Once upon a time flying was considered to be a highly luxurious form of transport, but now many air travelers would probably be in agreement that current airport procedures leave a lot to be desired.
The ‘Navigating the Airport of Tomorrow' report, authored by Norm Rose of Travel Tech Consulting Inc., has cited check-in waiting times as one of the top annoyances for passengers. The other three include waiting too long to pass through security, difficulty finding the right flight at a good price, and delayed or cancelled flights (JD Powers Study).
Alaska Airlines paved the way towards increasing operational efficiencies in 2004 with their ‘Airport of the Future' project. When it took a Seattle warehouse and turned it into a prototype for a new kind of airport, the goal being to make passenger processing more efficient. They used cardboard mock-ups of podiums, kiosks and belts and brought in real passengers and Alaska employees to test various airport lobby layouts.
And when the changes were finally rolled out in 2008 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the re-design meant Alaska Airlines was able to check-in twice as many passengers as rival airline United; and now with the introduction of self-serve kiosks and print-at-home boarding passes the check-in process has become even simpler; and eventually the introduction of swipe cards will again reduce processing time.
But now the question is how can advances in technology continue to simplify airline operations, and help airlines integrate Departure Control Systems (DCS), Passenger Service Systems (PSS), Baggage Reconciliation Systems (BRS) to improve the travel experience for airline passengers.
In 2009 Lisbon Airport was the first airport to transfer solely to a RFID (Radio-frequency identification) baggage system and consequently reduced baggage processing by 66 percent and handling errors were reduced by as much as 50%. RFID systems have been implemented in airports in Hong Kong and Italy, but the ‘Airport of Tomorrow' report suggests that RFID baggage systems will be wide spread by 2014.
RFID baggage systems are also more efficient from a human resource perspective, because training is minimal, so handlers can spend more time making sure bags get to where they need to be.
So what does this mean for the average traveler? It means lower instances of lost or delayed baggage, because baggage is tracked through every point of transfer; and if a bag gets off course, it's automatically flagged so baggage handlers can easily locate it and send it on to the correct location.
Other near field communications technologies beyond RFID baggage will be used to check-in passengers and track where they are in the terminal. This means that location can be combined with other known information about passengers, such as their travel destination to deliver personalized promotions directly to mobile devices.
The airport of tomorrow is almost here – are you ready?
To learn more about the Airport of the Future visit http://www.amadeus.com/AirportofTomorrow and download the full travel industry report. You'll also find an accompanying great looking info-graphic, that Amadeus have released along side the report, highlighting the points of major interest.
The ‘Navigating the Airport of Tomorrow' report, authored by Norm Rose of Travel Tech Consulting Inc., has cited check-in waiting times as one of the top annoyances for passengers. The other three include waiting too long to pass through security, difficulty finding the right flight at a good price, and delayed or cancelled flights (JD Powers Study).
Alaska Airlines paved the way towards increasing operational efficiencies in 2004 with their ‘Airport of the Future' project. When it took a Seattle warehouse and turned it into a prototype for a new kind of airport, the goal being to make passenger processing more efficient. They used cardboard mock-ups of podiums, kiosks and belts and brought in real passengers and Alaska employees to test various airport lobby layouts.
And when the changes were finally rolled out in 2008 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the re-design meant Alaska Airlines was able to check-in twice as many passengers as rival airline United; and now with the introduction of self-serve kiosks and print-at-home boarding passes the check-in process has become even simpler; and eventually the introduction of swipe cards will again reduce processing time.
But now the question is how can advances in technology continue to simplify airline operations, and help airlines integrate Departure Control Systems (DCS), Passenger Service Systems (PSS), Baggage Reconciliation Systems (BRS) to improve the travel experience for airline passengers.
In 2009 Lisbon Airport was the first airport to transfer solely to a RFID (Radio-frequency identification) baggage system and consequently reduced baggage processing by 66 percent and handling errors were reduced by as much as 50%. RFID systems have been implemented in airports in Hong Kong and Italy, but the ‘Airport of Tomorrow' report suggests that RFID baggage systems will be wide spread by 2014.
RFID baggage systems are also more efficient from a human resource perspective, because training is minimal, so handlers can spend more time making sure bags get to where they need to be.
So what does this mean for the average traveler? It means lower instances of lost or delayed baggage, because baggage is tracked through every point of transfer; and if a bag gets off course, it's automatically flagged so baggage handlers can easily locate it and send it on to the correct location.
Other near field communications technologies beyond RFID baggage will be used to check-in passengers and track where they are in the terminal. This means that location can be combined with other known information about passengers, such as their travel destination to deliver personalized promotions directly to mobile devices.
The airport of tomorrow is almost here – are you ready?
To learn more about the Airport of the Future visit http://www.amadeus.com/AirportofTomorrow and download the full travel industry report. You'll also find an accompanying great looking info-graphic, that Amadeus have released along side the report, highlighting the points of major interest.
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