Zurich airport’s PassengerBagdrop, developed by Swissport and SITA and launched at the beginning of this year, is a real life example of the common bag drop’s potential for greater interoperability and cost sharing between multiple airlines. Developed for use between the 11 carriers in the Star Alliance, it appears to be a major step in the right direction, highlighting a way forward in making better use of airport spacing and staffing arrangements and reducing overall transaction times.

The software enables passengers from any airline in the Star Alliance to be processed in the same queue – with any combination of departure control hosts able to run from a single bag drop counter. The Star Alliance uses just one host, highlighting the possibilities of the technology for driving efficiencies. According to Rico Barandun, Swissport’s head of e-services, Zurich’s PassengerBagdrop has achieved a throughput increase of 50% since becoming operational – a sign that airline alliances could continue the trend.

Developments in other self-service check-in processes, including self-bag tagging, are likely to facilitate the common bag drop process, which IATA is addressing. “Bags ready to go is an important part of our Fast Travel initiative, comprising two specific parts: self-tagging and bag drop – whether dedicated or common-use. We are focusing on a standard for the common bag drop, which we will present in October – these are not mandatory but will be recommended practices for airlines,” explained IATA’s Paul Behan.

However, developing a definitive common standard poses wider, complex challenges, particularly where different airline methods of revenue collection must be accommodated. “Bag drops, especially common use set ups must be flexible to support individual airline business rules, including weight restrictions and excess baggage. If an application can handle this, a common-use set up is much more feasible,” said Mark Stokes, director of IT, Brock Solutions, whose first common bag drop solution has been operational for four years at Montréal-Trudeau airport. Named ‘SmartDrop’, the original version serves WestJet and Air Canada passengers. It’s the only US solution that has received approval by the TSA for trans-border use, with further deployments in Vancouver’s domestic terminal and London Heathrow for flights to Canada. Both are approved by the UK DfT (Department for Transport) and Transport Canada.

In a further development, earlier this month, the latest version of the SmartDrop system, which is currently used by Air Canada in a dedicated mode at Vancouver and Toronto airports, has been extended to customers departing London Heathrow. An upgrade was carried out in collaboration with BAA in early June, leaving other airlines open to using the older version as a common bag drop or in a dedicated mode. Where passengers self-tag their own bags, they will need to use a SmartDrop desk as SmartDrop performs the necessary bag activation.

Stokes added. “I suspect that in airports where there is a large presence of a carrier that we will always see a more dedicated bag drop environment, most likely using common facilities in a dedicated mode not unlike the CUTE counter equipment environment.”

Retaining brand identity

Common bag drop applications don’t naturally lend themselves well to non-alliance airlines – particularly legacy carriers, Stokes explained. “Branding is a huge issue among airlines, especially in their hub airports. With a common-use setup, this will tend to work in an alliance situation. We have also seen a desire from airlines with a large presence at an airport to want to deploy a bag drop using a common platform, but in a dedicated fashion for as long as the airline is operating in that space,” said Stokes.

According to Rico Barandun, Swissport’s head of e-services, Zurich’s PassengerBagdrop has achieved a throughput increase of 50% since becoming operational.

‘True’ commonality will be achieved more quickly among the smaller carriers, added Swissport’s Barandun. “Smaller airlines which don’t tend to have a separate bag drop counter will have to increase their self-service offers so that we can really move towards a true common bag drop. I think this solution will develop among airlines who don’t have the same volumes as a legacy carrier would.”

The question for legacy carriers operating under an alliance umbrella is whether a common bag drop would be viable where the airline will lose its dedicated branding.
Jamie Cassidy, British Airways’ general manager, Airline Partners, explained: “The common bag drop depends on which airport it is and how important it is to the carrier as to how an airline invests in its branding. An airline operating once a day to a leisure destination wouldn’t invest in its own branding as much as an airline with heavy business.”

Furthermore, the Star Alliance serves as the major brand identity at Zurich airport, in contrast with the oneworld alliance, which sits under British Airways’ brand – airlines in this scenario will not want to lose their branding, added Cassidy. “British Airways would invest more in individual brands than the SkyTeam – we find this is what our own customers want and is something we need to take into account,” he added.

