Heathrow Airport trials new Amadeus touchless bag drop technology

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Heathrow Airport is currently undergoing Amadeus touchless bag drop technology trials. The system uses proximity sensors to allow passengers to check-in their luggage without touching the screens on the kiosks.

The new contactless experience has initially been installed on six auto bag drop units provided by ICM Airport Technics, an Amadeus company. The trial means passengers using any of the trial units can drop their luggage “quickly, safely and easily”.

The Amadeus contactless solution sees an infra-red proximity sensor installed along the top edge of the bag drop screen, which detects the passenger’s finger as far as three cm from the screen surface. This will allow passengers to interact with the bag drop unit as usual but without the need to physically touch the screen.

ICM Airport Technics, which became part of Amadeus in 2019, has supplied more than 270 auto bag drop units to Heathrow since 2016 as the sole partner for self-service bag drop, which are shared by 30 airlines, so passengers can choose to easily drop bags without assistance from an agent.

Over five million bags were dropped by passengers using this solution during 2019, with the self-service process taking less than 60 seconds on average. Mark Burgess, Process Improvement Director, Heathrow said in a statement that the airport is preparing to welcome back more travellers, by looking for new and innovative technologies that will help to ensure the passenger experience remains safe and efficient in a post-Covid-19 world.

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