Cathay Pacific has launched self-check in and bag drop kiosks at London Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal.
The airline estimates that passengers typically spend around two minutes at the check-in counter and the new technology has reduced this to just under one minute.
Cathay Pacific’s Regional General Manager Europe, James Ginns, said that the 10 service kiosks were part of Cathay Pacific’s “…Future Airport Experience project, the vision of which is to improve the quality of time our customers spend prior to boarding.”
Although the time-saving isn’t large, Ginns said that, “If we ask ourselves how we wish to spend our time at the airport, the answer is most certainly not ‘in a queue’.”
Gatwick is the first UK airport to launch the new check-in and bag-drop service, and the third in Europe following Amsterdam and Paris. It is the intention for London Heathrow to follow.
For London Gatwick Cathay is the latest airline to utilise the self-check in and bag drop facilities in the airport’s South Terminal.
Gatwick’s Project Manager for Process and Technology, Asher Bailey, said: “Gatwick is leading the way in offering passengers the latest self-service bag drop technology and the completion of this installation for Cathay Pacific further supports our growth strategy, allowing us to accommodate increasing numbers of passengers, while also eliminating queues and enabling improvements in customer service delivery.”
Cathay Pacific operates 49 weekly non-stop flights to Hong Kong from the UK, including five daily flights from London Heathrow, and one daily flight each from London Gatwick and Manchester (from 1 December).
