Airport Baggage Handling Systems and Sorting

Key Facts:

• Contract includes high-level control system to provide monitoring and control of the complete baggage handling process from a central point
• Crisplant to replace legacy system with CrisBelt conveyors
• CrisBelt conveyors will be fully integrated with security screening equipment
• Fully redundant and flexible system will support an increase in passengers

Crisplant – Part of the BEUMER Group and a leading global supplier of automated baggage handling systems – has been awarded a contract by Isavia to upgrade the baggage handling system at Keflavik International Airport, Iceland.

The new Crisplant upgrade will address the need for increased flexibility and redundancy to meet a record growth in passenger numbers as Keflavik continues to invest in its vision to become a major hub for air traffic between Europe and the USA.

This is the second contract awarded to Crisplant and follows the integration of a Crisplant loop sorting system as part of the baggage handling system installed at Keflavik in 2007.

The new upgrade includes the integration of a high-level control system which includes a Sort Allocation Computer (SAC), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system with a Management Information System (MICS). These high-level controls will provide the airport with a centralised and comprehensive overview and management of the entire baggage handling system. This will enable operators to perform load balancing, baggage tracking, statistics and continual optimisation of the entire baggage handling process.

In addition, a major part of the conveyors within the legacy sorting system will be replaced by Crisplant’s CrisBelt conveyor system to provide a fully redundant and flexible system which will include integration with the baggage screening equipment.

Over a ten-month period, from January 2013, the number of passengers travelling through Keflavik International Airport increased to 2.4 million and airport operator, Isavia, expects the total number of passengers to reach 2.7 million by the end of 2013. This represents an overall increase of 15% in passenger numbers year-on-year.

"This is an important step for Keflavik International Airport,” explains Gudmundur Dadi Runarsson, Deputy Terminal Director at Keflavik International Airport. “For the first time, we have a completely coherent baggage handling and monitoring system which will allow us to further optimise our operations and emphasise the value in choosing Keflavik as a hub airport".

The Crisplant system is due for handover in 2014, after which it will be maintained by Crisplant under a Hotline and Service Inspection contract.