Lufthansa introduces new check-in terminals

The new Lufthansa check-in terminals promise to boost the convenience factor for Lufthansa passengers. On 16 February, the German flag carrier will start replacing its 300 existing check-in terminals with new upgraded ones.

The first terminals will be installed at Lufthansa’s largest hub in Frankfurt and at Milan Malpensa Airport, where the recently launched airline Lufthansa Italia is based.

By the end of April, all Lufthansa’s check-in terminals will be replaced throughout Europe. Besides their new, more modern design, the check-in terminals are equipped with an integrated radio frequency identification (RFID) scanner that can read passports and cards. The new terminals also have a larger monitor for easier readability.

The new technology will also enable customers with a machine-readable passport or ID card to check in quickly and flexibly. Once their passport data has been scanned, passengers are checked in. In order to receive a boarding pass, they then have to enter their flight number, flight destination or booking code. Thanks to the integrated RFID technology in the card scanner, customers checking in with a Miles & More credit card with a PayPass function only have to hold their card up against the scanner in order to trigger the check-in procedure.

Passengers who are already checked in but who wish, for example, to change their seat, can simply call up the check-in menu by placing the barcode printed on their boarding pass against the scanner and then make the necessary alteration. In addition, the scanner is able to record the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) data that is required by many immigration authorities before a flight departs. Passengers simply have to call up this option and then hold their passport over the scanner.

Lufthansa is the first airline worldwide to use check-in terminals equipped with RFID technology. Once again the German flag carrier is assuming a pioneering role. At the beginning of the 90s, Lufthansa was the first carrier to introduce a self-service check-in service for its customers.