Passenger Processing

Passenger Processing GIFTechnology is driving innovation and breaking new ground in passenger processing at both ends of the journey. Airports, airlines and ground handlers can deliver the autonomy their customers want through:

  • Online booking
  • Self-service check-in and boarding
  • Streamlined baggage handling facilities

SITA Passenger Processing is a flexible solution to facilitate passenger operations, while also serving as a common platform between all stakeholders across the industry.

SITA know-how

SITA surveys, such as the 2008 Airlines IT Trends survey, the 2008 Airport IT Trends survey and the 2008 Passenger Self-Service survey, confirm that self-service check-in is continuing its rapid adoption.

SITA has the know-how and experience to deliver applications, hardware and services needed to allow passenger autonomy in a multi-channel world. Our unique portfolio of products and services help airlines, airports and ground handlers transform passenger processing practices in the following areas:

  • Check-in processes
  • Baggage collection processes
  • Boarding processes
  • Compliance with passenger transportation security
  • Transfer processes
  • Arrival and post-flight processes
  • Passenger information and notification

Our passenger operations services are being used by approximately 165 airlines globally, and our common-use systems board more than 100 million passengers per year. We also manage 30,000 common-use terminal equipment (CUTE) workstations deployed in more than 235 airport locations.

Additionally, SITA’s self-service solutions are currently being used in more than 50 countries on every continent, and by more than 60 airlines and nearly 50 airports. Since 1999, 1.2 billion passengers have checked in using SITA kiosks – saving on average US$ 2.50 per passenger checked-in.

As an industry leader, SITA is an IATA preferred partner for all “Simplifying the Business (StB)” initiatives and participate in several working groups related to passenger processing matters, including:

  • Common-use self-service (CUSS)
  • CUPPS
  • BCBP
  • Fast Travel
  • Common Bag Drop

Benefits

Passenger Processing provides business benefits to airlines, airports and ground handlers.

Airlines will benefit from:

  • Sustainable process transformation
  • Reduced operating costs
  • Increased competitiveness in commodity services
  • Improved service value to customers
  • Expanded points of sales and points of services through the cost effective roll-out of self-service technology on and off-airport

Airports will benefit from:

  • Sustainable process transformation
  • Improved process efficiency
  • Optimized space and asset utilization
  • Reduced airport congestion
  • Improved service value to passengers
  • Expanded commercial opportunities (to passengers, tenants or airlines)

Ground handlers will benefit from:

  • Improved process efficiency to offer more competitive services to airlines
  • Innovative technology that supports growth and pick time management
  • Optimized space and asset utilization
  • Improved quality of service to passengers on behalf of their airline customers
  • Improved management of service level agreements (SLAs)

The overall result of the above benefits is improved bottom line through cost savings.

According to IATA:

  • Average savings for online check-in, with baggage: US$ 3.58
  • Average savings for online check-in, without baggage: US$ 5.34
  • Annual savings with 20% market penetration: US$ 500 million
  • Average savings per kiosk check-in: US$ 2.50
  • Annual savings with 40% market penetration: US$ 1 billion
  • Six traditional check-in desks can process up to 120 passengers per hour, while six desks used for bag drop only with 10 kiosks up front for check-in can process more than 300 passengers per hour

Benefits for passengers include:

  • A quick, hassle-free journey through the airport
  • A stress-free travel experience
  • Less time spent standing in line queuing
  • Better value for money

Features

Passenger Processing includes the following features.

  • A dynamic end-to-end passenger processing portfolio of products and services to facilitate passenger movement and offer travelers a straightforward "home-to-plane" experience
  • The only proven provider who can integrate agent and self-service applications on a single platform1 – AirportConnect Open and AirportConnect (CUSS) Kiosk
  • Re-usable architecture components, allowing for a low-cost, best practice business process framework
  • A common check-in engine that delivers a cost-effective and channel-independent capability
  • Know-how and experience to help you find the right balance between agent-assisted, self-service and automated processes for your organization
  • A complete spectrum of capabilities, from business process consulting services to hardware, software and maintenance of the solution, end-to-end
  • A neutral facilitator of successful, complex projects involving multiple stakeholders (e.g., airlines, airport authority, ground handlers, services providers, government agencies, etc.)
  • A partner at the heart of the industry devoted to innovation who works closely with industry bodies (e.g., IATA StB, ACI, SPT, etc.)

AirportConnect Open and AirportConnect Kiosk are synergistic solutions, and when deployed together, reduce both acquisition and operating costs, while also improving operational reliability, via the following:

  • Common core room and server infrastructure, as the AirportConnect platform software considers dedicated workstations, common use workstations and CUSS kiosks equally as clients. This also includes kiosks and workstations deployed within off-airport locations such as hotels, car rental facilities, cruise ports, convention centers and train stations. All of which are supported by the same common infrastructure.
  • Common statistics and reporting capability, such that the SLA performance and client usage of the AirportConnect passenger processing system may be viewed in its entirety, by location, by client type, by client or anything in between. The objective is to provide accurate and timely information from which to make sound business decisions.
  • Single neck accountability with a single common escalation path eliminates finger pointing. All of the technical expertise required to support the entire passenger processing system resides within SITA. As such, the AirportConnect platform delivers increased operational reliability.
  • Common support staff – consisting of help desk personnel, the site administrator, maintenance technicians and the account manager – goes one step further to decrease response time in addressing issues, and identifying new opportunities for operational excellence, as the passenger processing system is viewed as a whole.

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