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Hong Kong International Airport uses RFID system to improve baggage handling efficiency

chrispeng August 10, 2023 Airport Management

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Hong Kong International Airport (HKG/VHHH) is the base of Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Hong Kong Airlines, Hong Kong Express, China Civil Aviation and Ganquan Airlines. It is located in Chek Lap Kok. The total investment amounted to 156 billion Hong Kong dollars, covering an area of ​​1,248 hectares, and it was opened in July 1998. In terms of annual passenger flow, Hong Kong International Airport ranks third in Asia, with more than 45 million passengers; the cargo volume ranks second in the world with 4 million metric tons. According to the original design plan, the final passenger throughput of Hong Kong International Airport is 87 million passengers/year, and the final cargo throughput is 9 million metric tons/year.

Recently, Hong Kong International Airport announced that all passenger check-in counters in the airport can print integrated RFID baggage tags, and airlines can use RFID technology according to their needs. The new type of baggage passive RFID tag has a built-in UHF RFID chip and a barcode printed on it, which replaces the previous barcode-only tag. This is one of the measures taken by the airport to continuously improve operational efficiency and enhance passenger services.

Under the traditional baggage barcode management method, airport staff need to use a handheld barcode scanner to scan the baggage tags at close range to read the relevant information of the baggage. This working method is not only inefficient, but at the same time, because the bar code label is easy to stain, resulting in a higher error rate. Compared with barcodes, after pasting RFID luggage tags on passengers’ luggage, UHF RFID readers can identify the ID of luggage tags at a long distance and from different angles, with faster reading speed and more accurate results. In addition, RFID luggage tags have more information storage than barcodes. According to the test results, the accurate scanning rate of using barcode luggage tags is 80%. After using RFID luggage tags, the airport baggage processing speed is greatly improved, and the effective reading rate reaches 97%. Interference impact), which can save 5% of time, manpower and operating capacity, and can handle 2,000 more outbound luggage per day.

In addition, the cost of an RFID luggage tag is about 1 yuan, and a barcode tag is 50 cents, which is slightly more expensive than a barcode tag. Mr. Ma Yaowen, General Manager of Air Passenger Services, Hong Kong International Airport Authority, emphasized that some of the newly added costs will not be passed on to passengers. RFID luggage tags only store passengers’ basic personal information-such as name and flight number, and will not infringe on personal privacy. information.

At present, the passenger terminal 1 and 2 of the Hong Kong International Airport, the urban pre-check-in counters at the Kowloon and Hong Kong Airport Express stations, the cross-border check-in facilities in the Pearl River Delta, and the airport baggage handling and sorting system are all RFID technology is adopted.It is understood that Hong Kong International Airport began testing the RFID baggage handling system in 2005. The initial investment of the RFID system project is 50 million Hong Kong dollars (RFID radio frequency bulletin: including computers and hardware equipment). RFID/barcode label printer equipment is provided by Intermec. Provided by the company, RFID readers and tags are provided by Motorola (formerly Xunbao)Technology Company-Symbol), using EPC Gen 2 RFID luggage tags, implementing ISO/IEC 18000 6c standards; system integration services are provided by RFID companies such as Marubeni of Japan. The RFID baggage handling system can operate 24 hours a day, and handle an average of 110,000 departure, arrival and transit baggages every day.

Airport staff put RFID tags on luggage

The RFID reader of the baggage handling system reads the baggage tag information

RFID readers are also installed near the luggage conveyor belt

The scope of use of luggage tags covers 50 airlines, including Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Air China, China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Hong Kong Express Airways, Thai Airways International, Northwest Airlines and United Aviation etc. At present, Hong Kong International Airport handles 40,000 pieces of outbound baggage every day. Among them, the total number of baggages using RFID tags accounts for about 90% of the total amount of outbound baggage.

Mr. Ma Yaowen, General Manager of Air Passenger Transport Business of the Airport Authority, displays RFID luggage tags

Mr. Ma Yaowen, General Manager of Air Passenger Services of Hong Kong International Airport Authority, said that in general, airlines are responsible for handling passenger baggage, and the AA is responsible for providing advanced and efficient technology and a reliable service platform to assist airlines in managing their baggage handling procedures. . Ma Yaowen believes that after the adoption of the RFID system, the efficiency of baggage handling has been greatly improved. I believe that after the full adoption of RFID baggage tags in 2008, the work efficiency and reliability will be further improved.

Cathay Pacific is one of the first airlines to use RFID baggage tags at Hong Kong International Airport. Cathay Pacific offers a large number of flights and receives passengers, ranking first among all airlines operated by Hong Kong International Airport. The general manager of the airport, Mr. He Shaowei, believes that the use of an efficient baggage handling system is the key to improving the level of operation and service quality.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) believes that the use of RFID technology to handle baggage is one of the ways to simplify the process at the airport. According to preliminary statistics, all airports in the world adopt baggage handling systems based on RFID technology, and the aviation industry can save US$760 million a year. In the five-year plan for RFID applications formulated by the International Air Transport Association, a total of 80 “busiest” airports will use RFID tags to track and process packages within 5 years. The 80 airports are from the United States (32), Europe (22), Canada, Central and South America (11), Asia (9), the Middle East (2), Australia (2), New Zealand (1) ) And South Africa (1).

Up to now, the international airports that have installed and used RFID baggage handling systems are as follows (incomplete statistics):

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