Cyprus airports install 74 BORDERXPRESS kiosks to enhance security, speed of service and improve experience for passengers

Richmond, B.C. | July 10, 2018–Today, Vancouver International Airport’s (YVR) Innovative Travel Solutions (ITS) announced the installation of 74 BORDERXPRESS kiosks at Pafos International Airport (Pafos) and Larnaka International Airport (Larnaka) in Cyprus. This marks a major milestone for the industry and ITS, as today’s announcement is the first implementation of permanent kiosks for Entry and Exit border control in Europe.
Hermes Airports Ltd, operating Pafos and Larnaka airports, is installing the kiosks to enable passengers to independently complete passport control procedures under the supervision of Hermes personnel and with the approval of Cyprus Police.

“As the demand for air travel continues to increase, airports around the world must embrace and implement innovative technologies to solve critical passenger processing challenges,” says Craig Richmond, President and CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority. “BORDERXPRESS kiosks will increase efficiencies and improve the overall passenger experience at Pafos and Larnaka airports while enhancing safety and security within the European Union.”

BORDERXPRESS uses self-service biometric-enabled kiosks to expedite the border clearance process without compromising security. The Entry and Exit process is the same, in that, at the kiosk, travellers select their language, scan their travel documents and answer a few simple questions. The kiosk also captures an image of each passenger’s face which can be compared with and verified against the photo in their electronic passport, though the kiosks do accept non-ePassports and EU Identity documents as well. Travellers then take their completed kiosk receipt to a border services officer. The Exit kiosks are available for use by all travellers while the Entry kiosks are only available to EU citizens due to government specifications.

“We are dedicated to establishing Pafos and Larnaka as industry leading airports, and our commitment to prioritizing both safety and passenger experience is paramount to this, especially as we seek to increase passenger traffic,” says Eleni Kaloyirou, Chief Executive Officer at Hermes Airports. “Following the success of a pilot project to test the efficiency of BORDERXPRESS for Exit control at Pafos airport, we’re delighted to build on our partnership with YVR’s Innovative Travel Solutions with the implementation of seventy-four kiosks at Larnaka and Pafos airports”.

BORDERXPRESS kiosks provide a modern and efficient experience, and are a smart choice for airports and governments as they help to reduce overall operating costs and allow airports to expand passenger traffic without having to add additional space or staffing resources. The kiosks also free up border security officers to focus more closely on enforcement and intelligence efforts.

This technology was developed by Innovative Travel Solutions, an independent business unit within Vancouver International Airport (YVR), named Best Airport in North America for the ninth consecutive year. The kiosks can be easily configured to meet the needs of governments around the world looking to reduce border line-ups at entrance and exit points and improve the safety and security of borders.

“With today’s announcement, Pafos and Larnaka airports are simplifying and enhancing the border Entry and Exit process for both airport personnel and travellers,” says Chris Gilliland, Director of ITS, Vancouver Airport Authority. “BORDERXPRESS has proven its success and efficiency at airports across Canada and the United States. Today, we are proud to be introducing our solution to the European market. This is a significant accomplishment for Innovative Travel Solutions, Hermes Airports, the Cyprus government and the industry, overall.”

With more than 1,500 kiosks in 41 airport and sea ports, BORDERXPRESS has processed over 181 million passengers in over 35 languages globally, and reduced passenger wait times by more than 50 per cent.

New SITA services includes South Africa’s first self-bag drop and mobile boarding

Johannesburg, South Africa | July 26, 2017– Lanseria International Airport is investing in SITA’s self-service technology that will add new convenience for passengers while providing improved common-use functionality for airlines. Using SITA’s self-service systems, passengers will now be able to quickly check-in and drop their bags before proceeding directly to the gate without having to visit a traditional check-in counter.

In a first for a South African airport, passengers who have checked-in online or on their mobile device can now tag and drop their bags in less than a minute using SITA’s Scan&Fly self bag-drop units. Scan&Fly’s plug-and-play design allows the bag-drop solution to be easily installed onto existing airport check-in desks, maximizing terminal space while leveraging the speed of self-service.

