Airport to Support 100 Percent Bar Coded Boarding Passes

Addis Ababa Bole International Airport is to become the first airport in Africa to fully operate bar coded boarding passes (BCBP) for all international and domestic flights, two years ahead of the IATA deadline of 2010, a major service provider to the air transport industry announced on Tuesday.

The installation is the first of its kind in Africa allowing Addis Ababa Bole Airport to process barcoded boarding passes, SITA, the world's leading service provider of integrated IT business solutions and communication services for the air transport industry said.

It added that the airport will also see the installation of full self service passenger check-in kiosks soon.

"The change would simplify the check-in and boarding process for the 2.2 million passengers who use Addis Ababa Bole each year and who will also soon benefit from self-service kiosks from SITA," SITA said in a media statement citing Eyob Estifanos, General Manager, and Ethiopian Airports Enterprise.

"Ethiopia has a tradition of excellence in the air transport industry and now Addis Ababa Bole is leading the continent in the full implementation of bar-coded boarding passes which will enable fast and convenient check-in and boarding,"Eyob said adding the airport was also partnering with SITA to upgrade its check-in platform and introduce state-of-the-art bag management systems.

EAE has extended its contract with SITA for another five years to include the replacement of all current printers at the airport with 2D barcode-compatible machines, and the introduction of 2D barcode readers at boarding gates starting from February 2008. Passengers will also be able to print their own 2D bar coded boarding passes at home or at the office and proceed directly to baggage drop off and security and on to their boarding gates.

"The integrated approach that EAE has taken with their technology implementation at Addis Ababa Bole is impressive," the statement quoted Khodr Akil, Regional Vice-President, Africa, SITA, as saying.

"Not only are they supporting the day-to-day needs of the airlines with shared workstations, self-service check-in and excellent bag management, but they are investing for the future and assisting all the airlines to fully implement the IATA Simplifying the Business objectives which aim to improve customer service while delivering industry savings of US$ 6.5 billion annually," he added.

The Ethiopian Airports Enterprise was established as a public enterprise in January 2003. The Enterprise runs fourteen airports across the country; while Addis Ababa Bole Int'l Airport (AABIA) and Dire Dawa Airport serve as international, the rest operate as domestic airports.

The newly built terminal at AABIA can accommodate 2,929 passengers at peak hour operation. The airport plays an important role for the country as well as for the neighboring countries as hub air traffic. It has served the nation as the main international gateway for more than 44 years. In 2006, the airport served 2,003,543 international and 284,001 domestic passengers.

In related news the Ethiopian Airlines last week secured a license from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority to fly cargo on the Addis Ababa-Nairobi route, paving the way for one of Africa's most competitive airlines to fly cargo between the two cities five times a week, Kenya's business magazine reported on Monday.

According to the Business Daily Africa, the license puts the world class airliner in the ranks of 30 other domestic and international operators that successfully applied for licenses to operate in Kenya The airline will use a Boeing 757 plane to service the route, the business magazine said on its online edition.

Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com)