PRESS RELEASES

Air New Zealand has integrated 111 IER 918 self-check-in kiosks as well as 84 IER 600 2D barcode and RF scanners in its innovative travel process now in operation on domestic flights to streamline check-in and boarding operations.

On 3 November, Air New Zealand unveiled at Auckland Domestic Airport its new state-of-the-art check-in and boarding experience, introducing a new layout, new kiosks that enable customers to print their own bag tags, a direct-to-conveyor-belt bag drop zone to eliminate queues, new gate scanners for straight-to-gate check-in, boarding for customers without bags as well as several new technological enablers for frequent flyers.

In this project, IER – the leading supplier of passenger and baggage processing solutions in the air transportation industry – has been selected to provide Air New Zealand with a total of 111 IER 918 self-service check-in kiosks, part of which have been deployed first at the country’s three main airports: Auckland first, then Christchurch and Wellington. The secondary airports will be equipped at a later date. 

High performance kiosks for quick check-in and self-tagging

The IER 918 kiosks chosen by Air New Zealand are equipped with a 2D barcode scanner for reading passengers’ boarding passes that have previously been printed or received on their mobile phone. The kiosks are also equipped with an RF scanner for reading the ePass RF sticker provided to selected members of its Airpoints programme by the airline, which is applied either to the back of their mobile phone or on their Frequent Flyer card. At the kiosks, the travellers will check in their bags. The IER 918 kiosks are equipped with a bag-tag printer for delivery of their baggage tags to the passengers for self-tagging before drop-off.

In addition to the kiosks, IER has also supplied to Air New Zealand the Common Use Self Service application, the generic IER ALISS check-in application customized to the airline’s features, as well as the remote supervision of the kiosks installed base using the IER Monitoring System. Air New Zealand supervises its installed base in real time and can benefit from the IER Technical Centre Assistance whenever support is needed. IER will also ensure the kiosks’ on-site maintenance for an initial 3-year period, with the support of a local partner.

2D barcode and RF technologies for speedier boarding

The Air New Zealand revolutionary passenger process also includes the use of 2D barcode and RF technologies at the departure gates. The IER 600 2D barcode and RF scanners deployed at the departure gates are used by the passengers themselves to scan their boarding passes (on paper, on mobile screen or with their RF sticker). When necessary, a printer connected to the scanner issues a gate pass with their confirmed seat. Passengers without baggage who have checked in on the web or by phone and have already received their boarding pass can go directly to the departure gate. 84 IER 600 scanners are in place in 26 domestic terminals since November 3rd.

To complete their move toward full 2D barcode use, Air New Zealand has also purchased 100 IER 400 printers to upgrade its boarding pass and bag-tag printer installed base at its remaining desks.

The time saved thanks to this revolutionary new process is huge. When travelling without baggage, passengers have to arrive at the departure gate only 20mn before flight departure. With baggage, they have to check-in at the kiosk 30mn before departure.

Air New Zealand General Manager Short Haul Airlines Bruce Parton says: “We expect the changes to be very appealing, particularly to business travellers. We started working on this project 12 months ago to create and deliver a new experience that would allow our customers to move quickly and seamlessly through domestic airports. Our goal was to get rid of frustrating queues, cut customer waiting time and make checking in and boarding as quick and easy as possible.”

As the CUSS check-in application is now undergoing an accelerated phase, IER which multiplies kiosk deployments at airports all over the world, is extremely satisfied to deploy CUSS kiosks in New Zealand. This large CUSS kiosk project consolidates our leading position in terms of the number of CUSS sites installed throughout the world.

Maria Lopez, Regional Sales Manager in charge of the Air New Zealand account says: “We are extremely proud that Air New Zealand selected us for this challenging and visionary programme they have implemented. We are confident this new system will prove very successful with passengers and will confirm our technological expertise and capabilities as well as our high level of service.”

IER has been involved with IATA in creating the CUSS standard and has gained expertise in this field resulting in a comprehensive range of solutions including hardware, middleware and customized self-service applications.

About Air New Zealand:

Air New Zealand is an international and domestic airline group which provides air passenger and cargo transport services within New Zealand, as well as to and from Australia, the South West Pacific, Asia, North America and the United Kingdom. Air New Zealand also encompasses business units providing engineering and ground handling services. Subsidiaries extend to booking systems, travel wholesaling and retailing services.

Suresnes, November 19, 2008