Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has completed a $15 million 18-month overhaul of Gatwick Airport’s IT systems, which it has compared to performing open-heart surgery while the patient is running.

The work has covered the introduction of an ‘internet of things’ (IoT) network, a 30mbps public Wi-Fi network, new CCTV and IPTV services, passenger flow analytics, and machine learning and facial recognition security technologies.

The challenge was to run the upgrade while the airport, the UK’s second largest after Heathrow, remained operational. The project was completed without any downtime or instability, said HPE; such transitions typically take up to four years.