Edinburgh Airport introduces state-of-the-art bag drop facility

Passengers at Edinburgh Airport will now have the chance to use the UK’s first multi-airline bag drop facility – speeding up the check-in process and allowing customers the chance to spend more time relaxing before their flight.

A quick scan of a boarding pass will prompt the passenger to weigh their bag

Ten brand new self-service kiosks have been installed which allow passengers to weight their baggage, print their own bag tag and dispatch their luggage themselves.

Operated by easyJet and Flybe and not available in any other Scottish airport, the state-of-the-art technology enables passengers to have control over all parts of their check-in experience.

A quick scan of a boarding pass will prompt the passenger to weigh their bag and a bag tag will be printed. easyJet and Flybe passengers will then be directed to the designated bag drop zone where they can dispatch the luggage themselves.

Using the latest touch screen and thermal printing technology, the new SONIC kiosks, manufactured by Phase5 Technology (PST), allow passengers to check in their luggage without having to queue and wait to be manually processed.

Several self-service bag tag machines are already in use in the terminal but Edinburgh Airport is the first in the UK to use web-based software to operate a fully common, shared bag drop facility for passengers.

The idea of this ‘common check-in’ process ultimately means that low cost airlines can avoid the high costs of designing their own computer systems and operate a shared system alongside with multiple carriers.

A lot of work is underway at Scotland’s busiest airport to improve the experience for the passenger, with huge investment being made in technology. Plans are underway to trial a baggage storage facility this summer which will allow passengers to check in their luggage days before their flight.

Bags will be weighed, tagged and screened before being stored in a secure facility prior to being loaded on the passenger’s flight.

The new bag drop facility is just one of a number of examples of how Edinburgh Airport is investing in technology to make the passenger’s airport journey as easy as possible.

The airport has also recently installed the UK’s first remote check-in desks with Jet2, taking all the check-in functions away from the bag belt. This model means that absolutely everything happens in one place, apart from dispatching your luggage on the belt. New body scanners have also been installed in the security search area.

David Wilson, Chief Operating Officer at Edinburgh Airport, said: “New ownership has allowed us to be creative in the way we look at the check-in process. A huge amount of research, engagement and investment has gone into this new process and we’re delighted to officially launch the first multi-airline common bag drop facility in the UK with our partners at easyJet and Flybe.

“At Edinburgh Airport we’re committed to enhancing the passenger experience and no doubt many will have seen the huge amount of change currently underway at our airport. We’re working hard to make the passenger experience the very best it can be and our new bag drop facility is just one of a number of exciting projects launching this year.”

Lawrence Eke, Managing Director of Phase5 Technology, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Edinburgh Airport to improve its passenger processing capabilities.

“The ten SONIC self-service machines which have been installed offer passengers a simple two-step ‘scan and tag’ service, allowing them to process their own bags in as little as 20 seconds and with little or no assistance from airline staff.

“The new bag drop has the capability to process in excess of 1200 bags per hour so whether you’re a regular business traveller or flying out on holiday, this new facility will benefit every passenger.”