SITA is collaborating with Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) to create new off-site passenger processing solutions, allowing airline passengers to check themselves and their luggage in from almost any location – even before they arrive at the airport.
The SUTD-SITA off-airport processing project kicked off in March this year and will run for a year. SITA will provide SUTD access to its SITA Flex solution, giving the SUTD researchers the necessary technology to turn their current physical, digital, and experiential off-airport designs into workable prototypes.
When fully integrated and completed, passenger processing procedures – passport scanning, luggage weighing, and printing of luggage tags and boarding passes – which are usually done at airports, will be available off-site using these prototypes.
Tourists could even have their luggage sent to the airport in advance right from their hotel, eliminating the need for them to leave their luggage with the hotel concierge should their flight depart hours after checking out of the hotel. They can simply carry on with their activities and head straight to the airport just an hour, instead of the usual two hours, before their flight departs.
As the hardware and service design requirements are ironed out and the solution takes shape, the off-airport concept will be tested for seamless integration and optimal performance with various SITA partners, including airlines, airports and ground handlers.
Sumesh Patel, SITA’s president for the Asia-Pacific region, commented: “SUTD’s designs break away from a traditional approach to off-airport touchpoints, and powering it will facilitate innovation and our ability to continually transform the passenger experience. It will also demonstrate the existing versatility of our solutions, which can be deployed both in- and off- airport and on non-SITA platforms.”
“We are designing the first fully integrated offsite solution to be powered by the SITA Flex solution – this will reshape and elevate global air travel with greater convenience and efficiency. We look forward to validating our designs in trials with airport and airline operators, cruise centres as well as hoteliers in the months to come,” shared Chong Tow Chong, president of SUTD.
