Baggage Reconciliation System
The yearly cost of baggage claims and departure delays can run well into the millions of Euros. Careful planning can offset the cost of a baggage reconciliation system with savings realized in reducing the amount of misdirected bags.
Airport operations Managers are concerned about baggage security and tracking efficiency, and airlines needs to know where each bag is at all times, whom it belongs to, and whether loaded bags are matched with a boarded passenger. A-ICE has developed an efficient, integrated baggage system designed to meet these objectives.
A-BRS Baggage Reconciliation System by A-ICE
This baggage tracking and reconciliation system use computer-generated tags and readers to track baggage location within the airport, at the gate, and on the plane, and match all loaded bags with passengers. A-BRS uses wireless laser barcode scanners to read printed baggage tags.
It verifies whether a piece of baggage can be positively matched to a verified boarded passenger before it is loaded onto a departing aircraft. The interface displays baggage status in real time and allows users to audit information.
A-BRS will keep track of every movement of every bag and container in the system. The system is highly efficient because it takes full advantage of host lines already in place for passenger departure control and uses BagLink gateways to send and receive baggage messages in standard IATA formats.
Why Choose A-BRS for Baggage Management?
With A-BRS baggage handlers know exactly where each bag is located—down to the position within the container onboard the aircraft.
In the event that a bag must be removed from the aircraft before departure, it can quickly be found and identified with 100% accuracy, using wireless scanners connected to the centralized database.
- Matches all bags with boarded passengers
- Minimizes misdirected baggage and associated rerouting costs
- Tracks every bag and container
- Reduces passenger processing time
- Automates tracking of passenger boarding and baggage loading
- Reduces wasted gate time having to locate already-loaded bags
A-BRS Baggage Reconciliation System Key Features
The system automates baggage tracking and the reconciliation of same utilizing technologies to monitor the movement and loading of baggage from the check-in area through the loading of the baggage onto the loading devices in the main terminal buildings and satellites (and optionally onto the aircraft) during the departure process. The system utilizes and integrates with the same bar coded system utilized by the Departure Control System (DCS) to identify bags and to track their movement through the airport.
The system has the ability to give up to the minute information for a baggage to be loaded into a specific container or aircraft for a specific flight. The system has the ability to process incoming IATA handling messages. The ability to deliver IATA reconciliation messages is quoted as an option. It employs wireless technologies for the management of peripherals for the data acquisition (Hand-Scanner Terminals). The integration with the existing DCS for the receiving of baggage handling messages.
Functional Specification
- Server Core Functions
- Multiple authorization levels.
- Integration with DCS for receiving baggage handling messages
- Automated processing of IATA baggage handling messages.
- Baggage database handling.
- Application server for Hand-scanner terminals.
- Automated IATA baggage reconciliation handling messages delivery.
- System monitoring.
- Apron BRS handling module.
- Hand-scanner Terminals Functions (mobile module)
- Baggage Sortation Area. In the Sortation Area menu, three operational context are available:
- Query Mode - It’s the default mode. The operator is prompted with a request for bar code reading. If a baggage tag is scanned, the information concerning that bag is shown on the screen. If a container or trolley tag is scanned, the gun is automatically switched to the loading mode.
- Loading/Unloading
- Prompts for reading a bar-code.
- Opening and closing of containers or trolleys.
- Association between bag-tag and the opened container or trolley.
- Error message if the scanned bag must not be loaded according to the constraints defined or is being loaded in a wrong location.
- Searching
- The operator can select a bag from the list of the to-be-offloaded bags.
- Otherwise the operator can digit the bag-tag to be found and search it.
- After selecting a bag to be found, by scanning bag-tags the terminal will answer YES or NOT and give different sounds to the different answers.
- When the bag is found the operator is prompted for unloading the bag
- Baggage Sortation Area. In the Sortation Area menu, three operational context are available:
- Apron Side (under wings). In the Apron Side mode, the operator first of all selects the parking stand and the flight from a list on the gun and then three operational context are available:
- Query Mode - It’s the default mode. The operator is prompted with a request for bar code reading. If a baggage tag or a container/trolley tag is scanned, the information concerning that bag or container/trolley is shown on the screen.
- Loading/Unloading - The operator enters the aircraft’s hold identifier, then:
- Prompts for reading a bar-code.
- Association between bag-tag and aircraft hold.
- Association between containers/trolleys and aircraft hold.
- Error message if the scanned bag or container/trolley is being loaded in a wrong location.
- Searching
- The operator can select a bag from the list of the to-be-offloaded bags.
- Otherwise the operator can digit the bag-tag to be found and search it.
- After selecting a bag to be found, by scanning bag-tags the terminal will answer YES or NOT and give different sounds to the different answers.
- When the bag is found the operator is prompted for unloading the bag
- User Application Functions (administration console)
- Containers and trolley configuration per flight
- Printing of containers/trolleys tags.
- Queries on flights, containers, baggage, passengers.
- Reports generation and printing.
- Inquiry of baggage messages.
- Configuration of the system’s parameters and archives.
- Scanners
- Constraints
- Terminal
- Users
- Trolley
- Airlines
- Airports
- Monitoring of the system.
- Automatic notifications from the server about baggage to be unload.
- Baggage Information Display System
- An additional module is also available in A-BRS, the goal of which is to show real-time information to loaders in the makeup area. It is a web based display system, where each client (a display and a PC) is configured to show an html page.
- This page is automatically kept up-to-date on server side according to the baggage counters for each work-in-progress flight.
- Connectivity and Communications
- A-BRS is able to interact with any airport DCS. All the information related to the baggage can be printed on tags compliant with IATA regulations. For each piece of luggage there is a correspondent number and tag, therefore the staff can monitor the whole process of loading and unloading of the baggage. Moreover, A-BRS instructs the operator about all the operations to carry out, about the authorization or prohibition to load or unload, etc. Each operator is equipped with a hand scanner (radio frequency terminal) where he receives specific messages concerning his own work. At the end of the operations a series of summarizing reports is generated. A-BRS is able to deliver BRS messages, like BPMs and BNSs.
- Safety - A-BRS is provided with a series of monitoring windows:
- System monitoring that indicates the correct functioning of the server and of its hardware components
- Baggage monitoring indicating situations of anomaly by means of alert messages
- Scanner monitoring: real time situation of any existing scanner inside the airport, indicating the precise position and the use made by the operator.
Additional Airport Operations Solutions
Our airport operations systems include Flight Information Display Systems, Contract and Billing software, Baggage Reconciliation Systems, Message Distribution Systems, Multimedia Information System, Airport Operational Database, and middleware for the transportation of web applications on remote networks. All our systems can be integrated with each other or your existing systems and and hardware.