Last year, air travellers said that safely handled baggage is the second most important factor to them having a pleasant trip. Furthermore, mishandled baggage results in negative impacts to profit margins and the loss of hard-earned customer satisfaction.
DUBAI – In 2012, 25.8 million pieces of baggage were mishandled, of which 85% were delayed and 15% were damaged or lost, costing the aviation industry US $2.58 billion (2012 SITA baggage management report). mercator’s newly developed baggage tracking and management technology, mBELT, designed to alleviate the industry’s baggage related pressure, will be unveiled at this April’s Passenger Terminal Expo.
Last year, air travellers said that safely handled baggage is the second most important factor to them having a pleasant trip (source: IATA passenger survey 2012). Furthermore, mishandled baggage results in negative impacts to profit margins and the loss of hard-earned customer satisfaction.
Andrew Price, IATA’s head of baggage services, underlines that “our focus is on enabling a customer experience that is a hassle-free end-to-end journey. For baggage, that means returning it to the passenger without damage or delay. But improved technology and faster passenger processes can mean that baggage is literally left lugging behind in some airports. The IATA InBag program is addressing both quality and speed by driving efficiency and enabling innovation in baggage handling. It’s a team effort and we are pleased to have the cooperation of many of our Strategic Partners.”
As a result of this industry’s need for a new approach where airlines, ground handlers and airports have a complete baggage management suite, which will help them manage the entire life cycle of their passenger’s bags. Not just a reconciliation system, but an end to end tool, which gives high visibility and transparency of baggage movement, ensuring bags are on time every time. mBELT was designed by mercator to specifically address this need.
“Through close collaboration with IATA and our customers, our understanding of the aviation industry enables us to continuously provide innovative and efficient technology solutions,” said Patrick Naef, Divisional Senior Vice President Emirates Group IT and Head of mercator. “Transparency, control and flexibility while driving down costs and increasing revenues are the main points the industry has voiced in terms of challenging baggage needs. mercator’s baggage management suite, mBELT, has, to date, enabled savings of US 1.96 million over the past 3 years, despite a 15% year on year rise in the numbers of passengers handled. Keeping promises, not only impacts the bottom line, but also what your customers think about you. Passengers trust you will take care of them from check-in to the arrivals hall, and that their baggage will be handled with the utmost care, mercator’s mBELT enables airlines to provide this care and the latest technology to respond to passenger’s needs.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
