For a passenger arriving at Bergen Airport, the car park is the first experience of the journey and the first impression of everything that follows.
Before check-in, security, or the gate, there is parking. How that goes matters more than most airports realise.
The Challenge
Bergen Airport’s parking facility spans five floors and serves multiple categories of traveller, from rental car customers to premium and long-term parkers. Without real-time visibility of available spaces, drivers had no way to know where to go before they were already inside the facility.
Without real-time visibility of available spaces, drivers had no choice but to search, circling levels, losing time, and adding to the congestion they were already caught in. For an airport where time and experience are tightly linked to commercial performance, that friction had a cost.
sensors installed
ceiling parking lamps
gateways
floors covered
The Solution
Sensade, together with APCOA Norway as the complete parking solution provider, deployed a smart parking guidance system across all five floors of the Bergen Airport facility. The deployment was carried out by Bravida Norge AS and integrated seamlessly into the airport’s existing infrastructure without disruption to operations.
750 LoRaWAN wireless sensors were installed across all parking spaces, detecting occupancy in real time and transmitting data continuously via five gateways. 120 smart ceiling lamps translate that data into clear visual guidance at the point where drivers need it, showing available spaces at a glance, without the need to drive every row.
The system covers all parking zones across the facility, from premium to long-term, giving every driver reliable information from the moment they enter.
The Impact
Passengers arriving at Bergen Airport are now guided directly to available spaces. Search time is reduced, congestion inside the facility has decreased, and the arrival experience is smoother from the first moment.
For the airport, the impact extends beyond the car park. A passenger who parks quickly and without frustration arrives at the terminal with more time and in a better state of mind. That is not a marginal benefit. It is a commercial one. Time saved in the parking facility is time spent in retail, dining, and other terminal services. Across the volume of passengers Bergen Airport handles, even small reductions in search time add up to thousands of additional hours in commercial areas every year.
Parking is often treated as a cost to manage. At Bergen Airport, it has become a lever for improving both the passenger experience and non-aeronautical revenue.
Built for Complex Environments
Deploying a guidance system across a live, operational airport facility requires more than the right technology. It requires a solution that can be installed without disrupting ongoing operations, integrated into existing infrastructure, and trusted to perform continuously across a high-traffic environment.
At Bergen Airport, that is exactly what was delivered. Five floors. 750 sensors. A seamless installation. And a parking experience that now works the way an airport arrival should.
The Results
- Passengers guided directly to available spaces
- Reduced search time and congestion
- Improved passenger experience at first touchpoint
- More time in terminal retail and dining areas
- Stronger non-aeronautical revenue performance
