Times-7 has teamed up with Danish logistics firm Lyngsoe Systems to install RFID systems in Milan’s Malpensa Airport and Lisbon Airport.
RFID baggage systems are an alternative to barcode systems. Luggage tagged with RFID labels can be read and located by antennas installed on conveyor belts and at various points throughout an airport.
Luggage entering a country is tagged with RFID labels and passed through an X-ray machine. Bags that are of interest are flagged in a database and officials are alerted once a flagged bag is collected.
RFID technology allows the majority of people to flow freely through exit portals, reducing delays and speeding up airport operating time.
Times-7 chief executive Antony Dixon said that the antennas are ultra thin, and can be easily slipped under conveyor belts.
“The antennas also have small read zones, which mean they do not require expensive shielding. If you have conveyor belts close to each other, you don’t want to be reading the bag on the adjacent belt,” Dixon said.
Dutch firm Vanderlande Industries, which specialises in automated handling systems, is also trialling the antennas at Schipol Airport, The Netherlands’ main airport.
By Daniel Garrun.
