6 I T NEWS Air China ups the ante in Brazil
In compliance with IATA’s industry standards, Air China has made passenger-friendly airport self check-in available to its passengers at Sao Paulo Guarulhos International.
The self check-in device, also known as CUSS, is available in different languages including Chinese, English, Portuguese and Spanish and it can be used for check-in on all Air China-operated international flights departing from Guarulhos International. Passengers must check in anytime from nine hours to 60 minutes before a flight departure. With the device, a passenger is now able to easily navigate the practical screens, which they can use to select their preferred seat, accrue Air China kilometres and print out their boarding pass. After check-in, a passenger who has baggage to check can drop their baggage at the check-in counters on Island B of the terminal, while a passenger without baggage to check can head directly to the immigration and security check. As with other CUSS applications, the new service saves the passenger the trouble of having to queue in front of a traditional check-in counter, making travel much easier.
Indian carrier seeks out Amadeus solution for DCS
SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka, and the Amadeus IT Group, a leading technology partner for the global travel industry, have announced a landmark agreement that will see the airline migrate to Amadeus’ full Altéa suite by 2014.
The deal, which is the first of its kind for Amadeus in the Indian subcontinent, will enable both SriLankan Airlines and its sister airline, Mihin Lanka, to adopt Amadeus’ next generation IT suite in order to manage its mission-critical reservations, ticketing, inventory and departure control processes. At the same time, the agreement between SriLankan and Amadeus will help facilitate the airline’s entry into the Oneworld global alliance. Currently Amadeus is the standard IT platform for the alliance, with more than half of the members of Oneworld having adopted the Amadeus Altéa suite to date. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will work in close co-operation to begin the migration process from SriLankan’s existing passenger service system to Altéa, with the first phase of the migration, covering the reservations, inventory and ticketing modules, scheduled to be
GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL APRIL 2013
completed this year. Migration to the Altéa departure control system module is planned to commence in the first half of 2014. The agreement with SriLankan follows a period of sustained success for Amadeus and its Altéa suite across the Asia Pacific in particular in 2012, when contracts were agreed with Garuda Indonesia and EVA Air. Most recently, Amadeus has also successfully migrated Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines to Altéa, with Garuda scheduled to migrate later in 2013.
Self-service and the future at Frankfurt airport
Passengers using Frankfurt airport are very keen on using self-service, according to the 2012 SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey. Frankfurt leads the way with the use of self-bag drops, for example, as well as self-service check-in. However, because Frankfurt is so advanced in its use of kiosks and Web check-in, interest in the use of mobile phone functionality has been found to be generally lower than the global averages. Frankfurt is Germany’s busiest airport and it sees over 57m passengers flying to 264 destinations in 113 countries in an average year. On the day of the survey, 45% of its passengers used a staffed bag-drop station, compared to 32% surveyed at airports around the rest of the world. For unstaffed bag-drop, Frankfurt is also ahead of the pack; here some 7% of passengers surveyed used the service, which is the highest rate recorded in the survey and double the global average. Likewise, 76% of passengers at Frankfurt had used self-service check-in, compared to 68% elsewhere. This could explain why passengers at Frankfurt rate check-in and bag drop as less stressful than passengers at other airports. Passengers in Frankfurt are also embracing the self-service concept on their mobiles. Some 44% of passengers check in via their mobiles occasionally or frequently, while 43% used mobile boarding passes at the airport. However, despite the relatively high usage, uptake of mobile self-service at Frankfurt could be higher still. Many passengers at the station are still reluctant to use mobile boarding passes. The main reason, that given by 58% of respondents, is a preference for paper boarding passes. This ties in with a concern, expressed by 44% of passengers surveyed, that mobile phone services are not available at all airports. Another reason for the slower take-up of mobile check-in is that passengers at
this airport are already heavy users of other self-service channels for check- in, namely Web and kiosks, and it may take some time to change preferences. Frankfurt passengers are also less interested in using their mobile phones for flight updates, searching for flights, navigating through the airport, for boarding passes or promotions. Dave Bakker, SITA’s President, Europe, said: “Frankfurt passengers have embraced self-service enthusiastically and, exactly as intended, it is improving their journey through the airport. Given the success of the existing self-service facilities, it is perhaps unsurprising that mobile phone functionality holds less interest. However, we have seen the take-up of mobile services accelerate across the rest of the world and the signs are certainly beginning to emerge that Frankfurt will follow suit.”
Turkish Cargo opts for updated management system
An IT solutions provider to the global aviation industry, IBS Software has just signed a multi-million dollar, ten year contract with Turkish Cargo, the cargo division of the Turkish Airlines, for the implementation of its iCargo solution. The solution is set to power the airlines’ entire air cargo movement worldwide and replace the existing homegrown legacy system that has been in use to date.
Under the terms of the deal, the airline sales and inventory, terminal operations and handling, ULD management and revenue accounting systems will be integrated with a single, comprehensive solution. By bringing the entire cargo management system under a single application suite, real-time information and actionable intelligence access for users at all levels across all global locations will be improved considerably. This will ensure stronger decision making capabilities and vast improvements in the overall utilisation of perishable assets, leading to enhanced revenue generation and operational efficiency.
iCargo is an integrated solution that supports the requirements of airlines’ freight business by providing enhanced Web-enabled features that optimise operations, enhance profitability and provide scalability. The solution helps manage the increasing volumes of cargo movement requirements of freighters and ground handling agents, as well as airports. Over 20 global airlines have opted for iCargo to manage their mission critical cargo logistics, including All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Qantas, South African Airways,
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