Airport Passenger Handling Services

RFID tracking

Comfort at and on the way to the airport, the best possible service and a comprehensive range of business and leisure facilities ensure an airport is a hit with passengers. This conclusion is drawn by the Skytrax audit, one of the largest and most important airport and airline rankings in the world. For ten years, more than eight million passengers have been surveyed and asked to name the best airport in the world offering the most extensive range of services. In the current 2009 audit, Dubai International Airport scored highly when it came to passenger satisfaction – the availability of luggage trolleys, both landside and airside, also played a part in this success. The Dubai Civil Aviation commissioned Wanzl to install a new and hitherto unique trolley tracking system in the new Terminal 3. Additionally, 4,800 Voyager 3000 luggage trolleys were delivered to the new terminal, which is used primarily by Emirates. Wanzl fitted each luggage trolley with a transponder. Antennae embedded in the floors, walls and ceilings in the terminal, the terminal entrance area, as well as the multi-storey car parks and parking zones, detect the RFID chips in the trolley transponders in a matter of seconds. This new trolley tracking system enables the exact location of each trolley to be determined at any time. Data on the location of the trolley as well as the exact number of trolleys is then transmitted in real-time to the station manager, so that the trolleys can be efficiently brought back to where they will next be used. The system also serves as a planning tool by offering online alignment with the current flight schedule, enabling the correct number of luggage trolleys to be provided for arriving and departing passengers. As part of this approach, ten electric Wanzl Airport Scooters facilitate efficient trolley transportation by pushing or pulling up to 30 linked trolleys.

Measurable benefits

At the same time, the trolley tracking system allows weaknesses to be identified in the infrastructure that could lead to a possible loss of trolleys. The new Wanzl trolley tracking system facilitates daily airport operations and the comfort of the passengers, in particular in large terminals with high passenger volumes and a high degree of trolley movement. It is also feasible that the innovative system be used to determine the most popular passenger routes, for example to ensure the 1,700 versatile Wanzl Airport Shopper trolleys are provided in sufficient numbers in the duty free zones. Whether landside or airside – the globally new and hitherto one-of-a-kind Wanzl trolley tracking system improves service quality and thereby also passenger satisfaction coupled with the simultaneous and optimal use of staff resources.