An Overview of developments in new automated baggage handling projects being installed in greenfield and new build airport terminals around the world – particularly in emerging countries.
With active systems in more than 100 airports around the world, Datalogic is expanding its position in this sector, with the recent handover of new baggage handling systems (BHS) for Calcutta Airport in India, Bogota Airport in Colombia, Dubai airport and Lodz Airport in Poland. In addition to this, Datalogic has a significant order book for installations at new airport terminals constructed in Jeddah, St Petersburg, Dubai, Oman, Bangalore and a recently awarded project at Bali Airport in Indonesia.
According to the company, which is a pioneer and early adopter of scanning solutions for baggage handling, with its first automatic tag reader (ATR) installation in Milan’s Linate airport in 1984, deployments today hinge around Datalogic’s solutions for greenfield airports who are installing brand new sorting and conveyor systems for fully automated baggage handling. Datalogic
Because the BHS solution offers a standardized operation, the reading envelope is always the same resulting in ease of handling and installation for airport authorities. The system furthermore offers optimum reliability with a focus on read-rate and operation, providing statistics so that engineers can monitor performance in real time. In addition, all the Datalogic components, which make up the baggage handling solution, are extremely robust and are able to operate in harsh environments – from extreme temperatures of heat and cold to high humidity and dust levels. One of these is the DS8100A industrial bar code reader, a high performance linear laser reader designed to satisfy the sorting needs in the Transportation & Logistics sector – ideal for airport applications.
Each reading station consists of 8 super scanners made up of 4 line scanners and 4 omni-directional scanners. The omni-directional reading stations comprise cross-patterned laser scanners and four live scanners combined with a system controller. By using the Packtrack patented technology, tracking of each individual piece of luggage is ensured as the correct code assignment is guaranteed, even when the objects are very close to each other. This makes the BHS solution perfectly suitable for the latest sorting technologies. Industrial fixed position bar code readers read labels applied to the baggage in automatic identification and baggage sorting systems (4,000 pieces of luggage per hour).
Apart from baggage handling, Datalogic is also active in other airport applications such as access control and check-in solutions. References include an access control solution at security gate check-in areas for Bologna Airport in Italy, which uses Datalogic’s PowerScan PM8500 2D bar code reader to handle over 8,500 passengers each day during peak summer hours.
In another application, Frankfurt-Hahn Airport in Germany deploys Datalogic’s Gryphon GD4400 2D readers, allowing its staff to expedite the boarding and check-in process, in order to meet the airline industry’s goal of a 25-minute turnaround time.