Lufthansa passengers with an existing booking can choose to be checked-in automatically 23 hours before their departure time.

Lufthansa is expanding its automatic check-in service, which will now be available on approximately 400 routes.

The service has previously been available for members of the Miles & More frequent flyer programme travelling on German and Italian routes, but will now be made available on a widespread basis having proved popular among passengers.

Passengers with an existing booking can choose to be automatically checked-in 23 hours before their flight and receive an electronic boarding pass, which can be accessed via email or a web-enabled mobile phone.

Passengers who are checked-in automatically but have baggage to check-in are required to drop their bags at a bag drop counter.

» More information can be found here.

FTE correspondent Ralph Anker interviewed Michael O’Leary in Budapest this week.

As low-cost carriers continue to explore every possible avenue to reduce costs, a number of them are starting to think radically to make savings, with self-service emerging as a common theme. However, one person who clearly isn’t a fan is Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary. FTE correspondent Ralph Anker, Editor of our sister publication anna.aero, made the most of a rare opportunity to ask the typically opinionated O’Leary for his views on self-service, mobile boarding and IATA’s Checkpoint of the Future…

FTE: Ryanair previously invested heavily in kiosks before moving check-in completely online. Do you regret this investment in kiosks?
MOL: Not at all. We bought a total of 80 kiosks for a 300-fleet airline. We put the kiosks into Stansted originally, where they were very successful for a period of time. The issue for us was that Dublin Airport turned around and wanted to charge us for space to put the kiosks in there when we’ve already paid for the terminal through the passenger charges, so why are we paying again? So, we then refused to buy any more kiosks, which was the sensible thing to do, and instead we moved check-in back onto the Internet, because what the hell does a kiosk do that you can’t do on the Internet? We were the first to move all of the check-in back onto the Internet because now 99% of passengers check-in online, but we still have some kiosks in Stansted. We spent very little on kiosks, less than €100,000.

Ryanair invested in 80 kiosks at Stansted Airport before adopting online check-in instead. “What the hell does a kiosk do that you can’t do on the internet?”, O’Leary asks.

FTE: Even when passengers check-in online, if they have baggage to check-in, they still have to queue up at bag drop counters. What are your plans to combat this with self-service bag drop?
MOL: None. There’s no way we’d ever let passengers loose on a self-service bag drop. They’d be losing the bags themselves. The key thing with us is only 25% of passengers are now checking-in a bag. We’ve actually got rid of the queues for checked-in bags and even at bag drop they’re tiny.

FTE: Have you heard of IATA’s Checkpoint of the Future? Does it represent a step forward?
MOL: No, I haven’t heard of it, but if it’s been developed by IATA I’m not too excited about it.

FTE: What are Ryanair’s plans regarding mobile boarding passes?
MOL: None, because again it does nothing. If you’ve printed out your piece of paper from the website, what does the mobile phone do for you? Nothing.

While self-service and utilising mobile technology might not be a priority for Ryanair, a number of other airlines are exploring the benefits in order to satisfy their growth projections. At FTE Asia 2012, February 8-10, more than 20 speakers from the likes of AirAsia, Emirates, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Air France KLM and Virgin Australia will address delegates on a range of themes including self-service, innovative baggage and passenger processing initiatives, mobile technology and NFC, and the airport of 2025.

>> View the full FTE Asia 2012 conference programme

>> Register for FTE Asia 2012

Mixed reaction from passengers in Asia has led to questions about the practicality of on-site self-service kiosks.

As self-service kiosks in Asia continue to receive a mixed response from passengers, the Future Travel Experience Linkedin group has become a hive of activity, with a number of industry players taking the chance to express their views on whether the self-service kiosk really is on the decline.

While airports such as Bangalore and Mumbai have reported strong demand for self-service, and airlines including Air China and China Airlines have recently introduced new self-service facilities, Singapore Airlines has removed its kiosks from Changi Airport due to low levels of usage.

Join your peers from Aéroports de Paris, ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, Aéroports de Montréal and SITA, who have already shared their views on the future of the self-service kiosk, and have your say here.

Osaka Kansai Airport is among eight airports outside of Mainland China where Air China now offers self-service check-in kiosks. (Credit: PRNewsFoto/Air China)

Having recently added Tokyo Haneda Airport to the list of airports outside of Mainland China where passengers can use self-service check-in kiosks, Air China has now introduced the facility to three more airports – Vancouver, Osaka Kansai and Nagoya.

The kiosks offer communication in five languages – Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and French – and passengers can use them to select their seat, accrue Air China miles and print their boarding pass.

The Chinese flag carrier now offers self-service check-in at a total of eight airports outside of Mainland China. In addition to the four aforementioned airports, they are also available in Tokyo Narita, Hong Kong, Frankfurt and Stockholm-Arlanda airports.

Air China’s self-service kiosks are in compliance with IATA’s Fast Travel initiative.

More information is available here.

Passengers who make use of online, SMS or self-service kiosk check-in facilities will be offered reduced fares as part of Jetstar Airways’ self-service drive.

Australian low-cost carrier Jetstar Airways is to offer discounted fares to passengers who make use of online, SMS or self-service kiosk check-in facilities.

The move is the latest stage of the airline’s drive to establish a 100% self–service solution.

As Stephen Tame, CIO, General Manager IT, Jetstar Airways, explained at Check-In Asia, the airline is continually embracing self-service to reduce terminal costs and to simplify the airport experience for the passenger.

Earlier this year, the airline introduced an innovative SMS system, which allows passengers to check-in and board via SMS, even if they don’t own a smartphone.

More information is available here.

The new China Airlines check-in facility at Taipei Songshan Airport includes a dedicated self-service area with four common-use self-service (CUSS) kiosks.

