Check-in Counters Research Articles

Simulation modeling of passengers flow at airport terminals to reduce delay and enhance level of service

Passenger delays are considered as global issues that influence the overall efficiency of an airport and competitiveness as well as restricting terminal developments. This paper studied Kuwait International Airport Terminal 4 (T4); a new expansion of the old airport. This study mainly aims to analyze the influence of the design on passenger flow in T4 and how it affected the capacity in addition to obtain a path for the passenger movement from the terminal entrance until they reach the gate of the aircraft and vice versa through CAST simulation model. The effect of the T4 design on the overall efficiency was found, the current flow conditions were analyzed and compared with the required Level of Service (LOS) and several developments and expansions were suggested. Passengers flow was studied to improve passenger experience, increase operational efficiencies, maximize retail revenues and increase security effectiveness. It was indicated that customs and security facilities require expansion in areas during peak hours to maintain a high level of performance. However, the check in premium showed the minimum gap between queue capacity and the declared queuing size indicating the high level of service in this area. The results revealed that immigration queueing requires expansion. Moreover, queuing area provision indicates no capacity issues to cope with maximum queue size. The provision of immigration counters according showed no adequate queuing space to cope with MQS. It is recommended to increase the number of economy check-in counters.

Unified Travel Solutions: Bridging Outdoor Route Planning with Intelligent Indoor Navigation

Indoor navigation, an innovative service built on indoor localisation, is a game-changer for travellers. This paper introduces a unique multimodal, dynamic indoor navigation service for indoor spaces. The novelty of this service lies in its seamless integration with outdoor routers, paving the way for a comprehensive door-to-door trip planner. The service's indoor multimodality is a key focus, considering accessibility options profiling and incorporating limited vehicular paths (e.g., internal buses in airports). The service's indoor dynamism is another standout feature involving real-time monitoring of events within the navigation path. The integration with outdoor routers is a significant achievement, primarily through the establishment of common interconnection points (shared points where indoor and outdoor navigation systems can exchange data) and a common data format structure (a standardised way of representing and exchanging navigation data). The proposed navigation service was put to the test in three real deployments at Berlin Tegel (TXL), Berlin Schönefeld (SXF), and Palma International (PMI) airports. Users travelling between these cities experienced the system's rapid detection of mechanical problems (e.g., travellators or elevators out of order) and incidents (e.g., temporarily non-navigable areas). The service's integration with other travel assistants and services, such as evaluating waiting times at check-in counters and security checkpoints, provided more accurate estimations of indoor navigation travel time and helped avoid agglomeration. These successful real-world validations underscore the service's effectiveness and reliability. The findings indicate that this innovative service significantly improves the travel experience by enhancing the planning and scheduling of movements from origin to destination. The validation showed an increase in travel efficiency, reduced wait times, and better accessibility options for travellers, underscoring the practical benefits of the proposed door-to-door navigation system.

Strategi Pengelolaan Bandar Udara Sultan Muhammad Salahuddin Melalui Kompetensi dan Disiplin Karyawan Berkontribusi pada Level Of Service

Based on the observation in Sultan Muhammad Salahuddin Bima Airport, West Nusa Tenggara, several problems were found; the check-in counters were often disrupted or damaged, damage luggage could occur due to porters, incompetent employees in some fields, and indiscipline employees as the act of not paying attention to the company’s regulation. This study aims to determine the strategy for managing employees’ competencies and discipline at work that could contribute to the level of service at this airport and to which extent the role of employees’ competencies and discipline could increase the level of service. This study used SWOT analysis and interview as the research method. The results of the study show that the position of the airport is in a strong competitive position. Sultan Muhammad Salahuddin Bima airport should continue its effort to improve its employees’ capabilities, discipline at work and to provide the supporting facilities of all aspects including increasing airport capacity and improving the human resources quality of airport management.

