The Royal Schiphol Group’s BOOST initiative, involving Future Travel Experience and consultancy firm nlmtd, aims to improve the lot of baggage handling employees, stakeholders said. Schiphol, Incheon (South Korea) and Avinor (Norway) will be the first airports and operators to pool their innovative power for this project.
“Our ultimate goal is to lighten the physical workload and improve working conditions for baggage employees. Information and insights will regularly be shared with the other key partners, meaning everyone can benefit from the various pilots without having to carry them out independently,” said Dennis van Kleef, programme lead baggage.
Schiphol, Avinor and Incheon are each tackling a specific technology challenge to automate the baggage process. Schiphol is working on the further development of the COBOT. As a comparison to the COBOT, the airport is also launching Eltonomous, an alternative robotic loading solution. Incheon is working on an automated handling concept for odd-sized baggage, and Avinor is testing a new digital planning system that improves efficiency, reduces manual labour and speeds up the handling process.
