New technologies – Le Figaro

To streamline the passenger journey, Paris airports and Air France have increasingly using new technologies. Review details and instructions.

Identity Control, baggage (liquids, creams, computers …), excavations, touching, removing shoes … over the years the constraints imposed by airlines to their passengers have continued to rise, complicating still a little boarding. So is now the same for the Thalys and Eurostar, TGV and will follow soon.

According to users, the step is often stressful and even terrible for the elderly or single mothers with toddlers. In response to this problem and complaints, airlines and airports are turning to new technologies. Latest find, the “digitization of the course to the ground.” At Orly as at Roissy, Air France and Paris Airports in fact rely on these processes to make this course as fluid as possible. If registration online or on mobile is now commonplace for most airlines now offer some print labels luggage home. But the European Commission has just added a layer of complication requiring that these labels have a green band. So if monochrome printer to print these labels on the terminals at the airport.

Those of Air France have been redesigned to be more ergonomic, both to change seats as to print their boarding pass or baggage tag. And if needed, a company officer stands nearby to assist passengers lost. Upon arrival at the airport, so it can proceed immediately to step removing luggage. In Area 6 Terminal F, fifteen controllers are ready to swallow checked baggage. First tested in Orly, these dispensing machines were heavily redesigned for easier use. Again, three company officers help passengers and is much less queue.

Removing automatic baggage. © Claire-Lise Havet Photo Credits: Claire-Lise Havet

next is the security control. By hours, wait times vary widely. Note that in all its terminals, Paris Airports chose to lengthen the carpet where they defeated then remade his luggage for passing X-ray, allowing a gain of several seconds per passenger. And to optimize space at Roissy for example, controls for European departures were grouped between the two wings of the terminal F.

To access the plane Paris Airports and Air France are testing an automatic loading. This allows the staff to concentrate on passengers requiring special attention, babies, children traveling alone, disabled, etc. If this automation of loading is very effective in long haul for large aircraft with two aisles, it is not safe to be of common interest for the medium-haul, because the only door boarding as the central corridor of the Airbus A 320 or Boeing-737 will necessarily bottlenecks.

Finally, to the arrival in Paris, the real black spot remains the passport control. The debarking is caught between inadequate staffing of the Police Air and Frontier (PAF) at certain hours of the day and the ineffectiveness of the initialed automatic passport control system. A police source acknowledges that this system is often deliberately put out of service. Officials see indeed an evil eye the arrival of these machines “Inspectors passports” that could provoke further downsizing. Yet in less than 10 years traffic has increased by 20% and their powers have been largely extended. Result, only 3.5% of passengers – or 5,000 per day- enjoy Initials. In fact, one third of the devices is always inaccessible. A situation all the more surprising that the company that installed them, Morpho, the world leader in the field, has a maintenance service which, it seems, is rarely called.

Terminal © Claire-Lise Havet Credits Photo: Claire-Lise Havet

by contrast, automated passport control in Montreal or New York airports can handle up to 50% of passengers. Releasing all officials to screen passengers who do not have biometric passports. On this issue, the Interior Ministry refused to answer, saying that he is only “User initials, devices have been purchased by the airport.” In terms of investment, is expected to increase the number of locks: for the current 37, 87 will be installed in 2021. … Why such a delay? The investment is minimal yet: catalog value of each unit is 100 000 €. This would not be a luxury when we know that in terms of average waiting, Paris is the worst among European airports. Indeed, there are now arriving at Terminal 2 E one hour and a half wait early in the morning for passengers in economy class and one hour for business passengers.

The PAF has also introduced random checks at the arrival of flights from Schengen. “There’s nothing else to do,” a plague representing police officers. Daily between 14 hours and 18 hours, all passengers are screened. Those who come from Italy, Germany and Spain are therefore well advised if they avoid a flight arriving in the afternoon. It will be 25 minutes won because we find the F terminal or Kiosk Initials or priority access “# 1″ for frequent passengers.

There are more surprising. While police is understaffed, the Comptroller General of the PAF Roissy, Patrice Bohaume, decided to also control the airplane down to the terminal F, connecting passengers will be … again controlled 100 meters further when they leave the Schengen area. “A very difficult situation,” admits Augustin de Romanet, CEO of Paris Airport. He also admitted at a recent press conference have written to the Minister of Interior to discuss the situation. In fact, these queues are plunging indices satisfaction Orly and Roissy airports. While the entire tourism chain mobilized to restore the “Destination Paris” undermined by the attacks, and a large advertising campaign entitled “Paris loves you” was launched … Can we avoid undermining these efforts ?