This view is shared by IATA’s Paul Behan: “At baggage, we don’t believe branding is all that important. An airline at their home airport will probably always have dedicated solutions due to frequency and volume of traffic, but at many airports where they have several flights per day, the arguments for common-use become compelling. Additionally, it has to be right from a product and operational perspective too.”

Cassidy conceded that there is still some way to go until airlines reach the same standard with self-service check-in and bag drop. “While as an airline, we are comfortable with the notion of bag drop and self-service, for a common bag drop to happen, you also need co-location. At London Heathrow’s Terminal 3, the oneworld alliance is in the same building but not in the same area and they offer a mix of short and long haul services. I can see the common bag drop developing over time, but where there is co-location and synergy,” he explained.

Zurich airport’s common bag drop, which is installed in the check-in 1 terminal area where Swiss and Star Alliance members are grouped, is facing this challenge as it tries to roll out the application to its check-in 2 area. “In check-in 2, we face a situation with multiple handlers and airlines from multiple alliances – this makes it hard to deploy a common system for everyone. A common bag drop will mean common bag drop per alliance – the time for a ‘true’ common bag drop for any airline is yet to come,” said Thomas Vogel, Zurich airport’s project manager. The success of any common bag drop solution also depends on strong relations between handling agents, airlines and the airport, he said. “We have a close collaboration with Swissport and are working with The Airport Technologies (APT) to look at how to improve the common bag drop process and optimize services in areas like bag drop software, automated bag drop and RFID tagging.”

Bag tagging improvements

Thomas Vogel, Zurich airport’s project manager: “We have a close collaboration with Swissport and are working with The Airport Technologies (APT) to look at how to improve the common bag drop process and optimize services in areas like bag drop software, automated bag drop and RFID tagging.”

Susan Prediger, vice president of US-based CAGE Inc, whose specialist services include automated baggage handling systems at airports, believes there is still some time before the common bag drop solution takes off. “The ongoing pilot programs and industry studies will need to resolve issues such as security, visibility of charges, tag printing and application and wayfinding.”

Nick Gates, SITA’s Baggage Portfolio Director added that most airlines’ kiosk applications don’t support bag tag printing and often kiosks don’t have the ability to print bag tags.

As new solutions develop, ensuring a standard will be a further challenge. Compared to Brock Solutions’ common bag drop, where passengers print and apply their own bag tags from a kiosk before dropping off their bag, Zurich airport’s Swissport/SITA solution requires an agent from the Star Alliance to print the tag on behalf of the passenger. Zurich airport is using its common-use bag drop to test methods of RFID tagging in different scenarios, with both an automated and manned bag drop.

According to Brock, regulatory approval for passenger self-tagging is a further obstacle, particularly in the US. “A rule exception was provided for Aéroports de Montréal, however, a rule change is desired so that other airlines and airports can implement bag drops where the passenger applies the bag tag themselves,” said Brock. “We will eventually see high-speed bag drops in many major airports being used by most carriers. In time, as the act of dropping off a bag becomes a fast trivial process, airlines may become more open to the idea of a common bag drop outside of alliances if the bag drops prove that the passenger is there for such a short amount of time that branding is not needed.”

Airports of the future or terminal expansions are likely to make better use of space as new technologies, improvements in bag tags and common-use self-service methods continue to evolve.

CAGE’s Susan Prediger agrees that common use bag drop solutions have a positive future in the long-term. “IT and common-use self-service trends will shift baggage handling paradigms – the future will offer more choices from airports and airlines using shared processes, with better control of operating costs through flexible infrastructure improvements in syncronisation and staff, and closer collaboration among stakeholders,” said Prediger.

Airports of the future or terminal expansions are likely to make better use of space as new technologies, improvements in bag tags and common-use self-service methods continue to evolve. “Architects can draw in these common bag drops and use the newly ‘acquired’ space for more shopping or concessions, which can increase the revenue for an airport,” said Brock.

Rico Barandun, Head e-Services, BOE, Swissport: “A standard bag drop should definitely be below 30 seconds. The main advantage in speed can be achieved by using a 2D barcode scanner for the identification. This will decrease the time of the transaction by around 15 seconds compared to a manual process.”

