Summary
- Pandemic era increased passenger acceptance of contactless processes like biometrics at airports, aided by tech providers and airports working together.
- SITA partners with SUTD on a solution allowing passengers to check in themselves and their baggage from almost any location.
- Collaboration aims to reshape air travel with more convenience and efficiency through off-airport check-in solutions.
One of the few positive effects of the pandemic era was passengers’ increased awareness and acceptance of contactless processes at airports, such as using biometrics at check-in stations. That acceptance was helped by new technology providers and airports working together to implement these relatively new solutions.
SITA’s way of the future
One of the leaders in that field is SITA, the air transport industry’s IT provider, which develops and implements these solutions for airports, airlines, aircraft and governments. Last week, SITA announced it is partnering with the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) on a new solution allowing passengers to check in themselves and their baggage from almost any location.
Photo: Emirates
The partnership brings together the SITA Flex solution, which gives the SUTD researchers the technology they need to turn their physical, digital and experiential off-airport design into a functioning prototype. When completed and fully integrated, these prototypes can be used for passenger processing procedures usually done at airports, such as passport scanning, luggage weighing and printing of bag tags and boarding passes.
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It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to envisage how this would improve the whole airport pre-flight process for passengers, airlines and the airport itself. The unit is compact and self-sufficient, so an obvious solution would be in a hotel, where the passenger could check in at their room door and have their checked luggage transferred directly to the airport, leaving them free to arrive at the airport checked in and ready to fly.
Seamless connections are the aim
SITA President for the Asia Pacific region, Sumesh Patel, said the partnership with SUTD underscores SITA’s proactive stance when developing pioneering innovative solutions to take air transport into the future. Patel added that the project demonstrates SITA’s proactive approach to keeping its customers at the forefront of technology while meeting emerging market demands.
“SUTD’s designs break away from a traditional approach to off-airport touchpoints, and powering it will facilitate innovation and our ability to continually transform the customer experience. It will also demonstrate the existing versatility of our solutions, which can be deployed both in- and off-airport and on non-SITA platforms.”
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SITA’s expertise will also be available to advise on the most efficient way to reach and connect to airline departure control systems to build a seamless process right from the start. With around 2,500 customers at more than 1,000 airports, SITA has extensive experience in passenger processing solutions, with its state-of-the-art technology helping more than 70 governments maintain the balance between secure borders and seamless travel.
Photo: SITA
The SITA and SUTD collaboration started in March this year and is expected to last twelve months. After the hardware and service design requirements are settled on and the solution takes shape, various SITA partners, including airports, airlines and ground handlers, will test the off-airport concept for seamless integration and optimal performance.
Singapore University of Technology and Design projects cover disciplines ranging from aviation to architecture and engineering. The university said that the new check-in system will reshape and elevate global air travel with greater convenience and efficiency and that it looks forward to validating its designs in trials with airports and airline operators, cruise centers, and hoteliers in the months to come.
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