On 16 June 2023, South American airline LATAM announced the outcomes of a recent research study regarding passengers’ checked baggage preferences. By a big margin, travelers on the carrier’s flights preferred self-service check-in options.
In May 2023, greater than 140,000 LATAM passengers checked bags autonomously, a brand new record, which is particularly impressive considering that the airline has only rolled out the system in 10 airports inside its network.
Photo: LATAM
Overall, this means that 58% of LATAM passengers utilized self-service bag check-in at these airports, a rise of over 27 percentage points from the previous May.
As autonomous check-in appears at an increasing number of airports throughout the LATAM network, the carrier’s passengers are capitalizing on this recent system to diminish time spent on the airport and take away stress from the check-in procedure.
A system overview
The self-service baggage system is currently available at 10 destinations served by LATAM. These airports are Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Salvador, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Natal, Florianópolis, and Vitória.
This technique, which was developed by SITA Scan and Fly allows passengers to self-check their luggage in under 40 seconds. After a kiosk prints a tag, the bag could be taken then to a drop-off counter where it would be briefly weighed to make sure it abides by the 23 kg limit after which dispatched.
Photo: Miguel Lagoa | Shutterstock
The network of self-service baggage kiosks, which is approaching its fifth yr of operation, received widespread upgrades through the month of May, with LATAM’s São Paulo-Guarulhos hub receiving an entire overhaul.
Moreover, the latest systems were recently installed at Vitória. Inside only one month of installation, 49% of shoppers on the airport are already using the technology.
Now, because the carrier looks towards a prosperous future, the airline goals so as to add self-service baggage kiosks to 6 other airports by the tip of the yr.
In an announcement, Derick Barboza, Director of Airports for LATAM Brazil, had the next to say regarding the autonomous baggage check-in system:
An overall perspective on LATAM
This incorporation of a brand new baggage system comes during a period of great expansion for the airline. For starters, the carrier’s network has grown 7% since this time last yr.
LATAM’s growth, nonetheless, has not only been limited to route expansion. The carrier’s fleet has developed throughout the past yr and passenger numbers as a complete have skyrocketed, experiencing a rise of 20% between April 2022 and 2023.
Moreover, because the introduction of self-service baggage demonstrates, LATAM has and can proceed to incorporate an increasing number of technology to extend operational efficiency.
Going forward, the South American airline will expand and develop further, while consistently improving the shopper experience along the way in which.