Emirates to use RFID to improve baggage handling at airports

2 March, 2008:

Dubai-based Emirates Airline is partnering with London Heathrow, Dubai International and Hong Kong international airports, to trial the latest radio-frequency identification technology (RFID) in baggage handling.

Emirates will invest close to AED 2 million, to test the effectiveness and benefits of RFID against the existing barcode tracking system. The largest-ever trial of its kind for the airline industry, some half a million bags on Emirates flights will be tagged with RFID chips over the 6-month duration of the trial.

The airline hopes its investment will help revolutionize the way bags are tracked and monitored, and present innovative solutions to handle the increasing volumes of baggage every year as more people around the world use air travel more frequently.

Previous RFID trials by other parties on a smaller scale have shown that the technology almost eliminates scanner misreads, significantly improving the efficiency of the baggage system and customer experience. The airline is now applying this on a much larger scale at three major airport hubs, including Emirates’ Dubai home-base, thus allowing the trials to include most possible baggage handling scenarios, including international transit.

With 58 of the double-decked A380 aircraft entering Emirates’ service, each doubling the number of bags handled per aircraft, the airline is keen to find innovative technologies and new ways to improve baggage handling infrastructure and safeguard the level of trust of its customers.

The airline plans to share the results of this trial with IATA. If the trial is as successful as it expects, Emirates will be encouraging airports across its network to embrace this technology. This could become a new industry standard for baggage handling. RFID equipment has been installed at some of Emirates’ check-in desks at the three participating airports. During the trial, trained staff will apply tags containing RFID chips to bags as part of the normal check-in process. The chips contain stored information including the bag unique ID number and route. In addition to the embedded RFID chips, these tags will also continue to display the traditional bar code.

The chips are read as they pass through the airport’s baggage system, enabling effective sorting, security screening and delivery to the aircraft. Arriving bags are read on entry to the baggage system and receipted into the system for effective tracking. Essentially, the chips will enable bags to be tracked at every stage of their journey, and minimize the possibilities for mishandling baggage.