easyJet Checks-In an Entire Flight Through Kiosks
easyJet made history once again on Wednesday evening when every single passenger on an easyJet flight, including those with hold baggage, used the self-check-in kiosks rather than the traditional check-in process.All 108 passengers checked-in for easyJet flight 6503 to Prague using the new easyJet kiosks at Nottingham East Midlands Airport. This included a total of 112 items of hold baggage that were issued with standard airline-industry bag tags. The flight departed on schedule at 18.50.
Department for Transport-approved trials of the new self-check-in kiosks began on the morning of Wednesday 26 May at Nottingham East Midlands with easyJet staff guiding passengers through the simple process. The trial will continue over the coming weeks and months before rolling-out the programme to other airports on the easyJet network.
The initiative, which would ultimately see kiosk-only check-in, is part of easyJet’s drive to reduce costs by using technology to simplify processes and reduce complexity. It will also help to increase airport capacity by using space more efficiently.
Some airlines have offered self-check-in for passengers with hand luggage for a number of years and a very small number allow self-check-in for those with hold baggage. However, all these airlines allow passengers to check-in using either kiosks or traditional methods. Keeping two channels open is an unnecessary duplication and increases, rather than decreases, costs. Ultimately dual processes keep fares unnecessarily high.
Ray Webster, easyJet Chief Executive, commented: “It is a fantastic achievement for all passengers to check-in for a flight using one of our kiosks and flight 6503 to Prague from Nottingham East Midlands Airport will go down in the history books at easyJet.
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“easyJet’s business is all about simplicity and removing costs by making systems and processes more efficient. Airport costs represent the single biggest element in our cost base and we are determined to reduce this by applying the same thinking that has been so successful in other areas of the business.”
“In due course, this could revolutionise the airport process in the way that the Internet revolutionised the booking process. Central to this new technology is the ability to improve passengers’ airport experience. It will also allow staff to give more of their time to customers and better attend to their individual needs.”
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