Analysis of layout flexibility on the efficiency of airport passenger terminals

The usage of concepts that add flexibility to built spaces by generating the capacity to adapt to new demands is an economically viable and operationally attractive alternative to deal with demand fluctuation. This study aims to analyze the influence of those concepts on the Airport Passenger Terminal's layout by evaluating the performance of the 13 busiest Brazilian airports' check-in areas. It carries out a comparative assessment to establish the main flexibility parameters within the Airport Passenger Terminals. Moreover, it identifies the most efficient characteristics used in the built spaces at the airports. For that, this examination applies the DEA-BCC model oriented to input, analyzing as input data the relation between the check-in area and the total area of the Airport Passenger Terminal building, the number of check-in counters and the waiting time at the queue, and output data the installed capacity of the airports. The results indicate that change in the percentage of check-in area used is the criteria that best reflects the efficiency of an Airport Passenger Terminal.

How to Improve the Efficiency of Check-In Counter: A Counter-Sharing Method

Improving the efficiency of check-in counters is a significant concern for airport operation management departments and airline companies. However, the existing studies mainly optimize the counter allocation based on the number of counters and airport demands, which needs more exploration on improving the utilization rate of check-in counters under the condition of unchanged resource allocation. In this paper, we propose a counter-sharing method to improve check-in efficiency by sharing the idle check-in counters in the adjacent check-in area. In the proposed counter-sharing method, we first define the passenger’s total walking distance and waiting time for queues as the metrics, then reassign the check-in areas and adjust the internal departure sequence of flights to maximize the counter-sharing rate. The numerical results indicate that the proposed counter-sharing method can improve the efficiency of check-in counters and reduce the passenger’s total walking distance and waiting time in the queue during the check-in process, which can enhance the airport’s operation efficiency and competitiveness.

The Influence of Super Air Jet Check-In Counter Service Quality on Passenger Satisfaction at Sultan Thaha Airport Jambi

In achieving the success of a company providing maximum service is one of three aspects that must be carried out by a company. Three aspects that must be prioritized are safety, security and service. A company engaged in the service sector, service user satisfaction is an absolute requirement that must be presented to gain the trust of service users. Providing satisfaction to passengers is a form of airport service with the aim that passengers enjoy comfortable, safe and timely air travel. The case that the researcher got from an article on the pre-flight service of Super Air Jet airlines, namely at the check-in counter section, is a form of passenger dissatisfaction with the services provided by the airline. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of service quality check-in counters of Super Air Jet airlines on passenger satisfaction and how much influence this airline has on passenger satisfaction. Data collection was carried out by distributing questionnaires in quantitative research using purposive sampling techniques and a sample of 100 respondents. Using SPSS 15, Descriptive Analysis, Simple Classical Assumption Test, and Hypothesis Test were used for data analysis. Based on the results of the study, it shows that the tcount value is 8.657 ttable is 1.660, so the hypothesis Ha is accepted. This shows that the independent variable (check-in counter service quality) has an effect on the dependent variable (passenger satisfaction) on the Super Air Jet airline at Sultan Thaha Jambi Airport. The R Square value of 0.433 indicates that the variable Quality of check-in counter service has an effect of 43.3% on the variable passenger satisfaction of Super Air Jet airlines at Sultan Thaha Jambi Airport.

A multi-stage multi-criteria data analytics approach to rank commercial service airports

The continuous performance evaluation of commercial service airports is an important part of airport operations. Despite its significance, the existing airport ranking approaches by various aviation organizations and agencies does not provide a comprehensive methodology to rank the airports based on multiple criteria. This paper proposes a comprehensive multi-stage multi-criteria data analytics approach that combines data envelopment analysis, best-worst method, and multi-attributive border approximation area comparison method to provide a robust ranking framework. The ranking procedure is based on seven criteria, i.e. passenger throughput, number of direct routes, number of check-in counters, terminal area, number of gates, number of flights, and number of runways. The proposed method ranks the shortlisted airports from the best to the worst and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of each of the candidate airports. A real-world example involving the ranking of the efficient major commercial service airports in China is demonstrated to validate the applicability of the proposed approach. The insights generated have implications for the benchmarking of airports.

