Most airports worldwide to opt for self check-in

More than 80 per cent of the world's leading airport operators intend to make passenger self-service the primary channel for check-in, according to new research by Sita, a global service provider in air transport communication and IT solutions.

Findings from the Annual Sita Airport IT Trends survey reveal it was already the case at 40 per cent of the world's top 100 airports.

"Airports are recognising that passengers bypassing check-in counters may be faced with new bottlenecks and queues at baggage drop-off and security screening areas. Thus, airports are turning to automation tools to track wait times at different airport checkpoints," said Catherine Mayer, Sita's Vice-President for Airports.

She said: "Of the respondents who said they will monitor wait times in the future, 60 per cent will use video analytics, 43 per cent will use RFID and 27 per cent Bluetooth technology."

According to Sita, airlines save $2.5 (Dh7.34) per kiosk check-in, as per Iata, while the kiosks increase productivity by 40 per cent.

When an agent checks in a passenger the space required is 20sqm, and 16 passengers can be checked in an hour. While the space required in a kiosk check-in is 10sqm and 30 passengers are processed.

The survey also found that IT budgets for airports in 2008 were largely unaffected by the global economic downturn with IT investments as a percentage of revenue decreasing slightly from 3.5 per cent in 2007 to 3.2 per cent in 2008.

Fifty two per cent rated the introduction of "electronic documents" as the technology, which will have the most significant impact at airports in the near future.

Initially driven by the adoption of bar-coded boarding passes sent directly to mobile phones – a key enabler for paperless travel.

Half of all airports believe providing solutions on mobile devices for passengers or staff at airports will have the highest impact on their IT infrastructure.

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