Air New Zealand is all about those ‘world firsts’ – last month it unveiled aviation’s inaugural tracking armbands for kids and now biometric bag drops.
Revealed this morning at Auckland International Airport, the new system is similar to the SmartGate passport control facilities and is designed to compliment existing online check-in options and self-service kiosks.
The airline believes it will also speed up the check-in process for guests by giving them more control.
How does it work?
Customers scan their passports and boarding pass to have their identity verified by the biometric camera. From there, the place their bags on the scale where it is weighed and sent through the airline’s baggage handling system.
Air New Zealand Group General Manager Airports John Whittaker said the new bag drop is another example of the airline using technology to enhance the customer experience.
“It will reduce the time it takes for our customers to check in and free up our airport team to interact with customers and support them through the self-service process should they require assistance.”
John Whittaker, Air New Zealand Group General Manager Airports
“Air New Zealand has an aspiration to be a leading digital airline and leading Australasian digital organisation,” he added.
“The automated bag drops follows the introduction of Airband™ last month – a wristband for children travelling unaccompanied which is embedded with technology that triggers text messages to guardians letting them know where their young one is on their journey.”
Five new automatic self-service bag drops are now available for use by customers checking in at Auckland International Airport with a further eight planned to be installed in early 2016.
