Glasgow Airport is inviting small and medium-sized UK technology businesses to put their innovations to the test in a live operational environment, as its Connected Airport Living Lab returns for a fourth round.
Run in partnership between Glasgow Airport, part of AGS Airports, and Connected Places Catapult, the Innovate UK-funded programme gives up to three UK-registered SMEs the chance to trial late-stage technology solutions directly at the airport over a six-month period. Each successful business will receive up to £30,000 in funding, along with commercial support from Connected Places Catapult and access to Glasgow Airport’s facilities and operational teams. Applications for this cohort close at midday on 17 August 2026.
This year’s programme is focused on two operational challenges: improving asset performance management, using technology to better predict maintenance requirements for critical infrastructure, and deepening the airport’s understanding of the passenger experience. The scheme has been running since 2023, giving SMEs a genuine live testing ground rather than a simulated one — a chance to prove technology works not just in development, but under the pressure of a busy, operational airport.
Gavin Birch-Williams, Managing Director of Glasgow Airport, said the airport had become a proving ground for technologies that solve real operational problems while also improving things for passengers, and pointed to the track record of previous cohorts as evidence of the scheme’s value. Sameer Savani, Transport Managing Director at Connected Places Catapult, highlighted the programme’s past successes, citing Hello Lamp Post — an accessibility-focused digital assistant developer that took part in earlier phases — which has since gone on to secure a multi-year contract with AGS Airports and now supports more than 12,000 customers a year, after a trial that cut customer service queries by half and achieved an 86% satisfaction rate among users.
For an industry that spends a lot of time talking about frustrating queues, unpredictable delays and patchy passenger information, it’s worth noting that a fair chunk of the innovation actually being tested and funded in UK aviation is happening quietly, at ground level, well before any of it reaches a headline about a new app or gadget. Schemes like this are effectively where that groundwork gets done.
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