BENGALURU: For the first time at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), automated baggage check-in facility will be open to air passengers from Thursday.Following a three-month trial, 16 counters will begin the Self Bag Drop system, a highly placed source said. “It will be a soft launch on November 15 at these counters belonging to two airlines initially,” a source said. Based on the effectiveness of the system, it will be extended to all the 83 counters of all the airlines.
“This is a unique system and is being adopted for the first time at the Bengaluru airport,” the source added. After terminal 1 of Mumbai airport got the facility in June 2018, KIA will be the second airport in India to have this system.Explaining how it works, another source said it was something similar to the self check-in kiosks at the airports, which already exists at KIA.
“The passenger needs to go to these machines placed at the counters of the specific airline and place the check-in luggage on the conveyer belt near the counter. The weight of the luggage is digitally displayed. If it tallies with the luggage specifications of the airline, then a slip bearing the bar code for the luggage is printed and tagged to the luggage by the machine,” he said.
“Then the passenger has to key in the PNR number from the physical ticket or mobile into the boarding pass kiosk, which automatically issues the boarding pass. The baggage will automatically head to the cargo hold,” he explained.
This automated system will help airlines reduce its staff strength in the long run as presently two individuals are deployed by every airline to complete the check-in system. A person seated at the counter issues a boarding pass after verifying the ticket and another staffer tags the baggage to be checked in.
Hari Marar, Chief Operating Officer of the Bangalore International Airport Ltd which operates the airport, said he will issue a statement in this connection but no official version was available from BIAL till the time ofgoing to print.