European airports deploy RFID-enabled baggage tracking
05 March, 2009
category: RFID
Two major European airports have made the switch to RFID-enabled baggage tracking solutions. The systems, installed in high-traffic airports in Portugal and Italy, are the result of a partnership between Danish logistics systems integrator Lyngsoe Systems and Times-7, an RFID developer headquartered in New Zealand.
In December, Lisbon’s international airport became the world’s first to introduce RFID-only baggage transfer tagging. Using the new system, all transfer bags received at Lisbon airport are tagged with RFID tags on arrival and tracked only via RFID. Bar coded tagging has been eliminated completely from the airport’s system for transfer baggage.
Milan’s Malpensa Airport took the commitment to RFID-enabled tracking a step further. The airport, Italy’s busiest with 24 million passengers passing through it each year, became first airport in Europe, and the third worldwide, to implement comprehensive RFID baggage tracking across the entire baggage handling system from baggage check-in onwards.
Both systems use middleware and baggage handling control software designed by Lyngsoe Systems. The solutions use RFID antennas provided by Times-7.