Newstrack

MIAL implements 50 CUSS kiosks in association with SITA

Chetan Kapoor - Mumbai

As per the IATA mandate to simplify business, the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has become the first Indian airport to implement Common Use Self Service (CUSS) kiosks. In an agreement with SITA, MIAL would implement 50 CUSS check-in kiosks - 30 at the airport and 20 located in prominent hotels.

Speaking at a conference, Maneesh Jaikrishna, director, Sales and Relationship Management, South Asia and India, SITA said, "With almost 30,000 such workstations worldwide, the airports should get less congested as there is increased passenger traffic. We aim to unveil the kiosks between the end of Q2 and before Q3."

Adding further, G V Sanjay Reddy, managing director, MIAL, mentioned, "We are making things better with the help of technology and have identified many areas to help passengers and bring about substantial changes in the interim." As per the plan, the first kiosks will be available at the international terminal thereby supporting 45 airlines based at the airport, followed by the domestic terminal. "This activity has been outsourced to SITA, who will invest and we will provide them with the space," Reddy said, "Initially the airlines had CUTE systems of their own, and now the airport will provide them so that every counter can be used by any airline and the revenue generated will depend on the number of passengers."

"We will introduce flexibility, improve efficiency and enhance customer experience at the airport. The opportunity to grow is fantastic as people need infrastructure and we will support 200 airports using this solution," remarked Francesco Violante, CEO, SITA. The company also struck an agreement with the 13 non-metro Indian airports managed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to implement CUSS recently.

At the sidelines of the conference, Elyes Mrad, regional vice president, Sales and Relationship Management, South Asia and India for SITA, mentioned, "The locations where these CUSS kiosks are placed will be integral in decongesting the airports. These kiosks will provide not only the boarding pass but also the baggage tags so that the passengers can directly go to the baggage counters followed by immigration/security counters thereby maximising the terminal space."