The business value proposition is different for each of the stakeholders and very dependent on the local circumstances. To airlines and airports, generic common bag drop provides opportunities to maximise installation and therefore reduce costs through avoidance or delay of certain expansion programs. “A faster and easier process also improves passenger service and satisfaction and can therefore provide a win, win, win situation,” explained Antoine Rostworowski, Director, Business Development, Aéroports de Montréal. “To handling agencies, generic common bag drops offer a new type of business, where agents continue to be required but deployed in different ways and areas: self-service support agents, special assistance, rework, baggage drop, etc.”

Antoine Rostworowski, Director, Business Development, Aéroports de Montréal, believes that common bag drop and common self-service in general offer an opportunity to handling agents that are willing to change and adapt.

According to Rico Barandun, Head e-Services, BOE, Swissport, the benefits to the handling agent mainly lie in a better service towards the airlines which eventually should be cost neutral. “Further, the competitive advantage for innovative ground handlers being able to offer new process solutions will increase,” he said.

For the airport, the benefits are mainly fewer counters used, since not each airline needs to have separate bag drop counters, as well as an increase in customer satisfaction if baggage can be dropped at any bag drop counter instead of searching for the correct one. “For the airline, the benefits are mainly in customer satisfaction. Specific bag drop counters might only be feasible for an airline at their own hubs, but not at the smaller outstations. By offering bag drop counters in a common area the process will be clearer and more convenient for the passenger,” said Barandun.

Business processes

From Aéroports de Montréal’s perspective, true common-use bag drops can truly happen if agents at bag drops do not require to access, and therefore be trained, on each individual airline’s DCS. “In Montréal, we have therefore deployed the Baggage Tag Activation System (BTAS) software that was developed and which has been integrated with IATA standards. It permits to activate bag tags which are utilised by a passenger, without requiring training on the individual airline systems. The BTAS can, therefore, easily be deployed, staffed at bag drops by generic agents and can easily be made available to multiple airlines,” said Rostworowski.

Antoine Rostworowski, Director, Business Development, Aéroports de Montréal, believes that the key to self-tagging is that it provides more control to the passenger, who has the choice to apply tags in the area they want and taking the time they require.

According to Barandun, none of the solutions available today offer full common process support. “By using baggage messaging for the common bag drop it is up to each individual carrier if they invest in their respective DCS for the enhancements. By using a clf (common language facility) approach there is the drawback that many of the major carriers refuse to allow connections to their host systems,” he said. Swissport decided to go the way of the clf approach by using SITA’s Passenger Handler as a base for common bag drop. “With this we are able to handle all carriers that are on supported host systems with the option to also include a baggage messaging option for the carriers that have implemented this feature in their host system,” said Barandun.

There are not many differences in the business processes for domestic or international bag drop. International bag drop might mainly be more complicated due to different rules for excess luggage depending on destination and carrier.

Jaak Aendekerk, Vice President of IT, Aviapartner, does not see a big difference, at this stage, between international and domestic travellers. The Aviapartner solution is set up so it can process international and domestic passengers in the same way.

Aéroports de Montréal’s Rostworowski added: “Whether domestic or international, the key is to reduce the time of transaction and treat true exceptions outside the main flow. Web, mobile or CUSS choices of process have to be linked to a rapid bag drop process. The key difference between domestic and international is the documentation checks required for entry into another country. Various airlines have various approaches on this issue, which are presently being debated in the industry.”

With the common bag drop solution in use by Swissport at Zurich, it measured an average of 27 seconds for a bag drop with one bag, including printing the bag tag and a quick passport check.

Keep it simple

Aviapartner’s common bag drop proposition is focused on three key concepts – it must be fast, be common and be simple. “The process we want to offer to our customers is just baggage drop off – no seat changes, no overweight bags – keep it simple,” explained Aendekerk.

It has developed a common language facility, which can handle multiple Departure Control Systems – this, explained Aendekerk, is very important. When the 2D boarding document is read, selection of the correct DCS system is automatic.

Aendekerk is confident that common bag drop can be a 30-second process. Rostworowski agrees and believes it can even become a 15-second process if the baggage acceptance/reconciliation is the only transaction taking place. “Discussions today among airlines and airports are on the number of functionalities which could or should be available at bag drop: weight collection, excess baggage, bag tagging, timeframe for acceptance, rework/assistance, etc,” he said.

