Edinburgh Airport: Breaking the language barrier

A device that enables speech to be translated into 74 different languages has been introduced at the security area at Edinburgh Airport to help international passengers.

Pocketalk allows staff and passengers to speak into it before the translation is played through a speaker or displayed on screen for the other to read and understand.

The introduction of the device will make the security process easier by breaking down language barriers, helping both passengers and staff to explain and understand each other.

Pocketalk will be available to staff every day and will complement those native speakers on the security teams who currently help to translate. It’s also being rolled out to other passenger facing teams across the terminal.

Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport said:

“We’re an international airport in a city and country known for its diversity, its inclusiveness and its welcoming nature, and we want to make passengers feel at home at the airport.

“The security process is one of the most important as we need to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff so it's vital that we have the ability to clearly explain the process and help people understand so we can make that process as positive as possible.

“We’re already lucky to have native speakers within our teams – Pocketalk will enhance our ability to talk to those people who come from all over the world to visit Edinburgh and Scotland.”

Tomoaki Kojima, Managing Director of Sourcenext, the makers of Pocketalk said:

“Pocketalk was developed to connect cultures and create experiences for people that do not speak the same language. With 95% market share, and more than 600,000 users we hope to redefine the translation space.

“We are proud to be partnering with Edinburgh Airport to improve their passenger experience and look forward to developing this partnership in 2020.”