IT service provider Materna will be presenting its new self-service bag-drop kiosk Merkur at this year’s Passenger Terminal Expo taking place in Cologne, Germany, on March 15-17, 2016.
The compact retrofit solution provides all the functions required by a modern self-service bag-drop system, including the scanning of identification documents, printing of bag tags and paying for excess luggage. Due to the ongoing rise in passenger traffic, airports and airlines are increasingly relying on self-service offerings. Not only can airports save space with the new solution, but they can also make use of the existing infrastructure.
Merkur is the latest in a series of self-service bag-drop systems developed by Materna, allowing passengers to easily drop off their luggage at the airport. Passengers can scan their boarding pass and print out the appropriate bag tags themselves at the machine. Merkur also provides a liner-less bag tag that is particularly easy to handle due to a special coating. For overweight baggage or a higher number of pieces of luggage, the users of the self-service bag-drop system may use their credit card to pay the relevant fee directly at the machines. Thus, the airport saves the hassle of baggage drop at the counter and still complies with the prescribed safety regulations.
Another of Materna’s bag-drop solutions, Phoenix, had been displayed at PTE in 2014. Phoenix is a larger solution than Merkur but still provides many technical features and requires little maintenance due to its large paper capacity. Just like Merkur, it is available with an optional payment function. The Phoenix kiosk is available for both check-in and automatic baggage handling.
Visitors to Passenger Terminal Expo 2016 are invited to test the new Materna products at stand 6050.