With the common bag drop solution in use by Swissport at Zurich, it measured an average of 27 seconds for a bag drop with one bag, including printing the bag tag and a quick passport check. “A standard bag drop should definitely be below 30 seconds. The main advantage in speed can be achieved by using a 2D barcode scanner for the identification. This will decrease the time of the transaction by around 15 seconds compared to a manual process,” said Barandun.

Impact of self-tagging

There has been self-tagging at Zurich Airport for the last 12 years and it is widely accepted by the passengers. The respective bag drop runs at an average of 10 to 15 seconds per bag. Barandun reports that with self-tagging the bag drop is generally faster, but that this depends mostly on the required business process in terms of security regulations at the specific airport.

The Aviapartner solution sees its own staff tag baggage, as a way of ensuring the speed of the process. This also means, from a security point of view, that staff can perform the same checks as they do at check-in.

Rostworowski believes that the key to self-tagging is that it provides more control to the passenger, who has the choice to apply tags in the area they want and taking the time they require. “This, therefore, greatly accelerates the bag drop transaction, as the printing and tagging does not have to take place at the drop area. Self-tagging contributes in increasing efficiency and throughput,” he said.

In terms of security, with the present process at Montréal-Trudeau, the airport’s Bag Tag Activation System provides as much security, if not more, than the traditional check-in and bag acceptance process, according to Rostworowski. Both the TSA and Transport Canada have approved the Active/Inactive bag tag system.

Barandun explained that the security issues should not be different for a dedicated or for a common bag drop, if the respective local security regulations are taken into account.

Swissport has introduced a common bag drop solution for SWISS International Airlines and all European Star Alliance airlines at Zurich Airport. The solution is based on host connections via common language facilities (clf) and is open for future developments in terms of baggage messaging and others. Swissport is very active in developing new forward-looking process solutions and offers a wide range of e-Services solutions to its customers.

Swissport certainly sees common/fast bag drops as an opportunity to offer a wider range of services. “This reflects the drive for innovation in Swissport, with an own e-Services department, towards changes in processes that are already happening in the industry. The processes will not look the same any more in a few years and I believe no handler can afford to stay behind,” said Barandun.

Similarly, Rostworowski believes that common bag drop and common self-service in general offer an opportunity to handling agents that are willing to change and adapt. “Agents are and will continue to be required and needed, but their roles, responsibilities and work environment will be different: support agents, rework/assistance, bag drop, etc,” he said.

Aéroports de Montréal has deployed the Baggage Tag Activation System (BTAS) software that was developed and which has been integrated with IATA standards. It permits to activate bag tags which are utilised by a passenger, without requiring training on the individual airline systems.

Branding

The issue of individual branding is a difficult one and one that is particularly important for airlines. “There is still room for ideas on how this can be dealt with most efficiently to accommodate all the different requirements,” said Barandun. “Further, we also see some carriers that just don’t want to be handled at the same counters for competition reasons. To overcome these problems I could also imagine that at larger airports specific bag drop areas for different airline alliances will be implemented.”

Rostworowski explained that there are always options to have airline branding through digital types of signage at common bag drops. “Use in an allocated or truly shared process will impact the type of branding/signage which can be deployed. Present increases in common shared processes have brought airlines to focus on branding/differentiating themselves through their services applications: web, CUSS, mobile, wap, or once the passenger arrives at the boarding gate,” he said.

Some 60% of Air Canada passengers currently check-in using a Common Use Self-Service (CUSS) kiosk, which also offers self-tagging of bags. Seven CUSS kiosks were first deployed at Montréal-Trudeau in 2004 with Air Canada and WestJet – today, there are 47 CUSS kiosks.

In parallel, the airport ran a pilot project with Air Canada and US Airways offering six kiosks in the transborder (Canada-US flights) sector with baggage self-tagging. The pilot, which also involved the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Transport Canada, was the first of its kind in the world and resulted in an 86% favourable rating.

Currently, Montréal-Trudeau is the only airport in Canada where passengers are allowed to self-tag their baggage for US and international flights, which include 30 domestic, 23 transborder and 71 international destinations. Eight carriers make use of the CUSS kiosks located at the airport, including American Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, Jazz, KLM, Northwest, Porter and WestJet and Northwest, plus a potential six more by the end of the year.

