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Baggage handling - Articles and news items
Issue 2 2009, Past issues / 31 March 2009 /
Although airlines get baggage right 98% of the time, mishandling costs the industry US$3.8 billion every year. Between 2005 and 2007 the number of mishandled baggage increased three times faster than passenger growth. In the EU the mishandlings rose 28% while passenger growth increased by 9%. In the USA, mishandled baggage increased by 27%, while passenger numbers grew 10.5%.
Baggage is also a big issue for customers. Mishandled baggage is among the top two concerns for travellers according to the 2009 IATA Corporate Air Travel Survey (CATS), a survey of travellers conducted worldwide (see Figure 1). (more…)
Issue 1 2009, Past issues / 7 February 2009 /
Malpensa is the one of the newest airports in Europe: it was opened on the 25th of October, 1998. Malpensa was planned as a ‘point to point’ airport and from the beginning was used as a ‘hub’ for Alitalia. This caused the necessity to partially redesign the airport. One of the key points for a hub is to handle transfer bags, so we needed relevant changes to the Baggage Handling System (BHS).
At the opening, the airport suffered from the fact that its BHS was not able to handle large quantities of transfer bags and for this reason a manual facility on the apron, dedicated to transfer bags, was put into service. The results were not satisfactory and Malpensa ranked low amongst the other European hubs for the number of mishandled bags. As the baggage system is the heart of an airport, it also caused a reduction in punctuality.
SEA Milan Airports, the owner and manager of the two milanese airports (Linate and Malpensa), decided to face the situation so as to offer its customers the best service. The main decision was to close the manual transfer facility and to handle all bags (local and transfer) on the same automated system. (more…)
Issue 2 2008, Past issues / 28 March 2008 /
Considering that O.R. Tambo International Airport is fast gaining status as world class, it is no wonder that all the facilities and technologies available in the airport precinct compare with the best in the world. As the largest airport in Africa, currently processing over 18 million passengers annually, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) have made certain that O.R. Tambo has a baggage handling system comparable with the best in the world. (more…)
Issue 4 2007, Past issues / 31 July 2007 /
Finavia started to build an extension to the international terminal at Helsinki-Vantaa in 2006. The investment also includes the baggage handling systems for the entire terminal. This investment of roughly EUR 140 million, the largest in Finavia’s history, illustrates our strong commitment to a future built on Asian gateway traffic. Approximately one half of the investment will go towards the construction of the new baggage handling centre.
The Asian gateway traffic puts us in a good position compared with our neighbouring countries: there are as many as 50 direct flights leaving Helsinki-Vantaa per week to around ten destinations in Asia. For example, there are around 100 flights to China each month. The shortest route from Asia to Europe is via Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.
The other implication of the Far Eastern traffic is its impact on European traffic. Around 80 per cent of passengers from Finnair’s Asia services change planes at Helsinki-Vantaa. Therefore, the Far Eastern traffic also strengthens route traffic and the destination network in Europe. There are direct flight connections from Helsinki-Vantaa to over 40 destinations in Europe. (more…)
Issue 2 2007, Past issues / 3 April 2007 /
Baggage systems play a critically important part in airport operations. The visibility of baggage systems to executive management has only heightened with the implementation of federally mandated inline screening systems. Yet, baggage systems remain a headache for airports, airlines, and the Transportation Security Administration. More puzzling is the unfortunate reality that apparently similar terminals have varied success. Some may even question whether baggage system planning is more of a dark art than a robust process.
The reasons for these problems are varied, although the industry approach is often based on crude metrics and standardised solutions. Typical results include: higher costs, inappropriate use of technology and unnecessary system complexity; mismatches between capacity and demand; and impacts to capacity, operations, and passenger experience. In short, a wide range of solutions with varied success. (more…)
Issue 3 2006, Past issues / 16 June 2006 /
From ensuring airlines depart on time to delivering baggage safely and reliably to passengers at their destination, love them or hate them, baggage handling systems (BHS) are vital to the smooth running of every airport.
