Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said baggage would be the biggest challenge
Dubai International airport holds the title of the world’s busiest international airport and last year its annual traffic surpassed 89.1 million.
Dubai is aiming to eventually do away with physical check-in desks at its airports, according to Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.
“What we want is to eliminate them altogether. Soon, I don’t think you’ll need to check-in using any physical token of booking. Most of it will be done at the time of booking the in office or home,” Griffiths told Arabian Business’ sister website Aviation Business.
“We just need to find a way of dealing with baggage and I think technology is moving towards that area too,” he added.
A year ago, Emirates introduced ‘Home Check-in’, a service which allows customers to check in for their flights from anywhere in Dubai.
The paid-for service is available for customers across all classes travelling on Emirates flights, the airline said in a statement in April 2018.
The new service enables Emirates passengers to complete the security check and check-in from the comfort of their home, hotel or office and have their luggage transported to the airport prior to their flight.
An Emirates check-in agent will arrive at the preferred location to weigh and tag the bags as well as check-in the customers and issue boarding passes. Customers can then make their own way to the airport and head directly to immigration, bypassing the check-in desks at the airport.
Dubai International airport holds the title of the world’s busiest international airport and last year its annual traffic surpassed 89.1 million. The airport also managed to reduce waiting times by 28 percent, a feat reportedly achieved thanks to the airport’s introduction of smart gates and an advanced operations centre.
“We have now decided that not only is growth very much on our agenda for present and future, we are now seeing a maturity in the aviation market, which is putting us in a position where we want to be not just the biggest airport for international traffic but the best,” Griffiths said.
Read the full interview with Paul Griffiths.
source : https://www.arabianbusiness.com/transport/419350-dubai-aiming-to-do-away-with-airport-check-in-desks-ceo