Now baggage drop kiosks at Indian airports

SITA to carry out trials at Mumbai and Bengaluru airports

Air transport information technology solutions provider SITA is looking to  implement self-service baggage drop kiosks at airports across India.

While there are already self service check-in kiosks that allow passengers to get boarding passes, the baggage drop kiosks will let passengers print their own tags and drop the bags. The bags would be carried for loading and passengers would not be required to carry them to check-in counters. “We will be carrying out a pilot project at Mumbai and Bengaluru airports,” said  Maneesh Jaikrishna, SITA vice-president, India.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is also keen to introduce the system and has issued a request for proposal for major airports such as Chennai and Kolkata. A team of AAI officials visited Melbourne and Singapore to check the processes followed in airports there.

“These kiosks will reduce the work load of check-in staff and allow for better use of infrastructure and space,” Jaikrishna added.

On Tuesday, SITA also announced that AAI has selected its baggage management system for Chennai and Kolkata airports. The system will give real-time information on the status of passengers’ baggage, which will help reduce mishandling and solves baggage issues.

In 2014, mishandled bags cost the global air transport sector a total of $2.4 billion, according to SITA.

Around 100 hand-held devices have been issued to workers at the two airports, which will allow them to scan baggage tags anywhere and provide information on the location of each and every bag. SITA’s system will help AAI determine which passengers have boarded and which bags have been loaded. It will also help produce reports to highlight mismatches, if any.

The system will ensure proactive monitoring of the baggage process, enabling problems to be identified and resolved before a flight departs. It will also improve operational decision-making through the provision of real-time information on the mobile devices used by staff.