THE MEASURE OF AIRPORT EFFICIENCY AND OPERATIONAL CAPABILITIES IN SOUTHERN THAILAND

Eight provinces in Thailand’s south tourism-related airports are expected to push for more significant airport expansion. In response to the expansion of the tourism industry in each province of the southern region and the increasing use of services from people in the provinces and neighboring areas, the problem of airports in the eight provinces consists of inefficiency in operating systems and service management. The construction and expansion of infrastructure projects that do not meet the needs of service users need to be improved. Therefore, this study chose a performance measurement tool to help analyze the data using slack-based measure data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) to measure the efficiency and operations of all eight airports quantitatively. In addition, the research team used qualitative data to help determine the problem of the input and output factors of all eight airports and used the Tobit regression model to analyze factors affecting the operational efficiency of all eight airports in the southern region of Thailand. According to the study, Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport (NST), Phuket Airport (HKT), Krabi Airport (KBV), Surat Thani Airport (URT), Hat Yai Airport (HDY) and Chumphon Airport (CMJ) also lacked operational efficiency. Almost all airports should have improved input factors, such as number of check-in counters, terminal area, parking area lots and pit stops. Output factors such as number of flights and number of goods. It was also found that Chumphon Airport (CMJ) and Hat Yai Airport (HDY) were also the least efficient in operation. Furthermore, factors affecting the operating efficiency of all eight airports in the southern region of Thailand can be sorted from most influencing factors to least as follows: Airport condition (X4), security (X3), and airport staff (X1), respectively.

A Multi-Period Model for Optimal Changi Airport Check-In Counter Operations

Growth in air passenger flow has caused severe congestion at the airport check-in counter, posing a significant problem for airport management. Particularly during the check-in process, the necessary authorities must coordinate sufficient facilities with adequate staffing levels. The airport check-in counter problem (ACCAP) is a field concerned with establishing the optimal number of check-in counters to balance operating expenses and passenger wait times in order to reduce airport congestion. Expanding the number of counters and staff to a minimum operating cost is able to prevent the congestion problem from escalating without incurring further operating expenses. This paper focused on proposing optimal scheduling of airport check-in counters operations, including staffing. A dynamic model with multi-period principles is adapted to address the aforementioned problem by balancing the trade-off between service performance and operational cost. As a case study, data from Singapore Changi International Airport was utilized. The findings are also discussed in terms of the flow of passengers throughout the airport check-in procedure and operations. As a result, the number of activated counters is minimized throughout all shifts by applying the dynamic model at the average service time. At the same time, there are fewer passengers in the queue.

Simulation and optimal solution analysis of airport check-in system

In this paper, Witness software is used to simulate the check-in process of airport terminal. By setting the customer walking time, the number of check-in machines and artificial counters, the percentage of ordinary passengers and business passengers and other values, the customer waiting time and check-in time are simulated visually, and the customer satisfaction of different groups is analyzed. The optimized data including the number of check-in machines and counters are obtained through software. Finally, this paper analyzes the optimization scheme of airport check-in system according to satisfaction and cost.

Assessing Air Services and Facilities Provided to Passengers with Disabilities at EgyptAir.

The number of passengers with disabilities (PWDs) has increased internationally, and airline service and facilities suppliers may have the ability to generate a profitable opportunity in the niche markets. However, it is less obvious what the service requirements of these disabled air passengers are, in addition to providing airline servicesand facilities. This research aims to identify the current reality of services provided to passengers with disabilities at EgyptAir and assesses the satisfaction levels of disabled air passengers. To achieve that, this research used the descriptive analytical approach, where a questionnaire was prepared and distributed to a random sample of four hundred and eight (408) passengers with disabilities in EgyptAir. The results of the tools were analysed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, reliability analysis, coefficient analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, regression analysis, and chi-square test with the support of SPSS22.0. The research results show a very strong positive correlation between services and facilities provided to passengers with disabilities and passengers with disabilities’ satisfaction levels with services and facilities in EgyptAir Airlines, Cairo international airport, and aircraft on board. The research recommended that screens at airline check-in counters should show which counter is designated for PWDs, as some of them wait in line for hours without understanding they have priority registration.

