İGA, contractor and designated operator of Istanbul New Airport, is to implement SITA’s its baggage tracking technology.

This technology will allow airlines operating at the airport to meet IATA Resolution 753’s baggage tracking requirements from the first day of operations, scheduled for 2018.

SITA’s Baggage Report 2017 showed global improvements in baggage management by airlines during 2016, facilitated by investments in technology.

The rate of mishandled bags was down 12.25% from the previous year at only 5.73 bags mishandled per thousand passengers served.

This was the lowest rate of baggage mishandling ever recorded, but IATA Resolution 753 aims to reduce the numbers further and ensure clear traceability during changes in baggage chain of custody.

This clear data will not only help find lost bags more quickly, it will also help airlines more clearly identify trouble spots in need of improvement and properly account for losses by partner carriers on transfer, when 47% of lost-baggage incidents occur.

The new Istanbul airport will be one of the world’s largest, with capacity to serve 90 million passengers a year initially and up to 200 million passengers a year upon completion of all four phases of construction.

SITA estimates that the airport will need to track more than 75,000 bags an hour.

With SITA’s baggage solution IT infrastructure, airlines flying from Istanbul’s new airport can track bags at key points in the journey, including check-in, transfer and arrival, with updates on location at each step of the journey in compliance with IATA Resolution 753.

Yusuf Akçayoğlu, CEO of İGA Airports Construction says:

“We fully understand that having the right technology will be essential to the successful operation of the new airport and future-proofing it for decades to come.

“It is also critical to ensuring our passengers fully benefit from our new, world-class facilities by providing innovative systems that make the journey through the airport enjoyable and effortless.

Jihad Boueri, SITA vice president airports for Middle East, India and Africa says:

“Baggage is one key area where technology is improving the passenger experience.

Increasingly airlines and airports are helping to relieve the anxiety of waiting for bags to arrive by providing real-time information on the status of their bags to passengers.

“At the same time, by understanding where a bag is at any point in its journey, airlines will be able to act proactively to ensure that a bag is correctly allocated to a flight, ensuring it arrives with the passenger at their destination.”