Having stated that CUPPS is not currently a priority for IATA in terms of enhancing the passenger experience, Paul Behan, Head of Passenger Experience said: “Airlines are focusing on making sure that what they deploy has mass-market benefits for the consumer.”

In recent years, the uptake of CUPPS (Common Use Passenger Processing Systems) has been more steady than speedy, and while positivity still remains around the initiative, IATA has decided to “leave it to the marketplace to roll out CUPPS as and when it’s needed”, rather than treating it as a priority to directly enhance the passenger experience.

“In the grand scheme of things, CUPPS is not a priority in terms of airline investment,” explained Paul Behan, Head of Passenger Experience, IATA. “Airlines are focusing on making sure that what they deploy has mass-market benefits for the consumer.”

This is not to say, however, that the widespread rollout of CUPPS will not materialise. In fact, from West to East, various major airports and airlines are showing their support. For instance, Las Vegas McCarran International Airport has been a keen advocate of CUPPS since its inception, the new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport will be CUPPS compliant, and Incheon International Airport has recently implemented CUPPS alongside Asiana Airlines and Korean Air.

“Our newly deployed CUPPS, called AirCUS, is a faster system and can offer prompt A/S and system troubleshooting support as it’s using a locally developed common use system,” explained Hyung Jun Kim, Senior Manager, U-Airport Team, Air Marketing Division, Incheon International Airport Corp. “Also, it gives airlines increased work efficiency with optimised customer-oriented functions.

“Using CUPPS, Incheon Airport can manage the possible events in the airport on our own and maximise the overall airport process.” Also of importance, he said, is the fact that CUPPS allows the airport to “escape from dependency on expensive commercial IT solutions”.

CUPPS progressing in Asia

Ingalls: “CUPPS will not be something that is evident out front, just as a building’s foundation is not evident or obtrusive to the users of the building.”

Elsewhere in Asia, there are notable examples of CUPPS adoption. For example, China TravelSky has participated in the development of the standard for a number of years and Sam Ingalls, Chair of the CUPPS Leadership Team, explained “they are now on the verge of rolling out the platform at airports across China”.

“Given the rapid move into the marketplace, the CUPPS Group is just finishing up the CUPPS Implementation Guide, which contains general guidance to airports, airlines and to vendors regarding CUPPS installations, whether in a ‘greenfield’ situation, or in a move from legacy CUTE to CUPPS,” Ingalls said.

Progress is also being made, he said, with regard to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, while another part of CUPPS, Aviation Information Data Exchange (AIDX) – which allows simple, direct communication of flight information into flight information systems by airlines – “is also realising uptake around the world”.

Creating a standardised platform

Las Vegas McCarran International Airport has been a keen advocate of CUPPS since its inception, the new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport will be CUPPS compliant, and Incheon International Airport has recently implemented CUPPS alongside Asiana Airlines and Korean Air.

So, if uptake of CUPPS is seemingly on the rise, why is it not being treated as a priority by the IATA Passenger Experience Management Group? Behan explained: “The adoption of CUPPS will happen naturally. It doesn’t ‘touch’ the passenger directly, like initiatives such as Fast Travel or the Checkpoint of the Future. If you take those on their own, they directly touch the passenger, but CUPPS is effectively ‘once-removed’.”

He continued: “I do think CUPPS will happen, but it’s a cyclical thing. If the CUTE system is still working well, airports and airlines will be reluctant to move across to CUPPS. Five years from now though, I would say that CUTE systems will generally be upgraded to CUPPS.”

Ingalls leant his support to this theory, explaining that “the industry had to take the step forward at some point in time”.

“CUPPS will not be something that is evident out front, just as a building’s foundation is not evident or obtrusive to the users of the building,” he said. “It will facilitate lower cost peripherals and will support new technologies such as Near Field Communications (NFC) and self-tagging and self-boarding. It also directly supports single queue, multi-carrier functionality, which most legacy CUTE systems never did very well, if at all.

“The biggest benefit,” he added, “is that there will be one standardised common use platform, rather than a multiplicity of standards.”

While uptake remains steady, even if CUPPS is not necessarily a priority in terms of providing an immediate enhancement to the passenger experience, its eventual widespread adoption appears almost inevitable.

December 2011: James Bennett, CEO, Abu Dhabi Airports Company, receives the Fast Travel Gold Award from Tony Tyler, IATA CEO, in recognition of the implementation of all five Fast Travel projects alongside Etihad Airways.

