Bangalore International Airport Limited—operator of the BLR Airport— has, once more, raised the bar for passenger experience by deploying 16 fully-automated Self Bag Drop machines that will significantly accelerate the baggage transaction and reduce check-in queues. The BLR Airport is the first in the Country to introduce a large deployment of fully automated baggage drop-off units.
Designed and installed by Materna IPS, the Air.Go fully-automated Self Bag Drop machines would initially be available for passengers flying with Air Asia and Spice Jet. This facility would be expanded to more airlines in the near future.
Commenting on the new technology, BIAL’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Javed Malik said: “Continuous improvement of passenger experience at the BLR Airport has always been a priority for us and the introduction of the new Self-Bag-Drop is testimony to that. We’re excited to be the first airport in the Country to offer our passengers and airlines state-of-the-art technology, that will ease the process of air travel. Our goal is to use technology to improve the passenger experience and to make airport operations more efficient.”
The Self Bag Drop employs a two-step approach. A passenger will first print a boarding pass and an eezee-tag (bag tag) at a self check-in kiosk. Once tagged, the passenger will go to the bag drop machine, scan the boarding pass to initiate the bag drop process. The bag will be measured, weighed, scanned and automatically fed into the baggage handling system.
“India’s airports are being confronted with growth of up to 25 percent right now and have expansion plans to match. However, above all, they have to make the best possible use of their existing infrastructure as extensions and new buildings take too long. The self-service project at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru one of the most modern and attractive airports in India, is the first of its kind in the whole of India. We look forward immensely to improving the passenger experience and to mastering the challenges in this exciting growth market with established solutions together with our customers”, Shibu Mathews, head of Materna in India, explains.
