SITA announced a ten year, $26.7 million agreement, with the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) for a complete upgrade of passenger processing at the country’s two international gateways, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi and Moi International Airport (MIA), Mombasa. This includes the installation of the country’s first ever self-service check-in kiosks.

The installation of the new generation S3 Kiosks by June 2010 will bring passenger self-service to Kenya for the first time and the upgrade of passenger processing to the SITA AirportConnect Open platform will benefit 37 airlines as it allows them to share check-in and boarding facilities.

The AirportConnect S3 Kiosks are environmentally-friendly, boasting the smallest carbon footprint in the industry. Each kiosk weighs just 64 kg, can scan travel documents, and includes a printer that can issue up to 5,300 boarding passes from a single roll.  S3 Kiosks take up half the space of previous generation kiosks. Nairobi will receive 32 S3 Kiosks while Mombasa will have 16.

George Muhoho, Managing Director, Kenya Airports Authority, said: “Working with SITA we are introducing world-leading technology that will provide the best service for both the airlines and passengers using these airports. This technology will also be available at the new Terminal Four in Nairobi when it opens.

“The move to self-service and the adoption of SITA’s common-use technologies allows us to maximise the capacity at the airports and manage peak travel hours smoothly. The S3 Kiosks will bring a new look and feel to our airports and make them more passenger-friendly. “

Sam Munda, Sales Director, Sub-Sahara Africa, SITA, said: “There is now huge global demand for passenger self-service check-in. The majority of passengers clearly prefer self-service options when they are available, which reduces pressure on airport operators during peak periods.

“Some three million passengers will be able to have a quicker and smoother start to their journeys in Nairobi and Mombasa because so many airlines will be able to offer cost-efficient self-service check-in from these destinations.”

The Kenya Airports Authority can also be confident that the technology implemented is future-proofed. The systems fully support the use of Bar Coded Boarding Passes which will be 100% adopted by the industry in 2010.

In addition, SITA’s AirportConnect Open remains the only fully-integrated common use platform supporting CUPPS (Common Use Passenger Processing Systems), the new global IT standard for passenger check-in and boarding, the existing CUTE (Common Use Terminal Equipment) standard, as well as web and CUSS (Common Use Self Service) kiosk applications.