a platform that could replace several disparate software systems. “We were underinvested in technology, so now here’s a big project to bring that up to speed,” says Chris. As such, he needed a platform that could help with financial forecasting and reporting, workforce planning and even shed light on the financial ramifications of losing a car park following an accidental fire. Chris faced a collection of multi-pronged issues that needed a sophisticated solution.
After considering several options, Chris says the airport decided Vena was the ticket.
“We went far and wide in the market, and it was ultimately Vena that ticked the most boxes,” he says.
LLA Seamlessly Models Changing Scenarios With Vena
Since using Vena, Chris says, the airport has been able to increase efficiency, streamline its planning and even start to plan for a possible expansion.
The finance team has been able to automate reporting (something that was previously done manually in Excel), quickly alter forecasts based on the newest information they get from airlines (which changes possible passenger counts, security needs and more) and run through changing scenarios on the fly.
“That’s where we see the real value,” he says. “To be able to very quickly copy-paste a scenario, and do that in two hours to give an insight is quite valuable, quite powerful and something that we weren’t able to do before.” As his team also prepares for the construction of a possible second terminal, Chris notes that Vena also unlocks “the endless possibility for cloud-based forecasting.”
Facing numerous big decisions, Chris adds that Vena gives his team the data and insights they require to make the best possible decisions—whether it’s forecasting how many security guards they’ll need next year or welcoming a new airline to add London Luton Airport as a destination.
It’s hard to make the right decision, but being able to actually have some science behind the decisions is very useful. That’s what Vena helps us do.”
Chris Collett
Head of FP&A, London Luton Airport