Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has outlined his airline’s ‘Airport of the Future’ initiative, which plans to speed up the check-in and baggage claim processes for domestic passengers while at the same time increasing terminal efficiency.
“Our research with our domestic customers has told us that airport check-in today is nothing less than ‘a point of pain’,” said Joyce in an address to the National Aviation Press Club in Sydney on November 11.
“Check-in takes too long. It causes too much stress. Our customers know what they want: speed and ease.”
Under the new initiative, the airline plans to issue all Frequent Flyers from Silver status up to Chairman’s Lounge and Qantas Club members new cards embedded with an intelligent RFID chip which will act as permanent boarding passes, and issue them associated permanent baggage tags.
“With your personal boarding pass and permanent bag tag, checking in baggage will no longer be a chore,” said Joyce. “Instead of stickers and weigh-ins at the desk you’ll just scan your personal boarding pass and drop your bag with its permanent bag tag on the belt. And while the process will be wonderfully simple, the technology behind it will ensure the full range of security checks remain solidly in place.”
Similarly, the airline says it is examining options to speed up the delivery of baggage to carousels in order to free up more time for passengers.
The airline says that trials of the new system will begin at Perth Airport in mid 2010, with rollout in Sydney from the end of 2010 and Melbourne in 2011. The program will roll out across other CityFlyer ports throughout 2011.
