Qantas Signs Four-Year Deal with Unisys for Domestic Baggage Reconciliation System Using RFID Technology

SYDNEY, Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Qantas, Australia's flagship airline, has selected Unisys (NYSE: UIS) Australia to provide an innovative Baggage Reconciliation System (BRS) for its Australian domestic flights.  Using the solution, Qantas has introduced Australia's first self-service baggage check-in facility, part of the airline's Next Generation Check-in initiative designed to streamline and speed up a passenger's journey through the domestic airport.

As part of the solution, Qantas will use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track and verify bags which will commence when the Next Generation Check-in is implemented at the Qantas Domestic Terminal in Sydney.

Qantas unveiled its first Next Generation Check-in airport in Perth in July as part of a trial, to be followed by Sydney later in 2010, and Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra in 2011.

Under the four-year deal, signed in the second quarter of 2010, Unisys is providing systems integration, implementation and rollout services, as well as application hosting and support for the BRS at the Unisys data center in Sydney.

In the first stage of the solution's roll-out, passengers at Next Generation Check-in airports are able print their bag tags, which have an identifying barcode, at a check-in kiosk before taking bags to the bag drop area.  On the bag drop belt, barcodes are scanned to link bags to the passenger's flight information.  Passengers can purchase additional baggage allowances on the spot or beforehand via the web.

In the lead up to the Sydney launch of Next Generation Check-in in November, an intelligent chip-enabled bag tag, called a Q Bag Tag, will be given to Platinum, Gold and Silver Qantas Frequent Flyer members to use as part of a premium service, eliminating the need for these passengers to print a new bag tag each time they fly.  The Q Bag Tag will use RFID technology to allow a bag to be quickly identified and tracked.  

Sue Carter, vice president, Global Commercial Industries, Unisys Asia Pacific said:  "The Unisys BRS was tailored to meet the requirements of the Qantas Next Generation Check-In Program by focusing on customer satisfaction and ease of use.  An effective BRS helps improve passenger facilitation by scanning bag tags when passengers check in and reconciling tags with passenger records before they can be loaded onto aircraft.  Because the airline has a record of the baggage loading order, it can quickly identify and recover bags if passengers fail to board. In the Qantas solution, additional enhancements include the use of RFID technology."

Unisys Australia already provides a baggage reconciliation system for 44 international airlines operating from the eight Australian international airports at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin and the Gold Coast, represented by the Board of Airline Representatives Australia.

Unisys has more than 45 years experience providing advanced, mission-critical IT solutions to the aviation industry.  More than 35 percent of the world's air cargo is processed by Unisys solutions while 19 of the top 25 airlines – and over 200 worldwide – rely on Unisys solutions.  

Related Qantas media releases:

Australian Designer Marc Newson Designs Qantas Next Generation Check-in - http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/au/publicaffairs/details?ArticleID=2010/jul10/5000

Next Generation Check-in Coming to Sydney - http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/au/publicaffairs/details?ArticleID=2010/oct10/5024

About Unisys

Unisys is a worldwide information technology company. We provide a portfolio of IT services, software, and technology that solves critical problems for clients. We specialise in helping clients secure their operations, increase the efficiency and utilisation of their data centres, enhance support to their end users and constituents, and modernise their enterprise applications. To provide these services and solutions, we bring together offerings and capabilities in outsourcing services, systems integration and consulting services, infrastructure services, maintenance services, and high-end server technology. With approximately 23,000 employees, Unisys serves commercial organisations and government agencies throughout the world. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.

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SOURCE Unisys Corporation