Travel technology firm Portr has launched its London-based AirPortr baggage delivery service for passengers traveling to or from London Heathrow Airport.
From December 14, 2015, travelers can pay a fee of £30 (US$46) for two items of luggage to be collected from their home, hotel or office, and delivered to the airport within hours. This enables the customer to attend meetings and use public transport on the day of departure while being luggage free. The service can also be used to deliver luggage from the airport to a London location.
Chris Walsh, director and head of customer experience at Portr, said, “Our vision is to fundamentally change how people travel, putting them back in control of their own agenda rather than burdensome baggage dictating their itinerary. AirPortr is all about increasing the efficiency of your time, you know that your bags are being securely delivered, which leaves you to make the most of your first or last day in London, we like to call it ‘Luggage Freedom’.
“Excitingly at London Heathrow, we are also launching a new customer experience approach as we move to deliver a ‘roaming/mobile’ interaction as opposed to requiring the customer to ‘find us’ in the airport. Staff, without the physical restriction of being sited at a desk, are supported with additional new technology developments. We now have an ideal situation where we can either take or hand over a passenger’s bags at multiple touch points in the terminal, better suiting them.”
Randel Darby, CEO of AirPortr, said, “Our vision has always been to transform the way we travel here in London. Today’s announcement marks a major milestone and realization of that vision to deliver ‘bag free’ travel. We are delighted to now be working with Heathrow, the UK’s hub airport, a fundamental pillar of our strategy to connect our city with global business and tourism.
“It has taken several years for the technology and secure processes to be put in place in order to realize what is a very complex service while ensuring a reliable and seamless customer experience. We now look forward to bringing this benefit to Heathrow’s many millions of passengers in time for their Christmas travels, and into 2016 as we grow and help make journeys better, together.”