Rostworowski said: “Today’s air traveller wants more control over their journey, especially when it comes to processing at the airports. They want to avoid line-ups and delays. We are providing a wide range of self-service tools that offer many options, allowing passengers to match the technology with their needs.”

Edwin Sneekes, director, BagDrop systems: “We are continuously focusing on improving the BagDrop and are developing new functionalities. As full passenger and bag information are available at the BagDrop, further processing of this information for system, liability or security purposes is possible.”

Facilitating full bag drop process

The BagDrop unit is described by Edwin Sneekes, director, BagDrop systems, as the missing link in the self-service check-in process. Fully automated, the unit runs autonomously and facilitates the full bag drop process. “Web and kiosk check-in has increased significantly over the last years, self tagging and common baggage drop off are important parts of the IATA and ACI improvement programmes and are taking off. The logical follow up is the fully integrated BagDrop unit, which complies with the industry standards and improvement programmes and will certainly contribute to a positive passenger travel experience,” said Sneekes.

The configuration of BagDrop is flexible and modular and can be set up to be common use or dedicated to a particular airline. BagDrop can interface with any DCS or CUSS platform. The unit also offers specific branding opportunities, for example by adapting the user interface, the overhead flight information display, the unit body colour to match the colour of the airline, or the shape of the unit can even be adapted to match the terminal design.

In May 2007, two BagDrop units were placed in Terminal 3 at Amsterdam Schiphol for a pilot lasting almost a year. “The results of the tests were positive, from an airport, airline and passenger point of view and gave input to further improve the bag drop solution,” said Sneekes. “For us as BagDrop systems BV this confirmed what we believed in and we further developed to the new version of the BagDrop unit, from a user perspective, a process and functionality perspective, a technical perspective and from a design perspective.”

The self-service bag drop process means the processing time per passenger is reduced – it is claimed by 40% compared with IATA standard handling time.

“The real value of the BagDrop is increased check-in capacity, reduction of operational costs, creation of additional income and improvement of airport and airline image and passenger experience. The increase in check-in capacity means that an airport can postpone terminal expansion and investment,” said Sneekes.

Seven CUSS kiosks were first deployed at Montréal-Trudeau in 2004 with Air Canada and WestJet – today, there are 47.

Innovation supports simplified process

In 2007, 25% of all passengers at Montréal-Trudeau obtained their boarding pass from a CUSS kiosk, representing 1.5 million travellers. About 30% of these passengers also used self-tagging in their self-service process, clearly demonstrating the effectiveness of the self-service systems.

Rostworowski said: “With a number of self-service innovations available for use, Montréal-Trudeau International Airport is becoming a leader in simplifying – and speeding up – the airport process for passengers, making life easier for travellers and airlines alike.”

In addition, self-tagging services prevent airports having to undergo costly airport expansion or refurbishment. Brock Solutions, an engineering solutions company, worked alongside Montréal on the self-tagging concept. Stokes said: “Montréal needs to cope with increasing growth, yet the airport is landlocked so self-service technologies here are particularly beneficial. This highlights the infrastructural benefits of self-service technologies, as the airports simply make their current space more efficient rather than have to undergo expansion. Plus, retail and F&B opportunities present themselves as it enables desks to be replaced with coffee shops.”

Phased introduction

60% of Air Canada passengers currently check-in using a CUSS kiosk, which also offers self-tagging of bags in all sectors of the airport. In 2007, 25% of all passengers at Montréal-Trudeau obtained their boarding pass from a CUSS kiosk, representing 1.5 million travellers. About 30% of these passengers also used self-tagging in their self-service process.

ADM has been introducing its new self-service tools in a carefully phased programme that involves consultation and coordination with all major stakeholders in the airport community, including air carriers, security and regulatory authorities, IATA and of course, the users. The airport authority also makes extensive use of pilot programmes that test concepts and work out any potential pitfalls before a full-scale implementation is launched.

Rostworowski said: “We are taking the time to ensure we have the right solution and that everyone is on board. This has been so successful that many other airports and air carriers have been visiting us to learn more about our approach and in some cases, to join our pilot programmes. These tools allow us to increase capacity by being more efficient in terms of fluidity and throughput. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.”

