The consortium of automated baggage handling specialists will install a new system to handle checked-in bags from the airport’s existing Terminal 2E to Satellite 3 (S3), which provides additional air bridges for large-capacity aircrafts, including the Airbus A380. Satellite 3 previously used the systems in Terminals 2E and 2F to handle check-in bags.

ADP has selected the consortium involving BEUMER Group and ALSTEF after analysing all tenders based on technical and financial criteria. A key factor in their decision was the reliability of the BHS offered by the consortium, which also allows ADP to envisage achieving expected increased operational performances in the event of future growth of operations.

BEUMER Group and ALSTEF have a long history of cooperation and partnership, which they both share with ADP. Crisplant, part of the BEUMER Group, has been supplying tilt-tray sorting systems to the airport since 1999, while ALSTEF’s partnership with Aéroports de Paris at CDG and Orly Airports began in 1997.

The consortium’s new baggage handling system will connect six existing checked-in islands to a new Crisplant CrisBag® system, with a capacity of 3,200 bags per hour. It will include five integrated Standard 3 screening machines. ALSTEF will supply and install 1400m of conveyors, 12 make-up laterals and six make-up carousels.

"Starting in 2018, this new BHS will allow Air France and its Skyteam partners to improve sorting quality and reduce delays for baggage checked in at Terminal 2E. The additional equipment to collect and sort connecting baggage to Satellite 4 (S4) will be the object of an additional call for tenders in 2016." explains Nadine VENNAT, at Aéroports de Paris.

The combination of high-level controls for the baggage handling system, with SAC and SCADA systems, coupled with low-level controls, will provide Charles de Gaulle Airport with comprehensive management of the entire baggage handling system process. The high-level controls will also feature a web-based user interface to enable remote control of the baggage handling system from a tablet device. In addition, Aéroports de Paris will ensure that it remains at the forefront of airport technology with the integration of RFID scanning of bag tags within the new baggage handling system. RFID baggage labels have been shown to minimise the number of mishandled transfer bags and have been trialled by Aéroports de Paris since 2013 with the installation of RFID scanners by Air France and KLM.

"The new system will provide the tracking reliability and system availability needed by one of the world’s largest airports by using the inherent flexibility of the CrisBag system," explains Klaus Schäfer, managing director of Crisplant.

"ALSTEF conveyors have been approved and integrated in Paris CDG airport for many years," adds Pierre Marol, president and CEO of ALSTEF.

"A team of ALSTEF employees has also been working on-site since 2004, which has provided insights into the operational requirements of this major European hub."

The new system is scheduled to become operational in the summer of 2018. ADP’s trust in both consortium partners is also reflected in a 40-month maintenance contract under which BEUMER Group and ALSTEF will continue to maintain and optimise the system so that CDG Airport can be certain that it is operating at peak efficiency.