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Self Check-in Counters at Sharjah Airport Soon

SHARJAH — Passengers flying out of Sharjah will soon be able to pre-select their seats, obtain tickets, boarding passes and drop their baggage inside the airport — all without having to queue up at check-in counters. Sharjah International Airport is gearing up to become the country’s first airport that offers all these services through Common Use Self Service kiosks designed to provide self check-in service for various airlines.

Jihad Boueri, Regional Director - Application Services at SITA, the company that offers the technology for the kiosk, said they expect to finish a similar project in Abu Dhabi after Sharjah’s is complete.

“In Dubai, self check-in is available through Emirate’s kiosks (at Terminal-III). But, these are dedicated kiosks for one particular airline and cannot handle other airlines.

The Self-Service kiosks are those which can handle multiple airlines and this technology is being implemented by SITA in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi airports,” said SITA’s Regional Director -Application Services, Middle East & Turkey, Jihad Boueri. He said counter check-in takes more than double the space needed for the kiosks. “On the other hand, kiosks can process double the number of passengers per hour compared to the counters.” However, those carrying baggage which weighs in excess of the acceptable limit, Boueri said, will still have to go to the counter to make payments for excess weight.

Confirming that the self service kiosks will be launched by the end of July, General Manager of Sharjah Aviation Services David Henderson said the service will be available to any passenger travelling on any airline heading out of Sharjah Airport.

“Irrespective of whether they have or do not have baggage, they can make use of our kiosks to check in,” Henderson said.

He said the airport will provide 12 kiosks in the main dome of the airport and in the check-in hall. “We will support these with eight fast bag-drop counters, allowing passengers to drop off their baggage.” Henderson said passengers can choose their seats from a seat map of their flight while checking in using the kiosk. “Later in the summer, we will also offer a similar 
service online.”

Boueri said getting a boarding pass before reaching the airport was actually an assurance for the passenger that the airline is legally obligated to fly 
him/her.

Using The Self Service Kiosks

• After security screening, the passenger can choose the airline on kiosk’s monitor.
• Passenger has to enter the ticket reference number
• Kiosk will scan and read passenger’s passport details.
• After verification, passenger will be allowed to select seats
• Passenger can enter baggage details and weigh the baggage.
• Once the baggage weight is accepted, baggage tags can be printed.
• Passenger can print the ticket and the boarding pass
• Baggage with tags can be dropped at dedicated bag-drop locations.
• Passenger can then proceed for the immigration process.

sajila@khaleejtimes.com