Passengers who use the self-service kiosks can check-in for their flight and print their boarding pass and baggage tags, before proceeding to a designated bag drop area.

To mark the opening of the new facility, the airline held a special ceremony with a ribbon cutting and a traditional lion dancing performance.

Any passenger who uses the self-service facilities will be offered a 10% discount on duty free purchases until the end of January 2012 to encourage usage of the kiosks.

More information can be found here.

Self-service check-in at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has increased from 36% to 65% over the last 12 months.

Web, kiosk and mobile check-in have been catalysts of a sharp rise in self-service check-in at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai over the last 12 months.

According to the 2011 SITA Passenger Self-Service Survey, self-service check-in at the airport has increased from 36% in 2010 to 65% in 2011. The report also found that the web check-in rate was higher in Mumbai than at any other airport included in the survey.

Meenakshi Agrawal, Vice President – IT, Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd, said: “This year’s survey shows that passengers really appreciate the degree of self-service which the airport and the airlines have made available to them over the last year. Our strategy around passenger facilitation has been validated and we have gained a very useful insight into how this might evolve in the future.”

Vikram Sethi, Vice President and Head of Terminal Operations, Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd, added: “The key aspect was understanding passenger perceptions and placing self check-in kiosks at locations where passengers found it convenient to access them. The next step was to provide bag drops adjacent to self check-in kiosks and we then saw a significant increase in usage.

“There will be a further increase in offsite check-in/self check-in as the government requirement for airlines to stamp boarding cards generated from kiosks is being discontinued and airlines will have to conduct identity checks at the boarding gate. MIAL has a target of increasing Common Use Self Service (CUSS) usage to 30% this year, from the 20% of passengers who use self check-in facilities at the moment.”

News of this sharp rise in demand for self-service in Mumbai follows Bangalore International Airport’s recent disclosure of its plans to further embrace self-service.

More information can be found here.

Singapore Airlines has decided to remove its 24 self-service check-in kiosks at Changi Airport following low usage among passengers.

Passengers flying with Singapore Airlines from Changi Airport will no longer be able to check-in using self-service kiosks after the airline decided to remove them.

A total of 24 kiosks had been in place, but passengers have shown a preference for online and mobile check-in, resulting in a low level of usage of the self-service kiosks.

The kiosks had reduced check-in times to around five minutes per passenger, as opposed to eight to 10 minutes for passengers using check-in counters.

Changi Airport will still offer self-service check-in kiosks to other airlines that wish to offer them to their customers.

Click here for more information.

Bangalore Airport’s Sridhar.C.K, Senior Manager – Terminal Operations, discusses the airport’s future plans, including self-tagging and bag drop.

Having become the first airport in India to receive Baggage Improvement Programme certification from IATA in August this year, Bangalore International Airport is now seeking to expand its self-service capabilities.

Ever since its opening in May 2008, the airport has shown a willingness to embrace self-service, as is highlighted by its utilisation of Common Use Self-Service (CUSS), and even though the uptake of self-service among passengers in India has lagged behind many other countries, Sridhar.C.K, Senior Manager – Terminal Operations, Bangalore International Airport Limited, explained that the expansion of self-service is very much a priority.

“We are open to any new technology at Bangalore Airport if it really enhances the passenger experience,” he said. “There are a lot of plans for the expansion of self-service. We are having discussions with the airlines, in fact.” Among the capabilities being explored, he explained, are self-service bag drop and self-tagging.

Increasing expectations

As passenger numbers continue to increase sharply in India, passenger expectations are also on the rise. “Demand is high and it’s increasing very fast,” Sridhar continued. “Most people from India have started moving away from the country for business. They have experienced many airports, the new technology out there and the passenger experiences out there, so obviously we are also getting plugged in to this kind of experience. We will be looking into that and we’ll be initiating those kind of passenger touch points.”

A vital way of ensuring a high level of service to the passenger is to “decongest the airport” and one avenue that is being explored is to add more CUSS kiosks to the existing 18 to move more passengers away from the check-in counters to further reduce queues and increase efficiency. As well as allowing passengers to print off their own boarding pass at the kiosk, Sridhar explained that self-printing of bag tags may also be offered in the near term, while also outlining that “we are open for mobile check-in”.

Although self-service in the airport environment in India and the wider region has, up until now, been modest in comparison to other parts of the world, Bangalore International Airport’s willingness to embrace it, along with the more open-minded, modern passenger, suggests that the foundations are indeed being laid for a self-service revolution in India.

International Faster, Smarter Check-in has been launched in Sydney, Auckland and Wellington, while plans are also in place to introduce it to Melbourne, Brisbane, Queenstown and Christchurch.

The introduction of Q Card Readers at key trans-Tasman airports marks the launch of Qantas’ international Faster, Smarter Check-in initiative.

The new readers will allow Platinum, Gold and Silver Frequent Flyers and Qantas Club members travelling across the Tasman to use their Qantas Card to check-in.

Customers travelling between Australia and New Zealand, who hold an Australian or New Zealand passport, can scan their Q Card passport to complete the check-in process.

Alan Joyce, CEO, Qantas, said: “Faster, Smarter Check-in has proved so popular with our frequent flyers for their domestic travel, we are now implementing stage one of our international roll out with Sydney, Auckland and Wellington.

“Our trans-Tasman frequent flyers can now scan their frequent flyer card and passport and retrieve their boarding pass within seconds of arriving at the airport. It’s all about cutting down the journey time for our customers.”

Plans are now in place to introduce the Q Card Readers to Melbourne, Brisbane and Queenstown before the end of the year, before it’s introduced in Christchurch next year.

The roll out of the international Faster, Smarter Check-in project follows the successful launch of the domestic Next Generation Check-in project, which was recognised at the Future Travel Experience Awards in Vancouver at FTE 2011.

More information can be found here.