Rostworowski: “The real question now for IATA and ACI and all airports and airlines, is what is the standard? How will the common bag drop off process special passenger fares, special luggage tags, excess luggage and so on? The next step is setting boundaries.”

Self-service technologies are becoming increasingly popular. Stokes said: “The industry is now aware of the benefits and it understands that passengers are interested in more self-service capabilities. Web check-in was novel when it was initially suggested and now it has become the norm. We are turning into a self-service generation.”

Challenges: ‘Seeing is believing’

Introducing new technologies usually requires an educational process that familiarises passengers and the industry with the operational benefits of emerging technological processes, like self-tagging and common bag drop off.

Currently, Montréal-Trudeau is the only airport in Canada where passengers are allowed to self-tag their luggage for US and international flights, which include 30 domestic, 23 transborder and 71 international destinations.

Stokes said: “Two years ago when we spoke to the industry, they said it would never work and there was a lot of negativity. Airlines are very slow to pick up new ideas. Essentially, the new technologies require the airlines to make some degree of change, so to get them involved initially is a matter of persuading them to take a leap of faith. Our attitude is simply seeing is believing.”

However, Brocks Solutions unique engineering solution requires no host changes. Stokes said: “The fact is that airlines don’t have money to spend on host changes and self tagging is not a priority for them, so being able to offer a service which requires no host changes is a significant advantage.”

Despite the collaboration hurdles, there has been rising global interest in the technologies, resulting in a number of verbal contracts with major international airports.

“There are more and more discussions with airports and others in the industry, especially in the United States, where self-tagging is very much at an early stage. We think self-tagging will be an important part of improving baggage options,” said Stokes.

Rostworowski: “With a number of self-service innovations available for use, Montréal-Trudeau International Airport is becoming a leader in simplifying – and speeding up – the airport process for passengers, making life easier for travellers and airlines alike.”

Common bag drop off: setting standards

Currently staffed by airline representatives, the five common bag drops at Montréal-Trudeau aim to speed up the passenger ‘checked bag’ process and are designed for self-service passengers (web and kiosk check-in). Quick to use, at less than five seconds per passenger, Rostworowski is keen to not only expand on the airports current five common bag drops, which serve both domestic and international flights, but to enable all airlines to share the drops.

He said: “At the moment, each drop is assigned to an airline. By the end of 2008, we hope to have the strategically located bag drops assigned to the airport, which will facilitate shared use between the airlines. Common bag drops have two key advantages – it increases airport efficiency and enhances the passenger journey. Airports are able to maximise the use of the real estate space, while passengers don’t have to try and search for a particular area as they are able to enter the airport and immediately deposit their luggage.”

With three more bag drops planned for June, totaling eight by the end of the year, Montréal-Trudeau is aiming to have up to 16 bag drops in 2009.

“The real question now for IATA and ACI and all airports and airlines, is what is the standard? How will the common bag drop off process special passenger fares, special luggage tags, excess luggage and so on? At what point should the passenger be redirected to a member of staff? The next step is setting boundaries,” said Rostworowski.

Off-site fuelled growth anticipated

Montréal-Trudeau is expecting an annual 3.6% growth between 2008 and 2012, largely powered by technological advancements, which aid passenger flow. “We are anticipating growth with off-airport processes, web applications and mobile devices,” said Rostworowski.

Mark Stokes, director of IT, Brock Solutions: “There are more and more discussions with airports and others in the industry, especially in the United States, where self-tagging is very much at an early stage. We think self-tagging will be an important part of improving baggage options.”

There is also an increasing demand at international airports for remote bag drop and off-site bag drop services – at resorts, conference centres, car rental offices and train stations, for example. In response, Aéroports de Montréal is planning to install a remote CUSS kiosk at the Palais de Congrès in downtown Montréal this year, which will enable conference delegates to obtain their boarding pass before going to the airport.

In accordance with IATA rules that state airlines will need to be 2D compliant by 2009, Montréal-Trudeau airport has started to phase in 2D barcodes, a high-capacity system that features black and white dots instead of the traditional bars.

Rostwoworski said: “Aéroports de Montréal has already ensured that all CUSS kiosks at Montréal-Trudeau can read 2D barcodes and is working with air carriers to generate 2D barcodes on all boarding passes. A major advantage of this system is that it can be used to build databases and better track the location of passengers who may be late for a flight.”