The success of IATA’s Fast Travel initiative in 2011 has been partly driven by strong support among airlines and airports in Asia. The overriding aim for 2011 was to deliver all five Fast Travel projects at five major airport/airline locations, and this was surpassed, with a total of seven locations delivering bags-ready-to-go (self-tagging and fast bag drop); document check; self-boarding; flight re-booking; and bag recovery (lost bag registration).

In addition to four European locations, successful implementations were achieved by Etihad at Abu Dhabi, Air China at Beijing, and Air New Zealand at Auckland.

“We are seeing strong growth of Fast Travel initiatives in Asia,” explained Paul Behan, Head of Passenger Experience at IATA. “For example, we have learned from the systems providers in China that more than 33 million passengers will have used self-service check-in during 2011 across all delivery channels, which shows strong growth in what is a very short timeframe since the launch of these new services relatively recently. We expect the growth to continue strongly in 2012 and beyond.”

While self-service is continuing to increase in general in Asia, as is highlighted by the sharp surge in uptake in Mumbai, Bangalore Airport’s plans to further embrace self-service, and Air China’s self-service expansion, Behan explained that offering passengers choice is more important than forcing self-service facilities upon them. This approach is reflected in Singapore Airlines’ decision to remove their self-service kiosks from Changi Airport due to low usage. Essentially, the airline offered a self-service option before deciding that the demand among passengers didn’t in fact exist.

Behan said: “IATA has always promoted choice for different markets, airlines and passengers. In terms of actual delivery channels (kiosks, web or mobile), our view is that the end result, more self-management of travel is the real goal and so whatever tools are appropriate will win the day in terms of convenience and choice.”

Evolving self-service kiosks

Behan: “The kiosk still has a vital role to play, but may look very different in the future.”

While the Singapore Airlines case may prove that in that particular instance, self-service kiosks were not required in their current guise, this does not mean that there is a risk of kiosks becoming altogether obsolete.

Behan continued: “For example, we are seeing self-service entering the realm of government processes (immigration in/outbound) and so specific devices have a role to play. However, we are still seeing strong growth in kiosks in other markets and so we don’t feel that kiosks are going away anytime soon. Rather, we will see the rise of “passenger processing devices” and in the areas of biometrics collections, passport scanning, bag tag printing at the airport, and secure transaction of ancillary services, the kiosk still has a vital role to play, but may look very different in the future.”

IATA’s plans for 2012

Having experienced another strong year in 2011, the Fast Travel initiative naturally remains a priority for IATA, and ambitious plans are in place for 2012. Over the course of the next 12 months, IATA will drive the programme towards mass deployment and has set a target of achieving 100 airline/airport pairs with a minimum of three Fast Travel projects implemented.

To help achieve this, the Association will provide the necessary tools and information to support the target locations. “These tools include Implementation Guides and promotional activities at industry events,” Behan said. “We will use the global IATA network to work closely with the targets on a regional and local basis.”

If 2011 is anything to go by, Asia could well be primed to be one of the standout Fast Travel performers in 2012.

Air France, Aeroflot, Alitalia, China Eastern, China Southern, Delta Air Lines, Korean Air, KLM and Vietnam Airlines will all use the co-located SkyTeam check-in facility at Beijing Capital International Airport.

A brand new co-located check-in area has been unveiled at Beijing Capital International Airport for members of the SkyTeam alliance.

The new facility, located in Terminal 2, will be used by Air France, Aeroflot, Alitalia, China Eastern, China Southern, Delta Air Lines, Korean Air, KLM and Vietnam Airlines.

The facility is the first of its kind in China and includes 50 check-in counters, with 10 self-service kiosks to be added before the end of the year. Premium passengers will benefit from dedicated check-in counters.

Gordon Humpherys, VP Airport Services, SkyTeam, said: “The co-location of SkyTeam carriers worldwide is an integral part of our strategy as it offers tangible benefits to both our customers and our members.

“With so many SkyTeam members serving Beijing, the shared facility strengthens our brand in this region and makes travelling through the airport easier for passengers, while enabling airlines to realise a number of important synergies.”

Swiss International Air Lines passengers can now choose to check-in automatically and receive their boarding pass via email or SMS 20 hours before their flight.

Passengers who book their flights via the Swiss International Air Lines website can now choose to be checked-in automatically, rather than manually checking-in online.

Passengers who choose to use the facility will be checked-in and assigned a seat by the airline, and the passenger will then be sent their boarding pass 20 hours before their scheduled departure time.

The boarding pass will be sent either by email or SMS in the form of a mobile boarding pass. This service is available to passengers who book their flights three days in advance via www.swiss.com.

Swiss is the latest airline to offer automatic check-in following the likes of SAS Scandinavian Airlines and Air France KLM.

