Airport check-in
A check- in desk is a handling facility for check -in at a commercial airport. He is a kind reception and serves to give up their baggage, to verify the identity of the passenger and to compare with the data in the reservation system of the airline as well as view the ticket. The passenger receives a boarding pass, which entitles him for transportation aboard the booked machine.
Species
Depending on the size of the airport there can be one or more check-in areas with in one or more check- in counters. This check -in counters can be ranked according to different guidelines:
- Clearance of a flight in a Non-Schengen country
- Schengen country
- Scheduled flight
- Charter flight
- Economy class
- Business class
- First Class
- Travelers with frequent flyer status (eg: Lufthansa Senator )
Appearance of a check -in counter
A check- in desk is usually beside a counter from different width and a lower platform or conveyor belt for luggage. The optical design of a check-in switch depends on whether the clearance is carried out by private airline staff, employees of the airport management company or by a foreign company.
In order to perform a clearance of a flight faster, always two switches are built side by side in practice.
The check- in counters are positioned in a straight line, so that behind them the baggage conveyor belt can run. Through short feeder belts checked bags are transported on the main conveyor belt and (more or less automatically, depending on airport size) then further transported in a baggage sorting for the respective flight.
Equipment
In addition to a check- in desk is a scale integrated into the infeed conveyor. Thus, the weight of the bag itself is recognized and in sum, the entire baggage weight which in turn is part of the launch weight. The maximum allowable weight for baggage that is allowed to take free a passenger, the so-called free baggage is on the ticket. If a higher weight weighed as the free baggage allowance is to be paid for the extra weight of a surcharge.
To verify the identity of the passenger and his tickets are available to the check-in staff computers available that are connected to the computer data of the respective airline.
A printer is used to print the boarding pass (English boarding pass ) and for the tapes with the bar code, which are stuck by the airport staff around the handles of the luggage, the so-called baggage tag. These are used to identify the flight or for a connection to another transport luggage to the machine to the final destination. At most airports, the bar codes are read automatically and sent the luggage on conveyor belts to appropriate collection point for the flight.
About the switches mostly screens or simple labels are affixed on which the airline or the flight number of the flight being cleared is displayed.
In remote airports " exotic " countries often lack computer. This is still done by manual. The boarding pass is also filled manually.
Check -in machine
To save costs for the airlines and time for passengers, check -in machines used at airports and more frequently. Here are machines that can operate even the passenger: seat assignment and information on baggage is done by touch screen functions. But condition are usually still frequent flyer cards or electronic tickets.
Some machines allow the automatic baggage acceptance, otherwise often appropriate switches are specially designed for baggage check available.
The use of check -in machine is criticized. Thus, requirements for entry into the machine were formulated unintelligible and undetectable lying besides the standard needs of the passengers of the machine. Overall, the automated check-in lead - as in other areas of life - the loss of quality of service.