GHI JUNE 2008 15 A helping hand for the PRM in Rome UFIS Airport Solutions has been awarded a contract by Aeroporti di Roma for support in the provision of services to persons with reduced mobility. The new application enables handling agents at the airport to plan and dispatch staff for the PRM service using UFIS-AS’s Resource Management System. Aeroporti di Roma is one of the fi rst airport companies in Europe to introduce IT support for the planning and allocation of resources to provide these necessary services. The application will also provide the functions to gather status information on the services and to provide data for KPI measurement to ensure that the required service levels are met. The main driver for this project was the EC regulation 1107/2006, which will come into full force in July this year (see the PRM article on page 46 in this issue). These special services provide assistance at check-in, baggage handling, transportation and during boarding and disembarkation. Information technology can be an effective means by which such service provision can be optimised. Within its Universal Flight Information System, UFIS Airport Solutions has included specialised features to help provide these services effi ciently, from the perspective of both the service provider and the recipient. UFIS interprets the load telexes (or the new Passenger Assistance List) to determine which fl ights need PRM support and how many passengers will require which form of support. Moreover, fl ight and non-fl ight related requests for PRM support can also be sent by the passengers themselves via the Internet or from kiosks or terminals at locations within the airport. Based on the information from the airlines and the passengers, the Resource Management System application will generate a staffi ng requirement based on the fl ight schedule, the times of the requested service and the staff qualifi cations required to perform the necessary services. Depending on where the service needs to be performed, the task can be assigned to a particular pool of staff situated at an appropriate location. The system maintains a database on the various employees, showing their availability and qualifi cation with relevant contact details. In addition, the RMS is used to schedule the equipment necessary to perform the various services. Planning is the fi rst part of the application: the second part is providing the actual service. During an actual operation, the individual employees in the PRM service department will be informed of the tasks they need to carry out and can enter the status of the tasks using PDA applications provided by the UFIS-AS’s local partner, Softlab. These applications communicate with the server via IBM’s WebSphere MQ. Initial estimations from the airport are that the system will be employed to manage approximately 300 people to carry out more than 150,000 services per year. Therefore, it is critical for the proper functioning of this company to have the equipment and the manpower planned accordingly. Giosue Camereri, Head of Airport Operations, a key user of the UFIS RMS and the PRM project manager, sees the new application as a must and was pleased to have the commitment of UFIS-AS and its local partner, Softlab, to the project. “Other airports within the European Community will face the same challenge in the near future,” admits Anders Sagadin, UFIS-AS’s President and CEO. “We are happy to deliver a functionality which helps Aeroporti di Roma to provide the best possible assistance for persons with reduced mobility. We hope that other airports will follow Rome’s example and take advantage of our new solution.”

IN BRIEF AirRadio recently announced it has added a digital communications service dedicated to airports to its existing portfolio of systems at London Heathrow airport. Known as AR-en – the Enhanced Network from AirRadio – the system has been deployed to allow customers at the world’s busiest international airport the opportunity to maximise the use of data applications for operational processes over a private business radio network. INFORM has implemented GS RealTime and GS Rostering at the aircraft cleaning department of OCS to optimise rostering and real-time allocation processes as well as communications at London Heathrow’s T1 and T4. The rollout was executed by OCS. 16 JUNE 2008 GHI Telephonic check-in on trial As more and more people take to the skies, so the market for products to expedite their progress through the terminal processes has grown proportionately. Check-in continues to be the nut to crack and this has led to yet more innovation. Today’s airline business is driven by product improvements, along with further technological progress. This is partly to enhance productivity and processes and partly to enable its participants to secure a key competitive edge. Swissport has been keen to anticipate such developments and indeed often pioneers them. Its successful establishment of a new Web check-in platform for smaller and mediumsized airlines and their customers is a prime example of its trendsetting activities. Now, together with SITA, Swissport aims to take a further forward-looking step by introducing a new mobile phone check-in facility. The pair are currently trialling a new check-in application which uses a customer’s mobile phone and this new facility was tested live during the recent IGHC in Kuala Lumpur. The system’s formal market launch is expected within the next few months. George Schmitt & Co has been awarded the contract for RFID-enabled baggage handling at Hong Kong International airport, using Alien Technology’s Squiggle tags. Bill Gunther, President of George Schmitt, expressed his enthusiasm over the deal. “With the leadership of Hong Kong International airport, we were able to provide a smooth transition from barcode to RFID baggage tagging through implementation of the industry standard Gen 2 tag using Alien’s IC and inlay for our HKIA baggage tag.” “We are very happy with the RFID baggage tags and the RFID transfer labels we are receiving from George Schmitt. The improved read rates have had a positive impact on the baggage handling process,” added Mark Turner, Assistant General Terminal Business Manager of the Airport Authority. In 2007, the station handled 47.8m passengers and 3.7m tonnes of cargo. Another tag solution ready Portugal’s Lisbon airport handles about 13m passengers per year and some 15,000 pieces of baggage in a typical day. As can be imagined, with this much activity it is vital that the airport’s operations run as smoothly as possible. To that end Denmark’s Lyngsoe Systems has deployed its Catellae ABQM (Automatic Baggage Quality Measurement) solution as a tool for measuring the quality of service and performance of the baggage handling process. Catellae ABQM provides end-to-end and on-the-spot visibility of baggage in the handling and distribution process, thereby pinpointing where improvements can be made to obtain the necessary results and maximum performance from the existing handling system. Such was the case at Lisbon. The fact that bottlenecks have been identifi ed and put into focus has been enough to change the behaviour of the staff operating the baggage handling system, and actions have been taken accordingly. Beyond the daily improvements, Catellae ABQM is providing information and a variety of time study reports of value to those involved in strategic decision-making. Monitoring the baggage throughput