Travellers 'taking to self-service flights'

Airline passengers are increasingly taking advantage of the self-service facilities provided by carriers, according to a new survey.

Over a fifth of travellers are now using facilities such as self-service check-in kiosks provided by a number of airlines, the Annual Airline IT Trends Survey from Sita revealed.

The technology firm also predicted that almost 40 per cent of passengers will be using such facilities by the end of next year.

Francesco Violante, chief executive of Sita, said that this trend can be attributed to airlines' increasing investment in self-service technology, with 80 per cent of carriers making such investment a high priority.

"The speed at which the industry is moving towards a self-service passenger model is clearly borne out by the technology investment priorities of airlines," he commented.

Airlines utilising check-in kiosks for passengers wishing to save time include British Airways, American Airlines and KLM, among others.

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