Airports
to increase CUSS kiosks
Common-use self-service kiosks are viewed by airports
as vital to improving customer service and maintaining
passenger numbers. The fifth annual airport IT trends
survey, carried out by SITA along with Airline Business
and Airports Council International (ACI), revealed that
77% of the world’s top airport operators plan to
increase the number of self-service kiosks. Almost half
plan to implement CUSS by the end of next year.
”Our mandate is to implement CUSS where it makes
sense to do so,” said Paul Behan, IATA Fast Travel
Programme Manager. “This survey shows that CUSS
facilities make sense for an increasing number of
airports.” By December 2008, 130 airports around the
world will offer CUSS facilities to their
passengers.
The self-service trend is particularly prevalent in
Europe, where the number of airports offering CUSS
reached 51 in September. “With CUSS, airports have the
flexibility to use space to meet their needs – like
increasing passenger throughput, for example,” adds
Behan. IATA and Libyan Airlines Limited signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will lead to CUSS
facilities at Tripoli International Airport by the end
of 2008.
BCBP capable airlines:
are your through check-in partners capable too?
In order to continue through check-in without
disruption, BCBP capable airlines should ensure that
their ITCI (interline through check-in partners) use bar
coded boarding passes.
If all airlines and airports in an itinerary are not
BCBP capable, boarding passes may need to be re-issued
via a transfer desk or kiosk, or the passenger may have
to be manually processed at the connecting gate -
increasing cost and reducing passenger convenience. A
single boarding pass for multiple flights – one of the
advantages of BCBP – will not be possible.
The quick return on investment that BCBP promises,
all the more relevant given the deteriorating aviation
business environment, applies to ITCI partners too. Bar
code readers are cheaper to purchase and maintain,
airlines will no longer have to keep ATB stock and will
require fewer check-in desks, as BCBP enables web, kiosk
and mobile check-in.
The StB global network is gathering a list of ITCI
partners of IATA member airlines who are not BCBP
capable. IATA will be contacting these carriers shortly
to inform them of the BCBP mandate and raise awareness
of IATA resources available. If you are an IATA member
airline, please provide a list of your ITCI partners to
your IATA Country Manager if you have not already done
so. A list of IATA Country Managers is available here.
Bringing BCBP to
airports
The BCBP project is expanding its focus on airports.
The BCBP team is currently conducting an effort to
identify all airports to be engaged by the StB global
network between now and the end 2010 deadline to ensure
they meet the industry mandate.
During the month of October, the BCBP team also will
be sending letters to over 1,500 small and medium size
airports around the world to raise awareness of the BCBP
mandate. The communication, supported by ACI, includes
information about the mandate, the steps airports need
to take to ensure they are BCBP capable, and the
resources available from IATA to help implement BCBP.
For information on the BCBP mandate or to provide
feedback, please visit the BCBP
homepage or contact your IATA
Country Manager.
Germany becomes 8th IATA
e-freight location
IATA e-freight became operational on the Frankfurt to
Seoul trade lane on September 25, with Lufthansa Cargo
and DB Schenker sending the first e-freight shipment.
Further expansion at Frankfurt is planned in the coming
months. IATA e-freight will also be launched at other
major German airports in the near future.
The German IATA e-freight implementation team, led by
Lufthansa Cargo, started work in April of this year and
delivered IATA e-freight one month ahead of the original
schedule. This achievement highlights the close
cooperation between the German Finance Ministry (BMF)
and the airfreight industry, including airlines, freight
forwarders, airport authorities and handling agents.
The IATA e-freight project continues to build
momentum. In September the project marked the completion
of over 10,000 e-freight shipments since the first
locations went live in November 2007.
ET data transitioned to
IATA Passenger Services
Since the ET project is now complete, IATA is
migrating information concerning electronic
ticketing deployment from the StB website to
websites owned by MITA and the IATA Passenger Services
department. The StB ET homepage provides links to
these new sites. Any questions on ET or IET can continue
to be sent to eticket@iata.org.
All airline ET data files currently located on the
StB Extranet will be deleted shortly. Airlines and IATA
Country Managers who wish to preserve their data are
requested to download any required files. The exception
to this is the MPD reports, which will remain in their
current locations until they are successfully migrated
to the Passenger Services department. At that time, a
communication will be sent out by IATA Passenger
Services informing you of the new location and access
instructions.
BIP,
Fast Travel pilots progress
The Baggage Improvement Programme (BIP) and the Fast
Travel Programme continue to progress pilots, paving the
way for take off in 2009.
BIP has now been launched at seven carriers: American
Airlines, Delta, Emirates, LAN Chile, Lufthansa, TAROM,
and Qatar Airways. These airlines are benefiting from
solutions to baggage mishandling that will bring cost
savings this year. Recognising the increasing demand
for self-service and its huge potential for cost
savings, the Fast Travel Programme is conducting two
pilots in each of six areas that will give passengers
more control over their journey. The programme will
present business cases in each of these areas –
check-in, bags ready-to-go, document scanning, flight
re-booking, self-boarding and bag recovery - at the IATA
Board of Governors meeting in December 2008.
Contact us to
share your comments, questions and ideas!
The StB Global
Team | 