Using SITA’s  Airport iValidate, Lanseria International Airport will be able to automatically verify all types of boarding passes, including home-printed A4 and mobile boarding passes, increasing security and speeding up the check-in process for passengers.

Behind the scenes, Lanseria International Airport will roll out new baggage reconciliation technology from SITA, providing passengers with greater confidence that their baggage will arrive with them at their destination. It will help airlines using the airport to comply with IATA’s Resolution 753, which requires that they track bags at key points during the journey.

The airport is also upgrading its common-use kiosks and desk infrastructure to use SITA’s cloud-based solution, eliminating the need for local servers. This common-use infrastructure is critical in providing greater flexibility for airlines operating from the airport by allowing them to share common-use terminal equipment (CUTE) for check-in and boarding.

Gavin Sayce, Chief Operating Officer of Lanseria International Airport, said: “Our passengers and airlines have always valued the ease of use when travelling through Lanseria International Airport. The investment in new technology – together with new infrastructure such as the multi-storey parking we are building – is aimed at maximizing this convenience. We want this airport to remain the airport of choice for both airlines and their passengers.”

Lanseria International Airport, north of Johannesburg, has established itself as a favored low-cost hub for passengers to quickly and conveniently connect to South Africa’s other main cities. FlySafair recently joined Kulula and Mango in operating flights from Lanseria to Cape Town, Durban and now George. The airport handles over 2 million passengers a year and the existing passenger terminal is being extended to accommodate more airlines and flights.

Maneesh Jaikrishna, Vice President Indian Subcontinent, Eastern & Southern Africa said: “Our research shows that an overwhelming number of passengers prefer to use technology rather than a human interaction when in the airport. They value the control and convenience that self-service options such as self-bag drop and mobile boarding provide. This is the case with Lanseria International Airport where passengers are accustomed to a smooth passage through the travel steps.”

Autonomous, mobile kiosks will move themselves to where they are needed in the airport

Geneva, Switzerland | May 22, 2017–  SITA Lab, which explores the future of technology in air travel, has unveiled KATE, an intelligent check-in kiosk that will autonomously move to busy or congested areas in the airport as needed, promising to relegate check-in queues to the past.

Using various data sources – including flight and passenger flow information – KATE can identify where additional check-in kiosks are required to reduce passenger queue times at check-in. KATE uses existing SITA data systems such as Day of Operations Business Intelligence and FlightInfo API.

Multiple robotic kiosks can be automatically or manually deployed simultaneously and in formation to assist passengers, providing airports and airlines greater flexibility in managing peaks in passenger flow. The kiosks can also communicate through a Cloud service to ensure that the right number of kiosks are at the right position when needed, making them highly responsive to changes in the airport. A design patent application for the kiosks is currently underway.

Renaud Irminger, Director of SITA Lab, said: “The peak and troughs in the flow of passengers presents a challenge to many airlines and airports and we have been approached by many customers requesting a solution. They want kiosks which can be easily deployed when and where they are needed. Building on SITA’s successful AirportConnect® Open platform, and our previous work with robotics, KATE leverages new technologies to provide operators much more flexibility and efficiency in the way they will use their kiosks in future.”

SITA’s cutting-edge robotic kiosk makes use of geo-location technology to find its way through the airport. KATE will use Wi-Fi to connect to vital airline and airport systems, dispensing with the need for cabling or other fixed attachments. This allows the kiosk to move around freely across the airport terminal, using obstacle avoidance technology to avoid bumping into people or things.

KATE and her fellow robotic kiosks will automatically return to their docking stations when they are low on power or need to be resupplied with boarding passes or bag tags.

One of the key benefits of SITA’s autonomous kiosk is that it can be deployed anywhere inside the airport as well as other offsite locations such as train stations. This is particularly relevant during periods of disruption – such as weather delays or flight cancellations – where additional kiosks can be moved from landside to airside to check-in large numbers of rebooked passengers. KATE provides passengers access to her easy-to-use interface to check-in and print bag tags.

