The Toscana region in Italy is well-known for its rich history and beautiful landscapes which attract millions of tourists every year who wish to visit the area. The region’s capital city Florence, with its airport, is one of the main gateways to and from Toscana. The city of Pisa with its popular leaning tower is also a desired destination among architecture enthusiasts. Both airports have made it their mission for the upcoming years to improve the passenger journey and offer an enhanced travel experience.
Toscana Aeroporti has decided to install self-service units that allow passengers to drop off their luggage within seconds at both airports. A total of 28 Flex.Tag and 16 Drop.Go systems from the German supplier Materna IPS will be put in operation by the end of 2022. The state-of-the-art SBD solutions follow a retrofit concept and can easily be integrated into the existing airport infrastructure. The systems are equipped with an intuitive application and touch display that make them easy to use. Following the commissioning of the kiosks, Ryanair and KLM & Air France will be the first airlines that will offer the new technologies to their passengers.
Toscana Aeroporti chose the two-step process which results in shorter waiting times at passenger touchpoints and optimizes the travel experience for the passenger. The Flex.Tag kiosk is designed as the first step of a two-step SBD process, providing improved passenger flows and reduced queues even at peak times. To cope with growing numbers of passengers that are already checked in and therefore heading for the actual bag drop, Flex.Tag helps to avoid queues by letting passengers scan their boarding passes and print out their bag tags first. As the second step of a two-step SBD process, passengers then just scan their bag tags and drop off their luggage at the following touchpoint, which in this case is the Drop.Go kiosk attached to the counter. Thanks to the intuitive user interface of the SBD application, baggage check-in time can be reduced to 10 seconds here.
By implementing self bag drop stations, PSA and FLR ensure a streamlined passenger processing while improving the airport efficiency. This will help both airports to master the ever-changing conditions of the aviation industry. The past few years have pointed out the many benefits of self-service solutions for passengers and airports coping with the ever-changing conditions of the air traffic industry.