46 RFID UPDATE
GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL FEBRUARY 2013
baggage is not put on to the right aircraft it is down to a human error. When it came to handling the cruise passengers’ baggage, the score came very close to zero errors. Traceability was found to be very effective and the whole system has run perfectly since its inception. The summer months are especially busy at Hangar 145, but the hangar is also used outside of the peak season. If a large travel agency has chartered an aircraft, Hangar 145 can quickly be made ready and provide good service to the passengers, without overloading the check-in and baggage sorting systems in the terminals. During 2012 it was expected that
Lyngsoe system a success at Copenhagen
it had to be isolated and converted to function as check-in area for the cruise passengers; a baggage sorting area for cruise passengers’ baggage was also made available. The challenge was that the existing system in the hangar was not capable of reading the baggage labels. This was done manually, which meant that the baggage had to be sorted manually. Even though there was a lifting crane for heavy baggage, it still involved too much heavy lifting and a lot of stress when all of the baggage had to be handled manually. Consequently, the airport desired a sorting system that was capable of reading the baggage labels automatically. In that way, the staff at each chute on the conveyor would only have to focus on handling the baggage destined for their particular flight and not spend their time and resources on other baggage destined for other flights. Helpfully, Lyngsoe was known from past co-operation with the airport – and Lyngsoe’s application at Malpensa, Milan had also been seen in action. At Malpensa, baggage is equipped with an RFID tag and, when transported on the conveyor belt, it passes several registrations points. That way its location is always known and there is a visual indication of where the baggage must be taken off the conveyor belt.
In the event, at Copenhagen, a special focus was put on creating a good working environment and employee and safety organisations were consulted. When the system was implemented, a group of employees tested it. An employee works at one of the portals under which the baggage passes. Here the RFID tag is read by the portal and a lamp indicates if it is a piece of baggage that should be lifted off at that point or if it should continue to the next portal. The employee can then focus on lifting off the bag that is destined for that particular flight. The results have been predictable. RFID makes no mistakes, so if an item of
around 30,000 passengers and their baggage would have been serviced and handled by Hangar 145.
So, with that in mind, would the next step see RFID introduced throughout the entire airport?
The existing baggage sorting system at Copenhagen airport has recently been renovated and updated, a process in which Lyngsoe Systems also took part. RFID, says the spokesperson, is very effective and an ingenious tool. There remain some challenges that must be solved in a big, busy airport like Copenhagen before RFID can run the entire baggage handling process, though. It is also an expensive exercise to cut over. In connection with the recent renovation, the airport prepared the system for RFID, and thus should it become relevant, the technology can be implemented gradually. The spokesperson concludes that there is no doubt that barcodes and RFID will co- exist for many years to come.
RFID and NFC
For Amadeus’s Yannick Beunardeau, 2012 has been a busy year – and all the indications are that 2013 will be even busier. With a product that splits neatly into the realms of RFID and the above- mentioned Near Field Communication, he says that broadly speaking today sees RFID serve the baggage handling part of the equation whilst the duality (transmission and reception facilities) of NFC means that it is eminently suited to passenger processing. “We are seeing more and more airports showing interest in RFID,” he says, but admits that the exponents of the art, namely Las Vegas and Hong Kong, are still a race apart: once a bag is passed through either, the chances are that it then has to rely on slightly old-fashioned and less accurate barcode technology.
“The cost of the tag has been the stumbling block, although RFID is being increasingly adopted in all walks of life today. That cost will start to
come down and I see more industry investment on the horizon; for example, where handlers like Aviapartner have adopted a BRS solution, there will be a requirement for an RFID application. The same applies to NFC where readers and writers will be required. “Passenger processing is becoming
more automated, thanks to solutions like Altéa provided by Amadeus. In particular, the adoption of NFC (which relies on embedded chips) means that processes can be speeded up: and the two-way traffic that now, for example, sees a Qantas passenger arrive at a terminal in Australia with an RFID encoded suitcase and a Qantas NFC chipped frequent traveller card. The combination allows the passenger to drop off a bag and pass through check-in, assuming the chip signals are confirmed. Thus there is no physical boarding card and no bag tag – that’s now the reality for those travelling around Australia. The Amadeus technology looks after the Passenger Name Record without all the traditional paperwork and Amadeus is able to take care of the entire process, from reservation through to the last airport in the whole chain. And of course, whilst this is a portent of the future, it’s actually a future that has already unfolded. As we start 2013, Yannick mentions several new signings in the ground handler arena, including Swissport, SEA Handling and Servisair. AHS has also joined the fold, and in all, there are some 20 customers giving proof of the concept, if it were needed. The launch of the self-service facility for the handler is a logical step: for Iberia, for example, a handler can load an application into a check-in kiosk at a terminal so that the station can accept passengers flying with the airline who had not checked in online before arriving at the airport. No queuing and no fuss: it’s a win-win situation.
Could NFC be seen as the new RFID? “Definitely not,” says Renaud Irminger, Head of SITA Lab. “We, as an industry, have failed when it comes to the adoption of RFID. Bag tagging in Hong Kong has worked out well; the Qantas initiative is another success story; and of course there is the big implementation at Las Vegas. Those who have deployed the technology have been very happy with the results but since the vast majority of other airports lack this, then there’s no consistency. “If you go down the NFC path, it’s best used for check-in – and since it’s mobile phone based, all you need is the phone system. The transmission side is the same as that for RFID so you can work on the existing infrastructure.
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