Article

How kiosks are transforming the airport travel experience

From entry to departure to arrival, kiosks could soon make it possible to venture through an airport without a single human interaction.

July 18, 2014 by Nicole Troxell — Associate Editor, Networld Media Group

Imagine checking in for your flight via your mobile phone or at an airport kiosk. Imagine then printing your own luggage tags, dropping off your own bags onto the conveyor belt and breezing past security lines toward your gate, where you scan your own boarding pass and enter the plane. When your flight arrives at an international destination, you slip by customs lines, scan your passport and declare customs items at an automated kiosk, and then proceed to baggage claim. 

With a growing number of new product introductions in the past few years, kiosks could soon make it possible to venture through an airport without a single human interaction, from check-in to boarding:

Self check-in

Many airports are using kiosks to improve customer service and reduce airport congestion. Malta International Airportis one of the more recent examples of airports around the world that has deployed touchscreen kiosks where travelers can check-in to their flight and print boarding passes. And just this July, Malaysia Airlines closed its staff check-in counters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport for mandatory self check-in on all economy flights. The staff counter is only available for business and first class passengers and those needing assistance.

Automated currency

Finish airport operator Finavia announced the installation of a self-service currency exchange machine to be introduced next year at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport, according to a yle.fiarticle. The machines will be available after hours along with new ATMs for cash withdrawal. Finavia will still offer counter service at the airport, but customers can now access cash and currency at any hour. 

Gate check

According to the Wall Street Journal, JetBlue Airways Corp. in Las Vegas became the first U.S airline to launch self-boarding gate check services when they installed ticket scanners in 2012.  

Air New Zealand jumped on the automated travel process six years ago when self-service boarding pass scanners landed in Auckland Domestic Airport. The scanners can issue gate passes and confirm selected seats. When passengers arrive at the departure gate, they scan their own boarding passes.

The self-service process at Auckland was designed to reduce time spent trudging through long lines and arriving hours before take-off. Customers without baggage are required to arrive at gate-check 20 minutes prior to departure. Those with baggage must check-in at the self-service kiosks 30 minutes before take-off, according to an IER company announcement. 

Geneva-based airline IT provider SITA found in a survey they conducted that 70 percent of passengers prefer self-boarding. The International Air Transport Association, a global airline trade group, intends to spread self-service airport technology to 80 percent of travelers by 2020 and claims it will save the industry $2.1 billion a year. 

Baggage handling

Just this month, Austrian Airlines introduced baggage handling kiosks as part of a new pilot program testing the self-service waters. The Scan&Fly baggage-check kiosks, installed by Dutch company Type 22, deployed the machines at Terminal Check-in 3 of Vienna's Austrian Star Alliance. The self-service machines allow passengers to print bag tags and drop their luggage onto conveyor belts without waiting in long lines.

Food and drink                   

After arriving home from a long journey, tired travelers can order groceries from London's Tesco via a digital signage kiosk at Gatwick Airport. The virtual grocery store at the North Terminal was first installed in 2012. Users scroll through moving screens to browse a variety of products. Barcodes are scanned by the customer's smartphone and added to online baskets. Users can select the home delivery option and have groceries waiting by the time they reach their door. 

While on layover, travelers are now able to order food and drinks from iPad kiosks at some airport restaurants. One such restaurant, Terminal F, in the Philadelphia International Airport, allows customers to order food and beverages from their iPad kiosk. Customers can browse the Internet while they wait and after the food is delivered to their table, they can pay on the iPad with their credit or debit card.

With HMSHost's newly announced technology simulation lab, imagineIT, expect more of these self-service foodservice innovations to pop up at airports around the world.

Security

It's possible to breeze past airport security in the post-Sept. 11 world with the latest technological advancements. For example, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol programs allow applicants to join their Frequent Traveler Program, which has enrolled nearly 290,000 in its Trusted Traveler Programs.

Applicants are subject to recurrent background investigations and if accepted to the Global Entry program, members can enter the U.S. through kiosks at 25 international airports. Upon arrival, travelers place their fingertips on a scanner. The kiosks read their passport and users can then enter customs declarations. The kiosks issue a receipt, and the traveler is free to proceed to baggage claim.

CBP's TSA Pre-Check programs help passengers expedite the security process as well. Applicants are pre-screened and those accepted to the program bypass security lines. Members enter a special security passage instead where they can keep their shoes and belts on and leave their laptops in their cases. Once members reach the security gate, they again use a kiosk to scan their travel documents and proceed to their flight gate.

Travel insurance

Finally, travelers worried about their trip can purchase travel insurance at a self-service system at Malta International Airport. GasanMamo Insurance deployed the kiosks in 2009 in the airport's check-in lounge where they can buy travel insurance. The kiosks print insurance documents in the airport, helping passengers with last minute decisions and concerns and offer purchase protection 24-hours a day.

"Airports have only tapped the surface of potential benefits to staff and travelers when it comes to airport kiosks. Things like check-in and ticket printing have become standard methods for expediting lines and assisting travelers with their trip – this is what most people think of when they think of airport kiosks. If you look around airports you will see many kiosk displays that aren’t included in that limited definition of 'airport kiosk,'" said Laura Miller, director of Marketing for Kioware Kiosk Software.  "…From the time you park your car at an airport, you may have had the opportunity to interact with a kiosk – and if you haven’t, it’s a missed opportunity to simplify and streamline the traveler experience and visitor traffic flow."

Photo courtesy of Rick Brigante

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