As the global threat of terrorism persists, the challenges facing the air transport industry are considerable; in addition to speed, reliability and cost, security is now a consideration. Created in 1993, the BCS Group today supplies approximately 75 per cent of the Australasian BHS market and is well equipped for further expansion to play a global role in the industry. (more…)
Issue 1 2006, Past issues / 17 March 2006 /
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has been working on the introduction of automated baggage loading systems, Mark Hullegie reports…
Last year, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol welcomed over 44 million passengers. Most of these passengers did not know what happened to their suitcases and other baggage once they checked in, or where their baggage had come from when it turned up on the reclaim carousels. In the basement of the airport, almost 2,000 people employed at five handling companies, work day and night to take the bags to and from the aircrafts. This is a job that requires serious muscles; some suitcases weigh up to 40 kilos, which make the manual baggage handling one of the heaviest jobs at the airport. These (mostly) men are required to lift the heavy bags at least four times during the passenger’s travel. (more…)
Issue 1 2006, Past issues / 17 March 2006 /
The successes and results achieved during the WFMS testing and an explanation of other security-related applications underway for this technology are delivered here by James H. Remer and Anthony T. Cerino.
The aviation industry has, for well over a decade, addressed the pending transition from barcode baggage tags to radio frequency identification (RFID) baggage tags to support both security and operational enhancements. To a lesser extent, the application of RFID to other ‘asset identification and tracking’ has addressed cargo, mail, personnel, travellers and all sorts of vehicle implementations. With the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) recent approval of a ‘standard’ for interline RFID passive baggage tag systems (via the approval of Recommended Practice (RP) 1740c, in November 2005), some significant efforts can now shift towards RFID baggage roll-outs, in addition to more extensive development/evaluation of ‘non-baggage-only’ applications of RFID. (more…)
Issue 4 2005, Past issues / 25 November 2005 /
Despite enhancements since 9/11, recognition is growing that work remains to be done before the level of security desired for passengers and their carry on baggage is reached.
Despite the somewhat predictable regulatory frenzy in the US and Europe immediately after the tragic events of 9/11, many people believe that little real benefit has been achieved in enhancing passenger and carry on baggage security. Indeed, some believe that the almost fanatical focus on small sharp objects has resulted in a reduced focus by the security screeners on the more traditional threats to civil aviation.
It is recognised that the hijackers in the four co-ordinated incidents on September 11 used box cutters to access the cockpit. This risk could have, and subsequently has been, mitigated by the simpler and less frustrating process of simply securing the cock pit door.
Also today, such an attack is unlikely to succeed, because many passengers would now follow the example of those passengers of United Airlines flight 93, who took it upon themselves to co-ordinate an attack against the hijackers. I think it is safe to assume that today’s passenger is much more enlightened in the role that they may have to play in such an event. (more…)
Issue 2 2005, Past issues / 16 June 2005 /
Use of Radio Frequency Identification technology in the aviation industry has been a long time coming, but, writes Anthony Cerino, the wait is over with – probably.
When considering RFID technology it is important at the outset to differentiate between active and passive RF tags. Oversimplified, active tags generally have an on-board power source (for transmission of embedded data back to the reader and/or data storage) and cost significantly more than passive tags. Passive tags derive the energy needed to communicate directly from the reader, and hence can be much lower in cost, since they require no on-board power source. Although passive tags have a significantly reduced read-range of up to 10 metres, compared to hundreds of meters for active tags, they are ideally suited to applications such as single use disposable aviation baggage tags. (more…)
Issue 1 2005, Past issues / 16 March 2005 /
According to the head of baggage handling at AIA, the immense demands placed on the baggage handling services during the 2004 Olympics prompted some unconventional solutions.
Huge logistic events such as the Olympic Games entail unique challenges for the host city’s airport. Heavy inbound and outbound peaks stress facilities and systems to their capacities and beyond. The Athens 2004 Olympic Games were undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges faced by AIA, ‘Eleftherios Venizelos’, since its opening in March 2001. The airport had to prove its capability to handle a record number of passengers, aircraft movements and baggage, while accommodating efficiently the special requirements of the Olympic family.
Athens International Airport S.A. embarked on this project with the objective of offering the warmest welcome and the best impression to the Olympic family and the thousands of visitors to Athens. This was only possible with the entire airport community and all external parties working as a team. All issues and their operational solutions were formulated into one integrated ‘Olympic Games Operational Plan’, developed on the basis of the Sydney 2000 experience. This plan covered all of the fields relating to the airport’s Olympic operations, and identified the major tasks. (more…)
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