In a bid to improve passenger services, Melbourne Airport in Australia has trialed a self-service boarding solution in T2 International that allows passengers to simply scan their boarding pass to gain access to the aircraft.
The airport has used SITA’s common-use platform for the three-month trial and is measuring speed of processing, passenger perception and accuracy to evaluate the benefits that self-service boarding offers passengers, airlines and the airport.
Ilya Gutlin, SITA president, Asia Pacific, said, “SITA is committed to our technology partnership with Melbourne Airport which allows us to explore the potential benefits of services and plan the ideal solution implementation with the airport team. Moving forward, we are exploring how technology and innovative services can further improve the passenger experience and operations at Melbourne Airport.”
Initial results of the self-boarding trial are positive with passengers showing strong interest and approval of boarding the aircraft by scanning their own boarding pass. The final results will now be analyzed by the SITA and Melbourne Airport teams.
This initiative is part of the overall airport development to enhance the experience for the 30 international airlines and more than 32 million passengers who currently use it.
“As Melbourne Airport focuses on optimizing the efficient use of assets, technology and innovation play an increasing role in providing better customer service,” said Michael Jarvis, Melbourne Airport executive planning.
“Working closely with expert vendors and service providers, like SITA, facilitates the testing of world-class solutions at Melbourne Airport and allows our passengers to be among the first to experience leading-edge technology that will improve their experience.”
Passenger numbers are expected to double at the airport to 60 million by 2030.