Air France to Improve Baggage Tracking with RFID Technology

Air France has announced that from 2020 it will ensure baggage tracking at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport using tags equipped with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in cooperation with Paris Aéroport.

The French carrier said that it is one of the very first in the world to have decided to implement the use of RFID technology. For Air France in 2020, this will represent about 8 million pieces of baggage per year that will be tagged in this way.

Through the use of the RFID technology, Air France and Paris Aéroport will aim to respond to customers’ need for information about their baggage, improve baggage identification and tracking (with gains in operational performance) and reduce associated operating costs.

“With more than 50 million customers carried on board our flights each year, RFID technology provides us with an innovative solution to improve the tracking and identification of baggage, guarantee its transit under optimal safety and security conditions, reduce our costs and improve our operational performance by reducing the time it takes to find missing items,” Alain-Hervé Bernard, Chief Operating Officer at Air France, said.

The use of the RFID technology will help Air France comply with the Resolution 753 of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which stipulates in particular that baggage must be traced throughout its journey (at check-in, boarding, transfer and arrival). It also recommends the global deployment of baggage tracking using RFID chips.

Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. Photo source: Paris Aéroport

Air France said that the RFID technology will gradually be deployed at its other airports, as well as at all Paris-Charles de Gaulle terminals, particularly Terminal 1.

“The use of RFID technology improves the processing of checked baggage by reducing handling and transfer times, optimizing capacity and significantly facilitating baggage tracking,” Marc Houalla, Managing Director of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, said.

“This technology is a must in our aim to be one of the best airports in the world for baggage handling,” Houalla added.