Melbourne Airport has extended its contract with SITA for flexible and passenger-friendly technology to ready the airport for forecast passenger growth.
The technology in question is part of the airport’s multi-billion-dollar pipeline of investment designed to accommodate almost 70 million passengers a year by 2038. The passenger-friendly technologies will help the airport ensure a high-quality traveler experience as passenger numbers rise, supporting increasingly busy operations for its airline customers.
SITA already supplies a variety of flexible services for passenger check-in and bag drop in the International Terminal at Melbourne Airport. These technologies will be rolled out across other terminals, a move that is expected to culminate in more than 400 passenger touchpoints, including mobile and standard check-in desks, gate boarding, self-service check-in kiosks, and hybrid and standard self-bag drops.
These touchpoints are based on SITA’s common-use platform, AirportConnect Open, which is used at hundreds of airports worldwide. In particular, the hybrid check-in areas will enable the airport to offer the ideal mix of agent and self-service passenger processing based on the time of day, type of passenger traffic and airline preference. This flexibility supports the traveler-focused redesign of the airport terminals.
Luke Halliday, CIO of Melbourne Airport, said, “Technology plays an increasingly important role in the operation of an airport, particularly as we strive to streamline the passenger journey through the airports and make the processing experience as unobtrusive as possible.
“The flexible hybrid solution designed and being delivered by SITA will boost capacity while maintaining a customer-centric approach and contributing to our overall success.”
SITA also provides common-use services at other major airports in Australia, including Brisbane, Adelaide, Gold Coast and Cairns, ensuring the country remains a world leader in airline and airport services.