Sydney Airport will be the second facility to receive Qantas "next generation check-in technology" on November 10, 2010, following its introduction at Perth Airport in July this year. For now, this is limited to the airline's domestic operations.
The innovation, aimed at reducing check-in times, features self check-in kiosks – which allow passengers to enter their flight details manually or for frequent flyers to tap their new Qantas Card on the card reader – and automatic baggage check-in, dubbed Q Bag Tag. These facilities are located at Terminal 3 of Sydney International Airport and in Perth's two domestic terminals.
The Qantas Card replaces the Qantas Club Card that is issued to Silver, Gold and Platinum Frequent Fliers. It will be sent to them before the new procedures are put into place. It is embedded with the "intelligent Q" chip.
After checking in, passengers can print off a Q Bag Tag and drop their luggage on an automatic Bag Drop, which will weigh and check-in all pieces of baggage by scanning the Bag Tag. For more information about the technology, see Business Traveller's previous story here.
Throughout 2011, the carrier will be introducing the technology at the airports in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra. There is still no information as to when it will be applied to Qantas' international operations.
For more information and a step-by-step demonstration of the technology, visit qantas.com/nextgenerationcheckin
Alisha Haridasani
