Airport News
Finavia is to introduce bag drop machines for departing passengers at some Finnish airports to speed up the process for travellers.
The self-service machines will be available at the beginning of the summer of 2014 at Helsinki Airport, where 10 will be installed, and two will follow at Oulu Airport in the autumn, before they are introduced at Turku Airport in 2015.
Finavia has piloted bag drop machines at Helsinki Airport since 2012, when they have been available to customers of SAS and Norwegian, and Finavia says they have reported good experiences.
Helsinki Airport's director Ville Haapasaari, at Finavia, says: “Increasing the number of machines is a global trend in air traffic services. Self-service, such as bag drop machines, makes the check-in times of passengers more flexible, evens out the busy periods at the airport, and increases the check-in capacity of terminals.
"More effectively produced airport services also provide airlines with cost advantages, which are also ultimately the pre-condition for moderate flight ticket prices.”
The bag machines, let passengers drop their bags themselves to be transported in the cargo hold when the check-in has been done with a check-in machine or online.
They print out a baggage label with the check-in machine and attach the label to their bag, and at the bag drop machine, the passenger scans the baggage label, and the bag is ready for the flight.
As a result of self-service, once the passenger has arrived at the airport, he or she can move towards the departure gate more quickly and smoothly.
The machines are part of Finavia’s technology development at airports, and Haapasaari, says: "We want to utilise technology in making the travel process smoother, and we continuously develop the security check, for example.
“Helsinki Airport also has one of the most extensive border control machine lines in Europe, a total of 30 machines.
"Increasing the extent of machines and self-service at Helsinki Airport and other main airports of ours is part of the substantial investment package of ours.
“At Helsinki Airport, our development programme of €900 million has particularly been launched by making the check-in process smoother.
