Swissport, the airport ground services and air cargo handling services provider has entered into a strategic partnership with Airportr – the digital platform and provider of smart baggage management solutions.
With the ability to transform the passenger experience as well as drive operational efficiencies, the collaboration will enable off-airport baggage processing for airports and airlines.
Regardless of whether they travel in economy, business or first class, passengers will be able to pre-book an at-home baggage collection slot for departing flights. A courier will then digitally verify ID and travel documents at the doorstep and seal the baggage for secure delivery to the airport. Live updates and digital airline baggage tags will enable passengers to keep an eye on their bags movements. The solution will also mean passengers can travel bag-free to the airport and bypass the check-in and baggage drop at the airport, proceeding instead directly to security. The solution also streamlines the last leg of passengers’ journeys, allowing them to skip baggage reclaim altogether by digitally submitting an eDeclaration to have their bags cleared through customs and delivered to their destination within hours of landing.
While off-airport processing facilitates truly contactless airport journeys, it also creates value for distribution partners by generating new ancillary revenue streams. And for operators it increases the throughput of existing airport infrastructure by reducing passenger interactions, queues and resource requirements. With 66% of Airportr users switching from car usage to public transport as a result of travelling baggage free it also has a positive sustainability impact.
“The partnership with Swissport is a significant milestone – it outlines a blueprint and scalable platform for the introduction of smart baggage solutions across the aviation industry,” said Randel Darby, CEO and Founder at AirPortr. “With Swissport, we are transforming baggage from a customer and cost pain point into a new revenue stream, increasing handling efficiency and improving the passenger experience.”
The first deployment will launch imminently and will be facilitated by a market strategy that will enable AirPortr to deploy rapidly, making the product available across airline client networks.
Bruno Stefani, SVP and MD for Switzerland and France added: “Swissport strives to continuously enhance its service quality. We want to generate added value for airlines and their passengers in order to offer a simpler and even more enjoyable travel experience in the future. AirPortr’s platform, as well as our global network and existing airline customer relationships, enable an end-to-end solution and user experience for passengers. The complexity of baggage handling will be transformed through user-friendly, intuitive and scalable solutions into a customer-centric service for passengers, allowing the to personalise ancillary services according to their individual needs.”