PENGARUH KUALITAS PELAYANAN TERHADAP KEPUASAN CUSTOMER DI CHECK IN COUNTER BANDARA TEBELIAN SINTANG

Check-in counters are airport staff or officers in charge of providing services to passengers who carry out the check-in process at the departure terminal, this service is included in the pre-flight service that passengers receive when traveling using air transportation. Therefore, the quality of service affects the smoothness of the flight. This study aims to determine the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction at the check-in counter at the Tebelian Sintang airport. This research uses quantitative research. The data collection method used a questionnaire which was distributed to the passengers at the tebelian sintang airport. The data was processed with SPSS (Statistical Product and Service Solutions) to test the research instruments, hypotheses, classical assumptions and multiple linear regression. The results showed that simultaneously the quality of tangible, responsiveness and empathy services had no effect on customer satisfaction at the check-in counter at Tebelian Sintang airport with a significant value <0.05. while the quality of service reliability and assurance simultaneously affect customer satisfaction at the check-in counter at tebelian sintang airport with a significant value > 0.05.

A Data-Driven Approach for Baggage Handling Operations at Airports

Before each flight departs, baggage has to be loaded into containers, which are then forwarded to the airplane. Planning the loading process consists of setting the start times for the loading process and depletion of the baggage storage as well as assigning handling facilities and workers. Flight delays and uncertain arrival times of passengers at the check-in counters require plans that are adjusted dynamically every few minutes and, hence, an efficient planning procedure. We propose a model formulation and a solution procedure that utilize historical flight data to generate reliable plans in a rolling planning fashion, allowing problem parameters to be updated in each reoptimization. To increase the tractability of the problem, we employ a column generation–based heuristic in which new schedules and work profiles are generated in subproblems, which are solved as dynamic programs. In a computational study, we demonstrate the robust performance of the proposed procedure based on real-world data from a major European airport. The results show that (i) the procedure outperforms both a constructive heuristic that mimics human decision making and a meta heuristic (tabu search) and (ii) being able to dynamically (re)allocate baggage handlers leads to improved solutions with considerably fewer left bags.

WITHDRAWN: Analysis of air passengers waiting time in airport check-in counters

This article has been retracted at the request of the Publisher and Editor. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal .

ANALISIS PELAYANAN COUNTER CHECK-IN CITILINK INDONESIA DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN METODE ANTRIAN DI ERA PANDEMI COVID-19

Tourism as one of the priority sectors that is developing in Indonesia has an impact on increasing number of air travelers in Indonesia. Air travel actors consist of various elements, one of which is tourists. During air travel, tourists need to go through the check-in process at the airport before they arrived in destination. This study aims to analyze the punctuality of the check-in counter service of Citilink Indonesia airline at Ground Handling company in PT Gapura Angkasa using the queuing theory and FIFO. Counter check-in services will refer to Ministerial Regulation Number 38, 2015. The quantitative descriptive method was chosen as the approach to this research. Services at Citilink Indonesia's check-in counters are analyzed using the multiple line queuing theory. In calculating the data, the queue observation is calculated, the queue time is recorded, and is equipped with an interview with the check-in counter frontliner. Based on the research results, Citilink Indonesia's counter check-in service at El-Tari Kupang Airport shows that: 1) The waiting time for air travelers in the queue is <20 minutes. 2) Service time for air travelers at the counter check at Citilink Indonesia per person is <2 minutes 30 seconds. The results of this study conclude that the Citilink Indonesia counter check-in service at El-Tari Airport, Kupang is in accordance with Ministerial Direction No. 38 of 2015. According to the result given, Check In Counter Citilink Indonesa has always been commited to give the best service quality for passenger, and obey health protocol while check-in process happens.

An Accelerated-Time Simulation of Queues at Ticket Offices at Railway Stations

Although nowadays many railway tickets are bought online, still many are bought through rail appointed travel agents and ticket offices at stations. There are several works on microscopic and accelerated-time simulations, some of them related to the topic of this paper, treating passengers movements in railway stations (both of general purpose and also with a focus on specific topics like evacuation, stations design, ticketing, etc.). We focus on a very specific topic: modelling queuing at ticket offices at a main Spanish station where “AVE” (“High-Speed”), “Larga Distancia” (“Long-Distance”), “Media Distancia” (“Middle-Distance”), and “Cercanías” (“Suburban Services”) dedicated windows exist. The existence of “Last Minute” desks is also considered. The goal is to provide the user with a tool that allows to choose the best option for windows distribution along time, after different microscopic simulations based on given data and windows possible distribution are performed (as done in a previous work of one of the authors for airport terminals check-in counters). Special attention is paid to “Last Minute” windows and shared windows (for example simultaneously selling tickets for “Larga Distancia” and “Media Distancia”). Input is given by arrival curves or can be generated by the package. The output is the detailed situation of any window at any moment and the evolution of queues by train or window type. There are different further possible extensions of this work. The implementation has been developed in a computer algebra system in order to minimize the development time.

