Galeão International Airport (GIG) today announced the arrival of faster passenger check-in with new self-service kiosks that can speed up check-in by 25% – reducing this step of the journey to as quick as 30s for some of the airport’s 11 million passengers.

The installation of these 12 new common use self-service (CUSS) kiosks, provided by aviation IT specialist SITA, is part of the preparation for the 75% surge in passenger traffic anticipated during the FIFA World Cup 2014 and complements the airport operator’s separate $431 million investment plan to upgrade the airport.

The five-year agreement between SITA and the GIG CUTE CLUB, which is an organisation of 16 airlines operating at GIG, also includes SITA’s AirportConnect open common-use platform that manages more than 130 workstations throughout the airport.

Lelia Dias, British Airways station manager and GIG CUTE CLUB chairperson, said: “SITA’s S3 kiosks are a welcome addition to the airport for our passengers who love the added convenience of fast self-service check-in, and the CUTE CLUB airlines are happy too. The new kiosks will help us increase our customer satisfaction and reduce passenger-handling costs as well as congestion in the check-in lobby by providing a branded customer experience managed on site for us by SITA.”

SITA’s AirportConnect S3 kiosks allow passengers to check in for flights with any airline from any kiosk including American Airlines, British Airways, Delta, Iberia, LAN or United Airlines. LAN was the first to go live with the kiosks and have already seen many passengers choose the CUSS kiosks for check-in.

Norbert Steiger, SITA vice-president for Latin America and Caribbean, said: “The airlines are gearing up for the surge of passenger traffic expected in Rio for the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Summer Olympics. With these new kiosks they are also responding to passengers’ wishes by providing more self-service options.

The 2009 SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey confirmed this appetite for self-service. This year’s results reported that 75% of passengers are favourable towards using kiosks to check-in in the future, so the airlines can expect that usage of the SITA kiosks at GIG will be high.”

Green by design, SITA AirportConnect S3 kiosks boast the smallest carbon footprint in the industry. They weigh just 70kg each and two fit in the space needed for one conventional CUSS kiosk.

The kiosks are also fitted with passport and document scanners, allowing the fast collection of advanced passenger information and electronic travel authorization service data for visa validation. SITA’s AirportConnect S3 kiosks are now in use at more than 14 airports worldwide.