myAirport
destination-to-destination travel management - courtesy of myAirport
Locating in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is now one of the busiest airports in the world. With the rapid growth of passengers and cargo throughput, baggage handling becomes an important issue for airports like HKIA. According to a report of SITA Corporation released on March 21, 2006, deliver-return of mishandled baggage costs the industry an estimate of US$2.5 billion in 2005. Would RFID technology help to reduce the number of re-handled bags, at the same time, addresses other value-added services to boost passenger throughput? HKIA's current RFID adoption in their baggage handling system (BHS) provides us the following view:
As customers board their flight, they are 99% sure (1% luggage loss in about 30 million pieces) that their check-in bags are flying along with them to their destination. In general, airports customize services with respect to flights. Moving from flight-oriented services to passenger-oriented services is welcome, but customizations are hindered by the lack of appropriate technology to attend to passengers’ needs in an airport. Nowadays, however, tracking and tracing customers’ personal bags has now become faster with an RFID tag as compared to bar-coded paper tags previously used at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). As customers depart from Hong Kong, their check-in bags are RFID tagged. Bags are now tracked and traced even without the matching trail of the passenger. From such development, there are many potential innovative and new RFID-enabled business opportunities that ensue. Indeed, the HKIA is transforming towards myAirport as the RFID technology subsumes into the personal level.
The HKIA is fast becoming myAirport to all – providing a window for passengers’ personalized preference to “travel” with their bags. myAirport knows how bags should be handled at the destination. Tagging can even be applied to boarding passes – virtually tagging the passenger and then renewing these every leg of the trip. With each swipe of the boarding pass at critical points, myAirport provides personalized services to customers. Extending the adoption across AA’s at destinations, the boarding pass can be invalidated or re-validated at different preference levels. myAirport continues at a transit airport as bags are ready to be cleared upon check-in by simply passing through any of the check-in points, not necessary the designated airline counter. Moreover, further customizations can be done at customs and immigration check points.
As third-party airport service providers enter the myAirport realms across the globe, specialized services can be pre-arranged at customers’ fingertips. They can have a designated bag to be stored at the airport for the third leg of their travel (e.g., they leave their business bags as the third leg of the trip is for pleasure), or they may request special luggage handling service at that airport before the start of their journey. That airport is myAirport. Furthermore, customers may leave instructions with the airport, and myAirport will route their exact RFID-tagged bags to their hotel via courier, as if myAirport recognizes their bags personally.
The adoption of RFID technology by the HKIA is in itself a deed not viewed favorably by many. We are well aware of the dialectic views on RFID technology. However, it is the holistic benefits of the industry as a result of adopting RFID technology that may silence critics and convince doubtful bystanders. Particularly, we believe that the HKIA has taken a first bold step many people have shunned or voted down. However, this is a step that is perceived functionally to be at par with the existing bar code system. Hence, we will learn from the experiences – business, managerial, and technical, and now the opportunities ahead towards myAirport which is a personalized destination management, where each airport adapts to customers’ needs, providing them with an integrative destination chain likened to a supply chain that knows exactly what end-customers want. Each airport is myAirport, and here, customers are treated appropriately, and their bags are handled accordingly, just as each supply chain partner deals with customer orders as their personal order, ensuring coordination with the upstream partner and cooperation with the downstream partner.
It may not yet be time to celebrate about the future of myAirport, but it is definitely time to learn from HKIA’s RFID implementation, taking the same road not simply to replace the “working” barcode BHS system, but to be open to and be ready for the vision of myAirport – facilitating the transformation of the anonymous traveler to the traveler with identity!
The HKIA is fast becoming myAirport to all – providing a window for passengers’ personalized preference to “travel” with their bags. myAirport knows how bags should be handled at the destination. Tagging can even be applied to boarding passes – virtually tagging the passenger and then renewing these every leg of the trip. With each swipe of the boarding pass at critical points, myAirport provides personalized services to customers. Extending the adoption across AA’s at destinations, the boarding pass can be invalidated or re-validated at different preference levels. myAirport continues at a transit airport as bags are ready to be cleared upon check-in by simply passing through any of the check-in points, not necessary the designated airline counter. Moreover, further customizations can be done at customs and immigration check points.
As third-party airport service providers enter the myAirport realms across the globe, specialized services can be pre-arranged at customers’ fingertips. They can have a designated bag to be stored at the airport for the third leg of their travel (e.g., they leave their business bags as the third leg of the trip is for pleasure), or they may request special luggage handling service at that airport before the start of their journey. That airport is myAirport. Furthermore, customers may leave instructions with the airport, and myAirport will route their exact RFID-tagged bags to their hotel via courier, as if myAirport recognizes their bags personally.
The adoption of RFID technology by the HKIA is in itself a deed not viewed favorably by many. We are well aware of the dialectic views on RFID technology. However, it is the holistic benefits of the industry as a result of adopting RFID technology that may silence critics and convince doubtful bystanders. Particularly, we believe that the HKIA has taken a first bold step many people have shunned or voted down. However, this is a step that is perceived functionally to be at par with the existing bar code system. Hence, we will learn from the experiences – business, managerial, and technical, and now the opportunities ahead towards myAirport which is a personalized destination management, where each airport adapts to customers’ needs, providing them with an integrative destination chain likened to a supply chain that knows exactly what end-customers want. Each airport is myAirport, and here, customers are treated appropriately, and their bags are handled accordingly, just as each supply chain partner deals with customer orders as their personal order, ensuring coordination with the upstream partner and cooperation with the downstream partner.
It may not yet be time to celebrate about the future of myAirport, but it is definitely time to learn from HKIA’s RFID implementation, taking the same road not simply to replace the “working” barcode BHS system, but to be open to and be ready for the vision of myAirport – facilitating the transformation of the anonymous traveler to the traveler with identity!