BAA has rejected advanced RFID technology in favour of
2D barcodes to track baggage at Heathrow's newterminal 5in a move that it say will
help it improve its track record on lost bags.
BAA IT director, Richard Rundle, said the value of
RFiD - which uses radio signals to track bags - would only
become apparent once airports all over the world use it.
"The business case for RFiD does not really stand up. With the
current system, there are scanners all through the airport
continually updating the position of the bag," he said.
Jonathan Adams, head of IT programme management at BAA, said
that terminal 5 offers the space to allow the baggage IT system to
work effieciently.
"The
technology has been tried and tested, but before now it has
been shoe-horned into existing buildings," he said.
The system will allow BA to label a "late bag" and rush it
quickly through the airport. "Generally bags do not get lost. They
miss the flight. If the bag in front gets held up at security, the
bag might turn up late and the flight will not wait," said
Adams.
The airport will use a 4,000-bag storeroom to hold bags that are
checked in early at the airport, so they do not clog up the baggage
system.
The system was designed with Dutch company Vanderlande and IBM.
The IBM software works out where the bags are supposed to be going,
and logistics software works out the best way to get there.
Each bag is given a barcode by BA when the passenger arrives at
the airport, holding information on the airline they are travelling
with and where they are flying to. Scanners used all over the
airport identify the bag and route it correctly.