Airports love to brag about “passenger experience” while you’re sweating through a sprint past duty-free, hunting for Gate B27 like it’s buried treasure. Now Spain’s airport operator Aena is trying something refreshingly practical: a navigation app that tells you exactly where to go inside the terminal, turn-by-turn, not “good luck, follow the signs.”
Aena has launched a pilot ofGoodMapsatValencia-Manises Airport(that’s the main airport serving Valencia, Spain). The goal is simple: help passengers orient themselves inside the building and make the place easier to use for people who deal with mobility or wayfinding barriers. The app is free oniOSandAndroid, and it uses your phone’s location plus an indoor map of the terminal to guide you step-by-step to checkpoints, gates, services, and restrooms.
Airports already tell you the gate. They don’t tell you how to survive the maze.
Anyone who flies knows the routine: check-in, bag drop, security, then the long march to the gate, often through a terminal designed by someone who clearly hates straight lines.
Flight information screens will spit out your departure time and gate number. What they don’t answer is the stuff you actually need: Which route is fastest? How long will it take? Where’s the elevator if you can’t do stairs? Where are the bathrooms before security? Can you grab food without accidentally walking a half-mile in the wrong direction?
And sure, you can ask staff. But plenty of people don’t, because they’re rushed, the place is packed, or they’re tired of feeling like they’re holding up the line just to find a restroom.
GoodMaps is American-built, and it’s already in 35+ airports
GoodMaps was developed inLouisville, Kentucky, and it’s been spreading through airports. The company says it’s already deployed inmore than 35 international airportsacrosseight countries.
Valencia is Aena’s test case to see whether the tech holds up in real-world conditions, crowds, bottlenecks, security lines, the whole circus, before Aena considers rolling it out to other airports it manages.
How it works: download, opt in, pick a destination, follow the arrows
The user flow is straightforward: download the app, create an account, allow location access, then choose where you want to go inside the terminal.
iPhone Fold: une maquette fuite et relance l’hypothèse d’un lancement avec l’iPhone 18
Once the app locks onto your position, it gives directions and tells you when to change levels, and whether to take stairs or elevators. It can also prioritize routes that avoid barriers, aimed directly at travelers usingcrutches,canes, or awheelchair. But honestly, anyone who’s ever gotten turned around in a dense terminal could use a cleaner route.
The unsexy part: a full 3D map of the terminal
This doesn’t work unless the building is mapped in detail. For Valencia, the rollout required a complete3D mappingof the terminal so the app can recognize interior spaces and overlay guidance.
GoodMaps leans on visuals inspired byaugmented reality: arrows and instructions on your screen meant to cut down on that classic airport hesitation, standing at a junction, staring at signs, wondering if you just walked into the wrong universe.
It’s not just “find your gate”, it’s “plan your next 20 minutes”
Aena’s pitch goes beyond getting you to boarding. Knowing where your gate isbeforeyou clear security helps you make smarter choices: buy water, grab food, find a restroom, locate an information desk, or pick a waiting area without wandering.
In peak travel periods, that kind of planning can mean fewer pointless laps around the terminal, and less stress that comes from not knowing where you are. This isn’t replacing airport staff. It’s filling the gap between “Gate 12” and “Okay, but how do I get there?”
If it works in an airport, it can work in a museum, or a mall
GoodMaps is also being pitched for other big indoor spaces where GPS is useless:train stations,museums,universities, andshopping centers.
For Aena, the upside is twofold: smoother passenger flow and a more serious accessibility strategy, with routes that account for mobility constraints. The Valencia pilot will now be judged on the stuff that actually matters, guidance accuracy, ease of use, reliability in crowded zones, and whether different kinds of travelers actually adopt it, before any broader rollout across Spain.
FAQ
What is GoodMaps doing at Valencia-Manises Airport?
It’s guiding passengers inside the terminal using smartphone location and an indoor building map. The app provides routes to gates, checkpoints, and services, including options designed to avoid obstacles to improve accessibility.
