Japanese airline ANA has given its domestic self-service check-in kiosks an upgrade that will make connecting between domestic and international flights noticeably simpler.
The domestic kiosks will now feature a passport reader, meaning passengers checking-in to domestic flights will also be able to get their boarding passes for connecting international flights rather than having to check-in a second time, as is currently necessary.
Additionally, passengers booked on Experience Japan fares will be able to check-in using the self-service kiosks rather than having to go to the counters.
“We are very excited about the technological upgrades to ANA’s capabilities and services for our international travelling customers,” said Shigeru Hattori, senior vice president of ANA Airport Center.
“Our goal is to make travelling as convenient and seamless as possible for our passengers. The benefits of this change go far in doing that.”
Roll-out will be gradual starting from the beginning of July at Hiroshima Airport, with ANA expecting to have the upgraded kiosks available at all 50 airports that it flies to domestically by the end of October.
The full schedule for the rollout over the next few months is as follows:
- July – Hiroshima, Sapporo (New Chitose), Osaka (Itami), Sendai, Osaka (Kansai), Komatsu, Fukuoka, Toyama, Niigata, Matsuyama, Okayama
- August – Kagoshima, Akita, Takamatsu, Tokyo (Haneda), Kumamoto, Iwakuni, Kochi, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Yonago, Hakodate
- September – Osaka (Kobe), Shonai, Tottori, Yamaguchiube, Ishigaki, Oita, Tokushima, Asahikawa, Saga, Kushiro, Tokyo (Narita), Rishiri, Okinawa (Naha), Odate Noshiro, Miyako, Memanbetsu, Noto, Hagi Iwami
- October – Nemuro Nakashibetsu, Wakkanai, Gotofukue, Okhotsk Monbetsu, Hachijojima, Aomori, Shizuoka, Fukushima, Tsushima, Nagoya (Chubu)
The kiosks have been programmed with five languages available, including Japanese, English, Korean and both Traditional and Simplified Chinese.