KATE follows in the footsteps of LEO, SITA’s fully autonomous, self-propelling baggage robot launched at the 2016 Air Transport IT Summit in Barcelona, Spain last year.

KATE, SITA’s autonomous kiosk, will be on display at this year’s Air Transport IT Summit taking place in Brussels, Belgium from May 23-24, 2017.
Watch KATE in action in the following video clip: https://youtu.be/oQ69r-2VX-I

Adelaide | November 22, 2016– Adelaide Airport, Australia’s fastest-growing international airport, has selected SITA to provide smart new passenger and airport operational technology. The airport’s eight million passengers will enjoy new self-service bag drop and check-in kiosks, while SITA’s day of operations technology will ensure optimized airport operations.

SITA has provided technology to Adelaide Airport for more than ten years and the new five-year contract includes a move to common-use self-service (CUSS) which allows passengers to use self-service for any airline, at any check-in kiosk or bag drop point. In total SITA will provide 32 check-in kiosks and 14 bag drop units.

As part of the technology investment for the future, Adelaide Airport will use SITA’s AirportPulse. This day of operations technology includes a business intelligence portal which provides end-to-end visibility of what’s happening in the airport at strategic and operational levels. Data is pulled from all common-use infrastructure to analyze, report and benchmark passenger movements, providing a deep understanding of relevant activities and providing intelligent reporting to effectively manage the allocation of shared resources.

Vince Scanlon, Executive General Manager, Planning and Infrastructure, Adelaide Airport Ltd (AAL), said: “As the gateway to South Australia, we at Adelaide Airport want to deliver exceptional outcomes to our customers, partners, shareholders and community. SITA is providing us with world-class technology that will improve the experience at the airport. Passengers will enjoy efficient bag drop and check-in while the data collected will turn information into knowledge and allow us to focus on what matters for improved performance.”

The increased focus on using data to enhance operations will allow Adelaide Airport to be proactive and predict and identify imminent adverse conditions before they happen. AirportPulse makes sense of data to drive operational efficiencies and improve customer experience.

Ilya Gutlin, SITA President, Asia Pacific, said: “SITA has been Adelaide Airport’s technology partner for over a decade and during that time we have worked with the team to contribute to its growth and success. Over the coming years we will continue to seamlessly transition Adelaide to the latest innovative technology that supports the vision of Adelaide Airport becoming a top tier business center in the Asia Paci­fic region.”

Adelaide Airport’s annual passenger numbers are rising and it forecasts more than 18 million passengers by 2034. This growth comes with the investment in the Adelaide Airport Business District. This development is set to transform the airport into a full-fledged business district acting as the business gateway between the world and South Australia.

Atlanta, Georgia | October 11, 2016– SITA today announced that JetBlue has selected the global IT provider to support 531 check-in and automated passport control (APC) self-service kiosks across 56 locations in the USA and Caribbean.

This three-year agreement will see SITA, the air transport industry expert, provide 24/7 remote and on-site service of JetBlue’s devices ensuring maximum up-time and the highest levels of passenger service across current and new destinations.

Eash Sundaram, Chief Information Officer, JetBlue, said: “Over the past number of years we have worked with SITA and become familiar with its expert global service provision for airlines and airports. Our kiosks, used by our customers for check-in and fast immigration processing, must be up and running at all times. SITA’s round-the-clock support will ensure that any problems can be identified and resolved faster than they were before, minimizing impact on service to our customers.”

Service quality is key in the airline industry and SITA’s contract with JetBlue includes tight service level agreements (SLAs) for the end-to-end support of the kiosks. SITA matched JetBlue cost reduction objectives by seamlessly combining its advanced remote management capabilities with field engineers available at airport locations.

