singapore changi airport having more check-in kiosks

Changi Airport to speed up check in processes with self-service kiosks

In a bid to speed up the passenger check-in process at Changi Airport, more self-service kiosks will soon be available for passengers to do their own check-ins.

The self-service check in kiosks takes about five minutes per passenger, as compared to the eight-minute process when doing a counter check-in.

Currently, only Singapore Airlines and Northwest Airlines offer this service. British Airways, United Airlines, China Airlines, KLM, Air France and Cathay Pacific are also keen on providing their customers with the self-service option.

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More DIY check-in kiosks at Changi

MORE self-service kiosks may soon be available at Changi Airport for travellers to do their own check-ins.

Currently, only Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Northwest Airlines offer this service, which allows passengers to use the machines to pick their seats and print their boarding passes.

Those with bags to be checked in drop them off at stipulated counters for loading onto the aircraft.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) told The Straits Times that it will install up to 10 such machines in Terminal 1 by the end of next March if airlines using the place are keen.

To encourage take-up, the CAAS will provide the hardware and shoulder part of the usage costs, with the remaining costs shared among the carriers. But airlines need to ‘commit their interest to use the kiosks’, a spokesman said.

It is believed that as part of the proposal, carriers have to log a stipulated minimum number of check-ins.

British Airways, United Airlines, China Airlines, KLM, Air France and Cathay Pacific are among the airlines keen on providing their customers with the self-service option.

Northwest now uses its own machines in Terminal 1 but it may switch to the shared scheme with other airlines.

In terminals 2 and 3, the 24 check-in kiosks available to SIA passengers were installed by the airline’s ground-handling agent and subsidiary, Singapore Airport Terminal Services.

The entire do-it-yourself process should take under five minutes, compared to eight to 10 minutes for counter check-ins – and that’s assuming there are no queues for the latter.

Mr Scott van Eck, who chairs a sub-group within the Airline Operators’ Committee representing more than 50 airlines flying out of Changi Airport, said the airlines in Terminal 1 wanted to give their passengers a choice and as many check-in options as possible.

However, ‘at the end of the day, we will have to do our sums to see if the proposal is cost-effective’, he added.

While at first glance it ‘looks competitive’, higher fuel prices and operating costs mean carriers are more budget-conscious nowadays, he said.

On its part, the CAAS does not expect usage rates for the kiosks to be as high in Singapore as elsewhere.
This is because self-service kiosks are especially useful only to travellers without bags to check in, and those either on domestic flights or travelling to countries without requirements for visas or additional travel document checks, said the spokesman.

She said: ‘The take-up rate of self-service kiosks in airports in the Asia-Pacific, compared to Europe and the United States, is significantly lower.’

SIA said that about one in five of its passengers did their own check-ins, either online or at self-service kiosks in the airport.

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