Self-service check in to make airports more efficient

The use of self-service check ins should help improve the passenger experience, a consumer organisation has said.

According to the Air Transport Users Council (AUC), this sort of technological change should improve the flights for passengers as they have to spend less time waiting to board a flight.

Comments follow research from aviation and IT specialist SITA, which showed that 80 per cent of the world's leading airport operators are looking at introducing self-service as their main method of checking in.

James Fremantle, industry affairs manager at the AUC, said: "The only thing stopping airlines at the moment is that technology is not quite up to it and the initial start up costs for airlines for inputting all these machines into airports is going to put some stops on which airlines do it.

"In the long term it is going to cut costs and we expect more airlines to introduce these self-service kiosks."

Further findings from SITA's study showed that passenger processing and services, security and airport operations were the main areas of IT investment for airports in the future.

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