Heathrow Airport launched the ICM Auto Bag Drop (ABD) into the live operational environment in Terminal 3. The first participating airline is Qantas Airways with British Airways scheduled to start live operations before the end of November 2012. For this live trial, a dual ABD has been installed, as can be seen below.

A separate trial is scheduled to go live in a few weeks’ time in Heathrow T1 with Star Alliance Airlines – Aegean Airlines, TAP Air Portugal and South African Airways (SAA). More information will be released at a later stage.

Michael Sanderson, Managing Director of ICM Airport Technics UK said:

"We are excited about achieving this milestone, as it confirms ICM’s position as the leading provider of self-service bag drop solutions. It is giving us the opportunity to refine the enhancements made since rolling out 80 ABDs in 6 airports for Qantas across Australia. In addition to the features of the widely acclaimed ABD for Qantas domestic, the ABD in Heathrow

  • Has multi-airline functionality
  • Accommodates both domestic and international travellers
  • Automatically screens non-conveyable bags with a sophisticated 3D scanning system
  • Has multi-lingual capability
  • Complies with requirements of the regulatory authorities in the UK/ EU"

ICM’s Auto Bag Drop solution allows passengers to drop off their own bags without the assistance of an agent. The Auto Bag Drop unit will automatically check baggage weight and size allowances, print a heavy bag tag if necessary, check for non-conveyable and multiple bags, and securely induct the bag into the baggage handling system. The user-friendly and fast solution has been proven for dedicated and common-use airports in both domestic and international environments.