More information is available here.

Lufthansa offers passengers three check-in options: self-service kiosks, online and mobile. (© Photographer: Wunderman, Frankfurt - © Models: Wunderman, Frankfurt)

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has presented Lufthansa with the Fast Travel Gold Award.

The Fast Travel initiative focuses on six main areas of the passenger journey: Check-in, Bags ready to go, Document Check, Flight re-booking, Self-boarding and Bag recovery. The presentation of the Gold Award to Lufthansa recognises the airline’s efforts in each of these areas at its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich.

Lufthansa offers passengers check-in kiosks, online check-in and mobile check-in, while self-service bag drop has also been adopted by the airline.

Meanwhile, the German flag-carrier also offers a total of 160 self-boarding gates across German airports.

More information is available here.

The Checkpoint of the Future concept is designed to strengthen security and reduce queues and intrusive searches at airports, using intelligence-driven risk-based measures.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has unveiled the first mock-up of the Checkpoint of the Future, which is designed to improve the passengers’ airport experience.

At the heart of the Checkpoint of the Future concept are three points:

• strengthened security by focusing resources where risk is greatest;
• supporting this risk-based approach by integrating passenger information into the checkpoint process; and
• maximising throughput for the vast majority of travellers who are deemed to be low risk with no compromise on security levels.

Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO, said: “Today’s checkpoint was designed four decades ago to stop hijackers carrying metal weapons. Since then, we have grafted on more complex procedures to meet emerging threats. We are more secure, but it is time to rethink everything. We need a process that responds to today’s threat. It must amalgamate intelligence based on passenger information and new technology. That means moving from a system that looks for bad objects, to one that can find bad people.”

Biometric-based security

Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO: “We need a process that responds to today’s threat. It must amalgamate intelligence based on passenger information and new technology.”

The Checkpoint of the Future is aimed at ending the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to airport security. Instead, based on a biometric identifier in the passport or other travel document, passengers will be directed to one of three lanes: ‘Known Traveller’, ‘Normal’ or ‘Enhanced Security’.

‘Known Travellers’ (trusted travellers) will have expedited access, ‘Normal’ screening will be applied to the majority of travellers, while randomly chosen passengers and those deemed to be high-risk will use the ‘Enhanced Security’ lane. Using new technologies will also allow passengers to pass through security without having to remove clothes or unpack belongings.

Currently, 19 governments are working to define standards for a Checkpoint of the Future.

More information on the Checkpoint of the Future can be found here.

The CUPPS group is in the process of writing the CUPPS Implementation Guide, which will contain RFP guidance – such as what to ask for and how to ask, in order to attain a CUPPS-compliant solution – as well as other specific information and addended documents.

CUPPS is now moving strongly out into the marketplace, with RFPs in the process of being issued around the world. John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, has selected a CUPPS solution, and others are also in the tender process. Las Vegas McCarran Airport is upgrading to CUPPS, with the current provider expecting to have the CUPPS system in place by mid-summer 2011. “It is exciting to see it coming to life to meet the needs of the aviation industry,” said Samuel Ingalls, Assistant Director of Aviation, Information Systems, Las Vegas McCarran and Chair of the CUPPS Leadership Team.

The Implementation Guide will contain RFP guidance – such as what to ask for and how to ask, in order to attain a CUPPS-compliant solution – as well as other specific information and addended documents.

Thomas Jeske, Senior Manager, IT Infrastructure, Lufthansa Airlines and CUPPS Co-Vice Chair, commented: “For air carriers, this will be an excellent guidance document to CUPPS, in particular to those that may not have been exposed to shared systems that much in the past. It also describes the various steps an airline needs to go through in order to obtain and use a CUPPS application.”

One of the important areas where progress is being made is with regard to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. “The whole idea of common use is challenging with respect to PCI requirements,” explained Ingalls. “A group, including payment card representatives, has been actively working to ensure that the common use environment is secure, in terms of payment processing, into the ongoing future.”

Another part of CUPPS also realising uptake around the world is Aviation Information Data Exchange (AIDX) – a format that allows simple, direct communication of flight information into flight information systems by air carriers. “It provides for a standardised interface for that flight information, mitigating the need for multiple customised interfaces into many various systems. Most flight information display system providers are involved and are now rolling out AIDX-based systems. It is already in place at several airports, including Denver and McCarran, to name just a couple,” said Ingalls.

Supporting new check-in and boarding technologies

Jeske: “I am pleased to see that the support from the existing – legacy CUTE – platform suppliers to CUPPS is obvious and that new CUPPS platform suppliers are ready to enter into the market.”

