The work that our association does regarding connecting and strengthening the local technological community was recognized and is now supported by another company through its membership. It is Niko Airport Information System (NAIS), a small IT company that develops software solutions for airports.

From education to software development

They have been in business since 1992. It is interesting to note that they initially started as a school for education in computer use.

“One day, the Split Airport team approached us and asked if we could make an application for them.”

It started with small programs. Over time the business grew, and in the end, as a company, they decided to work exclusively with airports.

So, their first client was the Split Airport. After a few years, the director of the Split Airport transferred to Dubrovnik, which opened up new opportunities for them:

“As he went to Dubrovnik, he invited us, and that’s how it all started. Zadar and Pula airports followed Split.”

Today, NAIS is the only company in Croatia that deals exclusively with the development of software solutions for airports.

With high-quality solutions to a better travel experience

Their main activity, they point out, is cooperating with airports on technical issues and the developing of new modules and solutions that specialize in optimizing the procedure of processing passengers and luggage, as well as aircraft supply.

Agile methodologies are used in software development, where scrum as a delivery methodology occupies a special place.

“We follow global trends related to the aviation industry and the implementation of new processes.”

Their goal is twofold: to simplify the work process for clients and provide passengers with a better travel experience.

Some of the many examples are their Self-check-in terminal and Web check-in module, which passengers can use to check themselves in on the flight. This significantly shortens their waiting time at the airport.

“With the help of our system, airports have been able to increase their productivity many times over and have been able to manage all processes through one system.”

Although they are a small team – 14 employees, of which 9 are programmers – over the years they have developed their own substantial Airport System, which is currently used by all airports in Croatia, as well as the airports of Mostar and Debrecen.

However, they do not plan to stop there…

Only the sky is their limit 🙂

As expected, the global pandemic shook them up quite a bit – for six months they were without any income! Fortunately, this did not affect employee salaries.

“The pandemic has hit us hard, but we have proven to have good backing supplies.”

Airports recorded huge losses. For example, Split Airport had 3 million passengers in 2019 and only 200,000 in 2020. At the time of the strictest lockdown, in April 2020, they recorded one single passenger!

In 2021, NAIS reached some 60-70% of the turnover from 2019. If we take into account the fact that 2019 was a record year in terms of turnover, 70% is still a very good result!

Building a team created for flight

The company aims to expand its team to two more people this year, which would complement their current capacities and needs.

Of course, we were interested in what kind of people they would want to work with and whether they prefer technical or soft skills:

“Given that we are still a small company, technical skills are very important to us, but also character traits. Not everyone has to love everyone, but they have to respect each other. At the moment, we have different characters in the company, but they all fit well together. When talking to a candidate, I always ask myself ‘Is this person someone I would like to have coffee with?’. If the answer is yes, they will probably fit well within the team.”

“We expect future colleagues to be proactive, independent, and willing to learn.”

If you are interested and want to know more about this company, its modules, as well as all open positions, visit their official website.