Randy Pizzi, SITA President, Americas, said: “JetBlue is renowned for the high quality of service it provides to its 35 million customers and with the move to passengers using more self-service technology, it is important that this service excellence is guaranteed at every touchpoint. We at SITA recognize this and are providing proactive management of JetBlue’s kiosks so the airline’s passengers have them available for use at all times.”

SITA End User Computing offers airlines and airports an end-to-end managed service. It combines both advanced real-time monitoring technology with a global footprint of field engineers at airports. SITA’s central management platform manages devices including desktop PCs, thin clients, laptops, kiosks, monitors, bag tag and other printers, with real-time status all over the globe.

SITA’s dedicated multilingual operations team provides monitoring and support 24/7, ensuring global business continuity through a flexible service model. This ensures operational agility, accessibility and continuity – anytime, anywhere. With its truly global presence, SITA industry specialists can reach end users at 400 airports (including airside) and outstations in more than 190 countries and territories to offer a seamless end-user experience.

• SITA kiosks to increase passenger throughput by 60% at Jamaica borders

Montego Bay, Jamaica | December 11, 2014– Passengers arriving at the airports in Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica can look forward to faster border clearance with the launch of new automated border control (ABC) kiosks. The Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) of Jamaica today announced that kiosks, supplied by air transport and government IT solutions provider SITA, will use sophisticated biometric checks to process passengers quickly and securely. Passenger throughput at the borders is expected to increase by close to 60%.

Jamaica is the first country, in the Americas to allow passengers arriving from any international location to use kiosks for self-service immigration border clearance. Other countries have experienced the benefits of biometric kiosks but have limited their use to select nationalities or those who have enrolled in trusted traveler programs.

Jennifer McDonald, Chief Executive Officer, PICA, said: “It is important that we welcome all our visitors to Jamaica in the best way we can and with SITA we had the confidence to offer this self-service to all passengers, and not just those who enroll in a trusted traveler program. SITA’s kiosks use biometrics and work seamlessly with our existing border management systems to offer this great service – fast and secure border processing for everyone.

“It was SITA’s extensive border security experience combined with its unique solution of kiosks, biometrics and border management that made it the ideal supplier to implement the system and provide the ongoing support that we need to ensure its smooth operation in the years ahead.”

Passengers of all nationalities can use the kiosks for self-service immigration. They are easy to use and the whole process takes less than 60 seconds. The passenger uses their passport to identify themselves and a camera on the kiosk captures their face biometric. The passport information and biometric captured is then cross-referenced to verify the passenger is who they claim to be and then checked against government watch lists. The passenger answers immigration questions on the kiosk touch screen and once cleared is given a receipt to show as they exit the customs hall. Passengers do not need to interact with an immigration official unless there is an error or concern.

Paul Houghton, SITA President, Americas, speaking at the launch in Montego Bay, said: “Jamaica continues its long tradition of welcoming travelers in the best way possible by making border processing easier, faster and more secure. PICA is a long-standing customer of SITA and is continually evaluating how technology can improve the experience at the border. SITA has used its decades of airport, airline and border security experience to provide an integrated solution of kiosks, biometrics and border management. This delivers the security and efficiency demand by PICA while providing passengers with a smooth arrival in Jamaica.”

In total 15 kiosks are in operation, at the country’s two busiest airports: Norman Manley International Airport, Kingston and Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay. Together these airports welcome close to three million passengers each year, of which approximately 1.7 million are international visitors to Jamaica. This major national investment is part of PICA’s vision to introduce innovative technologies for border processing which will help improve tourism for the country.

SITA is a trusted partner to PICA for existing border security solutions. This partnership, combined with its unique experience working with airports and airlines both within Jamaica and the Caribbean and across the world, made SITA the ideal choice for the kiosk implementation. SITA is the proven global leader in border security and identity management solutions with 36 countries and over 60 government entities using its iBorders® technology to process over 100 million passengers annually. Many international airports in the USA, including JFK New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Tampa, have biometric immigration kiosks provided by SITA.