Star Alliance and ARINC Complete a Fast Common Bag Drop at Tokyo Narita

Annapolis—Star Alliance and ARINC Incorporated today announced they have completed testing a new check-in technology that provides fast common-use bag drop capability. A comprehensive trial at Tokyo Narita Airport was supported by Star Alliance member carriers Air Canada, ANA, and Asiana.

Passengers on participating airlines can check in, either on-line or at a self-service kiosk, and then proceed to a convenient common bag drop counter to have their luggage tagged for the appropriate airline and flight.

Until now, accepting luggage for several airlines at a single counter was possible only if all the carriers used the same Departure Control System (DCS)—which is not very often the case. To address this, ARINC developed a web-based application—ARINC ExpressDrop^SM —which allows front line employees to print bag tags for several carriers from a single workstation, without separately accessing each individual carrier’s DCS.

The need for a common-use bag drop has mainly been driven by the increased use of new check-in methods such as mobile cell phones, on-line Internet check-in, and self-service kiosks. As a result, many passengers today arrive at airports with their boarding passes in hand, and need only to drop off their bags.

“As part of our ‘Move under one Roof’ strategy, we would like to offer Star Alliance customers common bag drop counters,” said Lee Hock Lye, Vice President Products & Services, Star Alliance. Due to differing IT systems, this has up to now proved challenging. By participating in the trial of the ARINC solution, we will gain valuable experience and knowledge, which should allow us to introduce common bag drop counters and further improve the seamless Alliance travel experience in the foreseeable future.”

The core of ARINC ExpressDrop is a web-enabled application accessible from existing airport workstations. It allows airlines to retain their preferred DCS under a single interface, permitting agents to print baggage tags for passengers on multiple airlines at a single baggage counter. The overall approach improves operating efficiency, reduces staff training and reduces the number of service counters required, lowering overall costs.

Jim Martin, Managing Director of ARINC’s Asia Pacific Division, stated “ARINC is very pleased with the preliminary results of the ExpressDrop trial. We are also fortunate to have the support and cooperation of three Star Alliance member carriers, at a major hub airport. Meeting their requirements will help us ensure a thorough system evaluation during this trial period.”

The trial demonstrated ExpressDrop’s ability to meet the airlines’ operational and performance requirements. Star Alliance said this project is a further example of how the alliance organization can provide added benefits to its member carriers, by sharing the results of this trial with all member carriers.

The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Air India, Avianca-TACA, Copa Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 21,000 daily flights to 1,160 airports in 181 countries.

ARINC Incorporated, a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group, provides communications, engineering and integration solutions for commercial, defense and government customers worldwide. Headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland with regional headquarters in London and Singapore, ARINC is ISO 9001:2008 certified.

Release: 11-028

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