While CUPPS will benefit all stakeholders, the carriers will benefit mostly from the new certification and deployment processes. Carriers will no longer need multiple applications for multiple shared systems, reducing development costs. “They also do not need to certify their CUPPS applications with all the providers, but once compliance testing has successfully been completed only remote integration testing needs to take place with the respective CUPPS platform suppliers,” explained Jeske. “There is also more predictability as to what a new shared system at an airport will look like, as CUPPS provides a set of minimum defined requirements that an air carrier can just expect to find at a CUPPS airport.”

The CUPPS technical specification is currently on version 1.02, with another update in the works. Perhaps one of the biggest upcoming moves is to converge CUSS onto the CUPPS platform. Ingalls explained: “Such a convergence will allow a shift away from a particular island of technology – albeit an important one – to a situation where a customer-facing version of an air carrier’s application can reside on the same foundational platform as the agent-facing application does.”

The Common Use Working Group (CUWG) recently noted the need for a technical standard for the gate information display systems and lobby display systems in the common use environment and is just beginning that effort. The working name is Common Use Passenger Information Display Systems or ‘CUPIDS’. “This type of informational signage has become operationally critical and provides targeted directional and instructional information to the customers. The ability to easily and efficiently achieve this in a common use environment will prove beneficial to the industry,” commented Ingalls.

CUPPS will also be able to support all of the new technology and processes coming out of the various passenger experience groups, such as near field communications (NFC) in the check-in and boarding process, self-boarding and self-tagging.

“While all of this will take time to realise, in terms of full benefit, the industry had to take the step forward at some point in time. Not doing anything simply was not an option,” concluded Ingalls.

The interest and active involvement of a broad mix of airports, airlines and vendors is encouraging and signals that CUPPS is primed for success.

IATA’s aim for 2011 is to implement all five Fast Travel projects at five major airports.

Having surpassed its target of achieving 60 new Fast Travel implementations in 2010, IATA (International Air Transport Association) has set another ambitious target for this year, as it aims to implement all five Fast Travel projects at five major airports.

The five project areas are: bags-ready-to-go (self-tagging and fast bag drop); document check; self-boarding; flight re-booking; and bag recovery (lost bag registration).

Alongside providing a complete self-service suite to improve the passenger experience, industry cost savings are also central to Fast Travel. By the end of 2010, 66 new implementations had been achieved over the course of the 12 months, taking the overall total to 120.

“We are very pleased with the industry appetite for Fast Travel, which illustrates the recognition of the value represented by the Fast Travel self-service projects,” said Chris Goater, IATA’s Communications Manager. “There is now a critical mass of implementations that allows us to move to the second phase of the project – namely a focus on providing an end-to-end self-service experience for the passenger. By 2020, our vision is that 80% of passengers will have access to a full self-service suite when they travel.”

Portraying the global appeal of self-service, recent implementations have taken place in Australia, France and the United States. Qantas, for instance, has incorporated bags-ready-to-go and self-boarding, Air France has adopted self-tagging in Bordeaux, and American Airlines has launched self-tagging at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Goater said: “The attraction of the Fast Travel programme is that it represents a win for airports, airlines and passengers. Airports have more flexibility in using existing infrastructure to meet current needs, as self-service facilities take up less space. Airports and airlines can also enhance throughput and better manage passenger flows at peak times. Airlines have the opportunity to enhance the passenger experience, reduce costs and delays. Passengers can have more choice, convenience and control throughout their journey.”

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is currently trialling self-tagging as part of the Fast Travel programme. (Photo credit: Sandy L. Stevens, Austin Aviation Dept.)

Fast Travel confidence

While the project has enjoyed great success to date, the target that has been set for 2011 clearly highlights IATA’s firm belief in the potential of Fast Travel. Although the target may be ambitious, there is no shortage of confidence that the objective can be achieved.

“This year’s board target is challenging, as it involves bringing all initiatives together in one location,” Goater explained. “Only one airline – Lufthansa – has implemented all five projects to date, so the task at hand is significant.

“Industry cooperation amongst airports, airlines and ground handlers is critical to implement the self-service suite in the same place. IATA is introducing tools that can help with that cooperation.” Known as the ‘Fast Travel Matchmaker’, this tool will allow airports and airlines to plan implementations together and will also allow stakeholders to share project information and communicate with each other on the status of implementation worldwide.

“Industry commitment and interest is critical to meeting the target,” Goater added. “We are optimistic based on the response so far and our success in previous years. IATA is committed to supporting the industry in introducing a self-service suite for passengers.”

Taubman: “TSA encourages innovation and efficiency within the aviation industry, and works with airports and air carriers when new processes are implemented to ensure they maintain the same level of high security as the existing systems in place.”

