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Self-Service Baggage Drop Off

Airports face multiple issues today; increasing passenger numbers, limited terminal space and capacity, shrinking operational costs and a drive to optimize income are a few. The challenge for an airport is how to increase check-in capacity while reducing cost, optimizing income, and improving the passenger experience, all while avoiding major terminal investments.

While self-service airline check-in kiosks have become ubiquitous, automating the baggage drop off process has been anything but. Even when already checked in, dropping off your baggage requires interacting with a person, creating a bottleneck and a limit to terminal capacity. The Netherlands company BagDrop BV recognized the need for self-service baggage drop off and has developed a solution that is compact, sleek, and cost effective.

The BagDrop system is designed around the passenger, and dropping your bags consists of five simple steps. In step 1, BagDrop identifies the passenger by passport or boarding pass. In step 2, BagDrop interacts with the passenger via its display screen, verifying flight details, reviewing airline regulations and asking security questions. In step 3, the baggage tag (and boarding pass, if needed) is printed. Step 4 accepts the bag itself, and automatically checks for readable, correct label, bag dimensions and weight, and verifies that an animal or child has not accidentally entered the system. Step 5 prints the claim tag, transfers the bag to the baggage handling system, and confirms a successful transaction to the passenger, who can now head to the gate. The compact design of BagDrop allows many passengers to drop their bags within a small space, increasing airport handling capacity significantly.

Since the key to a successful implementation is to maximize uptime, BagDrop needed a highly reliable printer to actually print the baggage tag to be affixed to the luggage. After some research, they selected Hengstler GmbH in Aldingen, Germany. Hengstler has been innovating in the printer business since the 1960s and is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of specialty thermal printers.

BagDrop required a printer with some unique capabilities for use in their system. First, the printer itself needed to be compact and easy to load. It had to be reliable and capable of sensing top of form. Finally, BagDrop needed a printer that could pull the large paper rolls needed to ensure long operating times between paper roll changes. Their search led them to the Hengstler eXtendo X-56 printer.

The eXtendo X-56 thermal printer, with paper widths up to 60 mm, was ideal for this application. With a compact form factor in all dimensions, it was a breeze to fit two X-56 units into each BagDrop station. Autoloading capability meant that the paper just has to be inserted into the back of the printer and it will load itself. The robust design of the X-56 translates to greater reliability and longer life.

Thanks to BagDrop and Hengstler, self-service baggage drop off is now a reality!

For more information on eXtendo® printers, visit www.hengstler.com. For information on BagDrop self-service baggage drop off systems, visit www.bagdrop.com.

For further information regarding this article, please contact Mr. Leslie Wenzler at +49-7424-89545.