Estimation of the innovative technologies influence on passengers processing procedures at the airport

In the period of coronovirus pandemic, a particularly important tasks of the airport are to reduce the time of passengers processing at check-in counters, baggage drop-off points and passport control counters, as well as to minimize contacts between people. All this can be achieved due to the implementation of the self-service check-in systems for passengers and their baggage, automatic boarding, self-service kiosks for reporting about lost baggage, etc. Insufficient number of processing points leads to forced delays, formation of passengers congestion at restricted areas. The article demonstrates how to use the queuing theory models to estimate the impact of the newest technologies on passengers processing at the airport. The automatic passengers check-in system has been considered as an example of the innovative technology for air passengers processing. Efficiency of the automatic passengers check-in system with self-service bag drop points implementation at the largest international airport of Western Ukraine Danylo Halytskyi International Airport Lviv has been proved, using queing systems models.

A Siamese Neural Network for Non-Invasive Baggage Re-Identification.

Baggage travelling on a conveyor belt in the sterile area (the rear collector located after the check-in counters) often gets stuck due to traffic jams, mainly caused by incorrect entries from the check-in counters on the collector belt. Using suitcase appearance captured on the Baggage Handling System (BHS) and airport checkpoints and their re-identification allows for us to handle baggage safer and faster. In this paper, we propose a Siamese Neural Network-based model that is able to estimate the baggage similarity: given a set of training images of the same suitcase (taken in different conditions), the network predicts whether the two input images belong to the same baggage identity. The proposed network learns discriminative features in order to measure the similarity among two different images of the same baggage identity. It can be easily applied on different pre-trained backbones. We demonstrate our model in a publicly available suitcase dataset that outperforms the leading latest state-of-the-art architecture in terms of accuracy.

Optimization of resource demand for passenger services at airports during system failures such as blackouts

BackgroundIn recent years, power outages at airports caused total collapses of terminal operations at the affected airports. These incidents have shown that existing emergency power systems were not sufficient to maintain airport operation. To mitigate the consequences of power outages, it is necessary to improve the management of available resources.MethodologyTherefore, we investigate the possibility to save resources associated to passenger handling processes before departure. For this purpose, we create a simulation model of a generic medium-sized commercial airport. Several simulations with a varying number of service stations at check-in, security and passport control are carried out. Subsequently, we analyze the number of passengers who do not reach their flight due to increased waiting times at the passenger handling services.ResultsThe simulations show that a reduction in resources at check-in counters and passport control initially has no effect on the number of passengers who do not reach their flight. The security control represents a bottleneck in passenger handling. In view of a break-even seat load factor the simulation results show, that a reduction of resources at the check-in below 16 counters, at the security check below 21 and at the passport control below 3 service stations should be avoided.ConclusionTherefore, the developed methodology is able to provide airport operators with decision support during system failures, as to which and how many service stations can be dispensed within the sub-processes of passenger handling without interrupting flight operations.

Strategic design of precautionary measures for airport passengers in times of global health crisis Covid 19: Parametric modelling and processing algorithms

Presently, the negative results of a pandemic loom in a threatening manner on an international scale. Facilities such as airports have contributed significantly to the global spread of the COVID-19 virus. Therefore, in order to address this challenge, studies on sanitary risk management and the proper application of countermeasures should be carried out. To measure the consequences over passenger flow, simulation modelling has been set up at Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport. Several scenarios using daily traffic data were run in different circumstances. This allowed the development of some assumptions regarding the overall capacity of the airport. The proposed simulations make it possible to calculate the number of passengers to be processed in accordance with the available check-in counters based on the proposed sanitary measures.