Austrian Airlines has launched a self bag drop trial scheduled to last for several months in cooperation with Vienna Airport.
Passengers at the Austrian Star Alliance Terminal Check-in 3 will have the option of dropping off their luggage themselves.
The only pre-requisite is a valid boarding pass for the day of departure, either in printed form or digitally.
The passenger must check in first in order to take advantage of the self-service baggage drop-off.
With the help of a handheld reader, the customer can scan his ticket himself and the baggage tag will be automatically printed.
Karsten Benz, Chief Commercial Officer of Austrian Airlines:
“With this step we are following the international trend. Many passengers want modern and quick check-in services which are convenient and save time. In particular, frequent flyers and business travelers appreciate the possibility to start their journey without long waiting times.
“We are starting off with a test phase due to the fact that customer proximity is very important to us. We will gain experience and learn how our passengers react to this service“.
Julian Jäger, Member of the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG:
“New services such as booking flights and checking in using the Internet as well as the mobile boarding pass on mobile phones have become indispensable in air travel. By testing the self-service baggage drop-off, we are offering passengers another way of completing the necessary travel formalities in a time-saving manner and also taking a new innovative step forward at Vienna Airport.
At present about 80 percent of all passengers in Vienna make use of modern check-in services such as Web Check-in, Mobile Check-in, SMS Check-in and Quick Check-in machines.
As a result, waiting times have been significantly reduced and the passenger handling process is much more customer-friendly and faster than several years ago.
In the testing phase four self bag drop units will be available at the counters 351 – 354, enabling passengers to drop off their baggage themselves.
N.B. Image Credit: Austrian.com