Harrods Aviation is exhibiting at EBACE 2018 next week (stand A67) having recently gone ‘live’ with a new automated check in system for its VIP and group charter flights at its London Luton and London Stansted FBOs.

The system, from privately-owned British company, London based Flight Solutions, will help improve efficiency weekly speeding up passenger and ground handling (hitherto a manual process) through the fast capture of passport or other identity documents, automated generation of flight manifest and the issuing of baggage tags for tracking and baggage reconciliation.

The flexible (eDCS) system, designed specifically for FBOs, was installed in late February. Training was carried out in April and ‘it is up and running really well,’ said Harrods Aviation Sales and Marketing Director, Will Holroyd.

‘With this investment, we are well prepared for the stepped up requirements of electronic passenger and crew manifest data for Border Force that are being introduced and for UK Department for Transport (DfT) security compliance to the baggage process.’

This summer both FBOs are seeing bigger groups (music tours, sports charters, including World Cup movements) pass through its FBOs.

‘The eDCS solution is a simple but effective, off the shelf solution which is great  for support out on the ramp too, enabling ground handlers to quickly deal with any bag changes required. It is competitively priced, fit for purpose and tried and proven, which is why we chose it,’ added Harrods Aviation Kerry Besgrove, Operations Director.

‘We're delighted to be expanding our business aviation activity with the prestigious and busy Harrods Aviation’s FBOs at Luton and Stansted,’ said Paul Secker, founder and CEO of Flight Solutions. ‘Our technology will help them to be more efficient and give them time to focus on what they are so skilled at; excellent customer service.’

Flight Solutions’ CEO Paul Secker will be in Geneva for EBACE (28 to 31 May 2018) and is looking forward to meeting with expanding business aviation FBOs in Europe.

Their solutions have been operational at other FBOs including at TAG Farnborough Airport for three years and since 2012 at the Inflite Jet Centre at London Stansted.

Falcon Aviation at Al Bateen Executive Airport, Abu Dhabi, introduced the system in 2016 (when it was white labelled as LocalCheck). It has helped the operator achieve regular on time performance with its 12 daily flights between Al Bateen to Zurku Island transporting 700 passengers a day. The operation, using Bombardier Q400 turboprops, supported 215,000 passengers in 2017.

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Flight Solutions is a technology solutions provider to the airport industry.  It provides a range of simple, adaptable and cost-effective solutions for airports, FBOs, airlines and handling agents.  This lean, forward-thinking company is set to become a leader in flight handling solutions and products to the airport industry.

More information on Flight Solutions Passenger Processing products, including eDesktop, eScan, and eDCS solutions, can be found at www.flight-solutions.com

or by contacting sales@flight-solutions.com.

Flight Solutions, the innovative UK-based airport technology provider, has been awarded a contract which will see its eScan Passenger Verification System rolled out across eight airports operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) in time for the busy summer season.

Flight Solutions’ eScan Passenger Verification System will be installed at eight regional airports in Scotland – Inverness, Benbecula, Dundee, Islay, Kirkwall, Stornoway, Sumburgh and Wick – confirming that every passenger is on a valid flight and permitted to proceed through security to the departure gates.

The system will also provide real-time passenger data to HIAL, which the group can use to measure passenger flow and queue times. This knowledge will allow HIAL to make business decisions on when, where and how to process passengers more efficiently across its airports.

Inverness Airport, part of the HIAL group, will also benefit from an airport-wide rollout of Flight Solutions’ Passenger Processing systems, including its common use system (CUTE) and common use self-service (CUSS) products. Ten common-use check-in desks, six self-service check-in kiosks, seven self-service bag-drops and six boarding gates will be installed across Inverness Airport by June 2018.

These solutions have already proven successful with KLM, which has been using Flight Solutions’ kiosk check-in and agent-assisted bag drop products at Inverness Airport since 2016.

Cheryl Campbell, Customer Service Manager at Inverness Airport, commented: “We are experiencing terrific passenger growth. Having a common passenger processing system will allow us to be flexible when it comes to looking after passengers. For example, it will be much easier to share check-in and boarding gate equipment between various airlines for departing flights. We will be able to make swift changes to initial plans should the need arise, without delaying passengers or causing congestion in the airport. Flight Solutions is helping us work towards our long-term growth plans.”

Additionally, Inverness Airport will deploy a hosted Departure Control System (eDCS) for processing charter flights as part of its charter and business aviation offering.

“We’re delighted to expand our existing relationship with Inverness Airport and with the HIAL group,” commented Paul Secker, Founder and CEO of Flight Solutions. “In a constantly changing environment like a busy airport, we recognise the need for both hardware and software to be as simple and adaptable as possible. Getting rid of legacy solutions and capitalising on the new technology offered as part of our passenger processing and passenger verification systems are helping to future-proof airports while improving the passenger experience.”