October 8, 2012
Paris Airport Introduces Automated Baggage Drop-Off System
Mark Thompson READ TIME: 2 MIN.
PARIS, France - Over 80,000 items of baggage. Two record check-ins in 15 seconds! Since it was installed in the terminals of Paris-Orly Airport on 8 November 2011, the Automated Baggage Drop-off System, developed by the teams at A�roports de Paris, has been a resounding success.
The Automated Baggage Drop-off System, developed by A�roports de Paris, has just won an award at the Future Travel Experience Forum held between 5 and 7 September 2012 in Vancouver. The Best Baggage Initiative award for 2012 was given to A�roports de Paris in front of an audience composed of around 400 professionals from the air travel industry, from over 160 organisations.
Future Travel Experience is the only independent world-wide forum dedicated to transport industry stakeholders. It focuses on the end-to-end travel process from the passenger's point of view, from booking to the collection of baggage at the arrival destination. It is interested in how every aspect of the airport passenger experience can be improved.
This new system allows passengers to check-in their baggage in less than just 30 seconds. Buoyed by this fact, A�roports de Paris is continuing with the roll-out of this service in the West terminal of Paris-Orly Airport by the end of this year and at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport at the beginning of 2013.
"Passengers have adopted this technological innovation very quickly. Apart from obviously saving time, this free service also means the baggage drop-off stage runs smoothly. So it is doubly positive: for the passengers and for the airlines as well," pointed out Fran�ois Rubichon, Deputy CEO of A�roports de Paris.
How does the automated baggage drop-off system work?
A two-step check-in:
Checking-in: Firstly, passengers go to a self-service machine to print their boarding-pass (if they have not got one already). Nowadays, more and more passengers are checking in online at home. They also have to collect their baggage ticket and attach it to their baggage.
Dropping baggage off: Passengers then go to the automated baggage area, scan their boarding card and can then put their baggage into the machine. The owner's name and baggage weight are checked and then sent to the airline.
Finally, passengers automatically receive a "baggage receipt". The machine-integrated system guarantees the complete safety of passengers and baggage.
In thirty seconds, baggage is checked in and then automatically redirected onto the usual route where it is screened and inspected before arriving at its final destination: the aircraft hold.
A long-term New Yorker and a member of New York Travel Writers Association, Mark Thompson has also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The author of the novels WOLFCHILD and MY HAWAIIAN PENTHOUSE, he has a PhD in American Studies and is the recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center. His work has appeared in numerous publications.
