Following a competitive renewal process, Ultra Electronics is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a five-year extension to its flagship UltraTrak Baggage Management System at London’s Heathrow airport.

The renewal will extend Ultra’s contract with the Heathrow airlines to 2018, meaning that Ultra will have provided baggage reconciliation, segregation, reporting and baggage management services to the Heathrow community continuously for 15 years.

Furthermore, the new contract will extend the system from terminals 1-4 to include for the first time Terminal 5. By the end of 2013, UltraTrak will reconcile all of Heathrow’s 35 million bags each year, making the system the largest single-site BRS installation in the world.

The system will have over 8000 registered ground handler, airline and security staff using its 800+ robust wireless scanners and 200+ workstations.

Paul Drury, acting managing director of Ultra’s airport systems business, said: "This award by the Shared Systems Board of the Heathrow Airline Operators Committee demonstrates the continuing importance of baggage management and reconciliation at one of the world’s busiest airports.

"In choosing to extend the existing system to include Terminal 5, the AOC has demonstrated their faith in Ultra to operate a mission critical, high availability and high volume system that is vital to the performance of their business.

"We are delighted to receive this endorsement, and in return commit to ensuring our system continues to set global standards for functionality and reliability in Baggage Management and Reconciliation."

Dave Wilding, chair of Heathrow Shared Systems Board, added: "The Heathrow airline community is extremely pleased to continue its long standing relationship with Ultra Electronics.

"Baggage Management and Reconciliation is key to airline operations at Heathrow, and as well as the unquestioned reliability of the system and Ultra’s service, we chose UltraTrak because it is the best system for our needs. We are excited about the continuing prospect of working together to ensure the best possible solution for the future."