Providing RFID baggage handling technology as a service

Under the supervision of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and as part of the requirements of IATA Resolution 753, a Russian airline and four airports have completed trial operations of RFID baggage tracking systems. The purpose of the resolution is to require airlines to accurately monitor the acquisition and delivery of each bag by June 2018. The solution, called Hand-to-Hand RFID Baggage Tracking System (HHRBTS), is provided by Hong Kong RFID solution provider. The six-week trial operation began in early September and ended at the end of last month.

Andrew Price, IATA's head of airport operations, said: "Baggage is often compared to a factory, but have you ever heard of a factory where there are no records and audits of entry and exit? This is the current state of the baggage world. This tracking agreement is to develop A baggage check-in data that all airlines must record to reduce mishandling.”

(The baggage handling system in Terminal T-E in Sheremetyevo has 16 RFID reading points, each using Impinj Speedway Revolution readers with integrated dual MTI Wireless Edge antennas)

Vagapov said the airline industry has always had a "chicken or egg" problem when it comes to RFID-based baggage management. Airports want these solutions, but they are not building the infrastructure.

Therefore, it was envisioned to develop an easy-to-install, as-a-service solution that would reduce the barriers to airports and airlines adopting RFID solutions.

Provides hardware, ERFID server and software, allowing customers (airports and airlines) to know the time when baggage is checked at the airline counter, how the baggage is transported to the aircraft, whether any errors occur, and the time of arrival at the destination.

This technology helps reduce or prevent the possibility of baggage mishandling, speeds up baggage load verification and improves customer satisfaction by reducing the probability of errors.

Lost baggage is a major cost for airlines. If a passenger cannot find their luggage, the airline needs to compensate. If multiple airlines jointly operate a multi-segment route, each airline will be required to pay proportional compensation based on the miles it is responsible for. This rule is unfair, especially to the airlines responsible for the most miles.

Pavel S. Markovich, baggage operations manager of Russian airline Aeroflot, said: "We live in the information age, and information is the most important resource. Baggage tracking at the airport, terminal, apron and pick-up area ensures that the baggage handling process is error-free. .If this information is lost, the least consequence is an increase in baggage search time. The biggest risk we face is the loss of baggage and compensation for passengers."

Vagapov said that the goal of the trial operation of the project is to allow both airlines and airports to understand the real operation of the technology. Four airports were selected. Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) was chosen as the origin, and three other airports were the destination: the large and busy Prague Airport, the slightly smaller Bologna Airport and the very small Tallinn Airport. Aeroflot is the main participating airline.

Sheremetyevo Terminal T-E installed this technology using 16 read points, each using Impinj Speedway Revolution readers integrated with dual MTI Wireless Edge antennas. These readers are mounted on the drive train in the direction in which the luggage will pass. Therefore, at every location, the system can detect misdirected bags. In addition, there are 16 RFID printers installed at SVO Airport, but they are not currently in use. Approximately 300,000 ultra-high frequency (UHF) Avery Dennison tags are currently in use.

In this trial run, passengers boarded flights from SVO Airport to three other airports with luggage attachment tags attached to their luggage. Vagapov said that these tags have built-in RFID tags, and their unique ID numbers are bound to the destination airport information.

Once tagged with RFID tags, the bags are placed on sealed conveyor belts for transport and pass through up to four screening points. At each baggage RFID tag query point, the software compares the baggage's destination with the current position of the transmission belt to ensure that there are no errors in transportation. If any query point finds that the baggage has been transferred to the wrong transfer location, has been removed, or is not found, the software will determine that there is a problem with the transfer process and will send a reminder to the baggage operations manager. "Through this system, we can understand the status of each bag," Vagapov said. The technology is designed to prevent any package from being transported to the wrong end. Vagapov explained that the software is a cloud-based, multi-layered system. Each airport Stores a database locally to cope with network outages, and the software also stores read data on a cloud server. "Local servers are there to provide redundancy," he said.

In each terminal airport, two Speedway Revolution readers with integrated dual MTI Wireless Edge antennas are installed in the baggage carousel loading area, one for reading standard size baggage and one for reading large size baggage (since they are from different conveyor belt transportation). After the baggage is unloaded from the aircraft, it will be sent to the baggage carousel entrance, where a reader installed will read the baggage tag ID number to identify the arrival at the destination airport. At the same time, the software will also collect and store data on the arrival of the luggage at the terminal. This data can then help discover the last read position of a lost bag.

Vagapov said that the trial operation results showed that the technology perfectly achieved its goals. "The results show that the read rate is close to 100%," he said.

Its engineers also encountered some difficulties that they had not thought of before during the project operation. Vagapov said: "We underestimated the complexity of these systems. We encountered many challenges, including the management of baggage that did not follow common handling procedures." The company said they are currently planning to deploy this solution at airports and airlines worldwide We are also negotiating with a number of airlines.

Company CEO Sergey Tsybouk said that the installation at SVO Airport took a total of five days. Prague, Bologna and Tallinn airports only took 1 to 2 days. This followed six months of contract negotiations and preparations. "On the technical side, our system is very flexible and easy to install. The human element usually takes a lot of time and effort to figure out," he said.

The purpose of IATA's project trial operation is very simple. Price said: "What we want to see is that the luggage is transported correctly during boarding and arrival at the terminal, and passengers can get their own packages."

After the trial run, Aeroflot decided to continue using the technology. "Aeroflot is very interested in using this technology in baggage handling," Markovich said.

Vladimir Gavrilov, head of baggage operations at Sheremetyevo Airport, said that Moscow Airport intends to permanently deploy this technology and hopes that all parties will participate. He said: "Our airport is ready to use RFID technology, but unfortunately this technology is not popular. We hope that airlines can add RFID technology to existing systems. This can not only improve service quality but also save costs."

Marco Rossetto, automation technology and equipment operations manager at Bologna Airport, said he had a good impression of the technology. “We had a very rocky start as we needed permission from multiple parties to install the system,” he explains. “But the equipment was installed very easily and quickly.”

Rossetto said the technology will help improve the passenger experience by accelerating and increasing the speed of the baggage handling process.