As the main gateway to New Zealand, Auckland Airport had experienced rapid growth in recent years. From 2015 to 2017, passenger numbers grew by 10% year on year, with 8 new airline carriers beginning services to Auckland in this time. In 2021, ahead of the Trans-Tasman bubble opening, Auckland Airport had to prepare to welcome passengers back.
The earlier growth was being managed within a constrained terminal environment, and the sudden spike was starting to negatively impact passenger experience and terminal operations, with queues at check-in desks and insufficient check-in counter positions to meet airline requirements.
The return to aviation and fluctuating passenger numbers brought new needs for flexibility.
The solution
Auckland needed a technology and hardware solution that would increase passenger check-in speeds and improve the passenger experience, without requiring capital works to increase terminal capacity. The solution needed to allow for common use of check-in facilities to maximise the existing floor space and not leave check-in desks and kiosks ‘sitting idle’.
Elenium has delivered 120 check-in kiosks to Auckland. The kiosks are common use and dynamically portable, meaning they can be easily moved around the terminal to different position at different times. The kiosks have an easy to use self-service interface with a multilingual capability. Critically the kiosks are easy to maintain, designed for fast, in-position servicing, with long battery life and easy replacement. The kiosks can support rapid processing of a full range of passenger check-in interactions
Mobile exception desks have been provided that can be moved by any airline for whatever is required. Even airlines using traditional check-in desks are now using them to manage exceptions like visa checks without requiring additional staff.
As the Trans-Tasman bubble opened Elenium implemented a new CUSS and Flightdeck platform to Auckland’s requirements in a tight timeframe.
Since installing Elenium’s solution, the Elenium kiosks have allowed Auckland Airport to better manage passenger fluctuations, providing more effective use of terminal floor space. This has supported the passenger experience by cutting average recorded check-in and bag drop time from 20 minutes to 8.5 minutes while allowing usual check-in staff to assist higher needs passengers and maximise service.