Qantas to launch next-gen check-in system

As part of the Qantas ‘airports of the future’ initiative announced last October, the Next Generation Check-in system features a new Qantas Frequent Flyer Card, Q Card Reader and bag drop facility, developed for the airline by Blue Sky Design Group in conjunction with Australian designer Marc Newson.

Qantas executive manager, customer experience, Alison Webster, said the Next Generation Check-in system has been designed to mitigate check-in “points of pain” for customers and deliver an enhanced check-in experience by providing faster, easier access through the airport terminal by eliminating queues.

“With this in mind, careful consideration has been given to the functionality, aesthetics, and ease of use for both our customers and airport employees,” Webster said.

The new Frequent Flyer Card, only available to Platinum and Silver frequent flyers, features an ‘intelligent Q’ smart chip which will act as a permanent boarding pass, replacing eligible customers’ existing cards. The new card allows customers who’ve yet to check in online or via their mobile device to simply touch their card at one of the new Q Card Readers in the check-in hall to print their boarding pass. The card can also be used to drop off luggage and for boarding.

The new bag drop facility will utilise an innovative ‘Q Bag Tag’ system, which Qantas is calling a world-first. The enhanced bag tag technology assigns a permanent baggage tag individually to each frequent flyer customer, and through a combination of built-in security features can only be used by the person it’s assigned to.

Qantas are working with some 15 technology vendors to implement the Next Generation Check-in system, including IBM, Amadeus, Fujitsu, Unisys, and Telstra. While the airline wouldn’t put an exact figure on the cost of implementation, representatives did say that it’s, “certainly a multi-million dollar investment. There’s the structural changes, the technology investments, new equipment, hardware and software. So we see it as a very disciplined, entirely appropriate investment for the customer experience.”

The system will be officially launched at Perth Airport next Thursday, followed Sydney later this year and Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra in 2011. The Q Bag Tag system will not be part of the launch at Perth next week but will be introduced at the Sydney launch as it is still undergoing testing.

Beyond these plans, Qantas intends to gradually roll out the Q Bag Tag technology throughout its domestic network so that by the end of 2011 frequent flyers will no longer need to use paper bag tags at all. And while the system will initially only be installed at domestic terminals, Webster said Qantas will in due course explore avenues where some components of the technology can also be moved into international terminals, particularly on the competitive trasn-Tasman route.