Many of the new innovative technologies and processes that airports and airlines wish to test and implement require existing regulatory requirements to be revised.

Justin Taubman, Project Manager of Passenger Innovation, outlined the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) perspective, explaining that the TSA works closely with industry associations to collaborate and ensure they are getting the necessary support to evaluate the innovative technologies and processes that the industry is moving towards.

“When the industry collaborates with the TSA during the planning process, we can provide additional input to help facilitate a positive outcome,” he said.

Taubman: “The TSA continues to work with industry on the potential use of self-tagging.”

The TSA works to maintain strong relationships with industry associations in many ways, including sending representatives to many of their annual and semi-annual conferences to keep up with where the industry is headed. This methodology enables the TSA to have an understanding of the types of projects in development. When the industry proposes an initiative such as passenger self-tagging, the TSA has learned about the proposed technology, explained Taubman.

“The TSA continues to work with industry on the potential use of self-tagging. TSA encourages innovation and efficiency within the aviation industry, and works with airports and air carriers when new processes are implemented to ensure they maintain the same level of high security as the existing systems in place,” he explained.

Air China went live with the ‘bags ready to go’ project in Beijing as part of the Fast Travel programme. The Chinese carrier installed self-service kiosks with self-tagging in April this year.

Like each of the Simplifying the Business (StB) initiatives, Fast Travel has been developed to satisfy two specific criteria: to lower the costs incurred by the airline industry and to improve the passenger experience.

The overall aim of the project is that by 2020, 80% of global passengers will be offered a complete self-service suite based on industry standards. In order to achieve this, the programme is made up of six separate self-service concepts, five of which are active, with each designed to provide the passenger with more control over their air transport experience.

These five projects are: bags ready to go (self-tagging and fast bag drop); document check; self-boarding; flight re-booking; and bag recovery (lost bag registration). The sixth part of the programme covers self-service check-in but with industry standards already being developed on a global scale, this is not active within Fast Travel.

Having set a target of achieving 114 implementations before the end of 2010, the programme is on target to satisfy this aim. “This target means that we will need a total of 60 new implementations this year alone,” Copart explained. “In terms of where we are today, we are at 97 overall, with 43 new implementations so far this year. So, we are about two thirds of the way down the line and we’re very confident that we will achieve our aim.”

Global appeal

The Fast Travel programme aims to achieve 114 separate self-service installations before the end of 2010. So far, there have been 97 installations, including Lufthansa’s self-boarding gates at Munich Airport.

In keeping with IATA’s ideology, Fast Travel is a truly global initiative; a fact highlighted by the vast array of airlines that have already taken steps to implement at least one of the five active self-service projects.

Among them is Air China, which has installed self-service kiosks with self-tagging at Beijing, while Air New Zealand has also implemented self-service technology in Auckland Airport’s domestic terminal. Meanwhile, United Airlines, Lufthansa and the Star Alliance have also embraced the programme, with implementations at Reagan Washington National, Munich and Copenhagen respectively.

Copart: "Fast Travel benefits the passenger not just because they can do these things themselves, but also because it's reducing queues and putting the passenger in control of their journey."

Copart said: “We’re very pleased with the way Fast Travel has been received by the industry. The programme has continually exceeded its targets since its inception and the fact that it is not a mandatory programme shows the strength of what Fast Travel provides in terms of a win-win proposition to the industry.”

Industry-wide benefits

While the programme was developed partly in response to the findings of the 2009 IATA Corporate Air Travel Survey (CATS) – which found that the majority of the 10,000 frequent air travellers questioned would like to see the introduction of more self-service options within the industry – Copart explained that the benefits equally extend to airlines and airports.

“Fast Travel benefits the passenger not just because they can do these things themselves, but also because it’s reducing queues and putting the passenger in control of their journey. There’s transparency between the passenger and the airline and that builds confidence and trust,” he said. “For the airport, one of the biggest benefits is maximising the infrastructure, while for airlines it maximises operations at various levels. For example, self-boarding has improved the turnaround time of aircraft at the gate. That allows airlines to optimise their staffing requirements and provide their staff with more added-value passenger-related tasks.”

As well as improving both the passenger experience and the operational efficiency of airlines and airports, Fast Travel also offers a significant financial benefit. “Approximately $1.6 billion dollars could be saved annually should this be implemented fully,” Copart said. This figure only takes into account four of the six projects, with check-in and flight re-booking excluded – the latter of which is subject to the continued development of a business case – meaning that overall savings would be even greater once all of the projects are taken into consideration.