SITA brings self-service to Kuwait International Airport

Kuwait International Airport’s seven million annual passengers will enjoy new self-service check-in kiosks in a deal with air transport IT specialist, SITA. The new kiosks, which are in the final stages of testing, are part of an eight-year contract renewal for SITA’s AirportConnect Open passenger processing platform.

Fawaz El Farah, President of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Kuwait, which sponsored the agreement with SITA, said: “Kuwait International Airport is growing at a rate of 5% annually. SITA’s self-service technology provides an efficient way to help manage these extra passengers, while enhancing their experience in the airport.”

Mohammed Hariri, Chairman of the Airline Operating Committee, Kuwait International Airport, said: “SITA’s passenger processing platform gives us more flexibility and enhances our operational efficiency as passenger numbers continue to rise. We’re excited to take this technology one step further and offer self-service kiosks in the airport for the first time.”

SITA’s AirportConnect Open enables airports, airlines and their handling agents to access their respective IT applications in real time on shared equipment. It also allows any airline to use any agent desk, gate or self-service kiosk for passenger check-in and boarding. Kuwait’s AirportConnect Open renewal with SITA covers some 200 positions at check-in desks, transfer and reclaim and 12 common-use self-service check-in kiosks.

Hani El-Assaad, SITA President Middle East, India and Africa, said: “The combination of SITA’s AirportConnect Open platform and the new kiosks will help reduce queues, while giving passengers more control over their journeys. In fact our studies have shown that the kiosks can help increase passenger processing speed by up to 25%, while making more efficient use of an airport’s limited physical space and infrastructure.”

Also included in the deal are SITA’s PassengerHandler, BagManager and PassengerBagdrop technology. PassengerHandler helps reduce the complexity of check-in and boarding transactions for ground handlers and airlines. By providing access to multiple departure control systems over a single graphical user interface, it helps facilitate on-time departures. SITA’s BagManager provides comprehensive baggage management, including delivering real-time information on baggage status and helping resolve baggage issues quickly and efficiently. It reduces the number of mishandled bags by 10-20%. PassengerBagdrop is a software application that allows ground handlers who are using Common Use Terminal Equipment to quickly check bags for passengers using self-service check-in.

More than 300 airlines use SITA’s AirportConnect Open to process millions of passengers every day in more than 400 airports around the world.