Air France, KLM Test Radio Frequency Identification Tags to Track Passenger Baggage

Air France will be running a trial with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to label and track passenger baggage on flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Airport. KLM started the trial on July 10 at two baggage drop-off points in Departure Hall 2 at the local international airport.

The RFID tags will be used for all baggage dropped off at these points, regardless of the destination. Later this year, all drop-off points in Departure Hall 2 will be equipped to handle RFID tags.

The new RFID labels, which are uniform to Air France and KLM, will also be introduced at a later stage to Air France and KLM outstations.

In the long term, an RFID chip will be encoded in the passenger´s baggage tag or integrated into the baggage containers. Sensors located around the airport allow the airline to locate baggage in real time and provide passengers with more up-to-date information.

The adoption of RFID technology at the end of 2005 is one of the four priorities defined by IATA as part of its “Simplifying the Business” program.