With the deepening of domestic economic reform and opening up, the domestic civil aviation industry has gained unprecedented development, the number of passengers in and out of the airport has been increasing, and the baggage throughput has reached a new height. Baggage handling has always been a huge and complex task for large airports, especially the continuous terrorist attacks against the aviation industry have also put forward higher requirements for baggage identification and tracking technology. How to manage the piles of baggage and effectively improve the efficiency of handling is an important issue for airlines.
1. Contexts
Early airport baggage management systems identified passenger baggage through barcode labels, and in the conveyance process, the identification of barcodes was used to achieve the sorting and processing of passenger baggage. The development of global airlines’ baggage tracking system has been relatively mature, however, the recognition rate of barcode is hardly more than 98% in the case of great difference of checked baggage, which means that the airlines have to keep investing a lot of time and energy for manual operation to transport the sorted baggage to different flights. At the same time, due to the high directional requirements of barcode scanning, this also adds extra workload to airport staff when barcode packing. Matching and sorting baggage using barcodes alone is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, and may even lead to serious delays in flights. Improving the degree of automation and sorting accuracy of the automatic airport baggage sorting system is of great significance in protecting the safety of public travel, reducing the work intensity of the airport sorting staff, and improving the overall operational efficiency of the airport.
UHF RFID technology is widely recognized as one of the technologies with development potential in the 21st century, which is a new technology that causes changes in the field of automatic identification after the barcode technology. Its non-line-of-sight, long-distance, low directional requirements, fast and accurate wireless communication capabilities, is more and more focused on the airport baggage automatic sorting system. In October 2005, IATA (International Air Transport Association) unanimously adopted a resolution to take UHF (Ultra High Frequency) RFID strap-on tags as the only standard for airline baggage tags. In response to the new challenges posed by passenger baggage to the handling capacity of airport conveyor systems, UHF RFID devices are beginning to be used in more and more airports for baggage systems.
2. System architecture
The ultra-high frequency RFID luggage automatic sorting system, is gives each passenger randomly checks in the baggage to paste the electronic label, the electronic label records the passenger personal information, the departure port, the arrival port, the flight number, the stopping place, the take-off time and so on the information; The baggage flows the various control nodes, such as picks up, loads the machine at the place, the baggage draws at the place installs the electronic label to read and write the equipment. When the baggage with the information of the tag passes through each node, the reader will read the information and pass it to the database to realize the information sharing and monitoring of the baggage in the whole process of transportation, and its system architecture is shown in Figure 8-11.
Figure 8-11 Automated Baggage Sorting System Architecture
3. System flow
Passengers departing from the airport check-in counters for baggage check-in, the staff according to the passenger boarding pass to complete the check-in registration and print luggage tags, luggage tags will be installed in the baggage into the baggage conveyor. The conveyor belt is installed with UHF RFID reader, when the baggage passes through the collection channel, its relevant information is collected and uploaded to the conveyor control system, the conveyor control system can sort the baggage correctly according to the information obtained to the corresponding flights of the baggage room compartment slot. Finally, the porter will transfer the baggage of the corresponding flight to the luggage box and transport it to the cargo hold of the airplane by the tractor.
As shown in figure 8-11, the airport baggage automatic sorting system adopts ultra-high frequency RFID technology, through the electronic tag identification of baggage. Even for multiple high-speed movement of luggage, can be recognized at the same time, and automatic sorting, without human intervention, fast and convenient operation. Using RFID technology mechanization rate can be 99.9% or more, which means that from the technology will greatly reduce the baggage loss, late shipment, wrong shipment possibility. At the same time, UHF RFID can work in a variety of harsh environments. This will be able to strengthen the security of travelers’ luggage, greatly reducing its error rate and other problems.
Figure 8-12 Automated Baggage Sorting System
In addition, each reader can be connected to the server through the network, in all aspects of baggage check-in, can be effectively recorded tracking and monitoring, timely grasp of the whole process, dynamic management, management personnel can be fully based on this statistical data to view the situation of each link, to achieve targeted management, as a whole, to improve the informationization of the management of the airport baggage check-in and intellectualization.
4. System key technologies
Automatic airline baggage sorting systems should aim to achieve maximum efficiency, safety, reliability, and ease of maintenance, and data acquisition is especially critical in the overall system.
High-speed data acquisition to meet the growing number of passenger baggage at the airport, especially large and medium-sized airports, conveyor transmission speed is increasingly high-speed. Higher conveyor speed has higher requirements for the reader’s acquisition speed.
Stability: aviation airport baggage sorting system 365 days a year, 24 hours a day continuous operation, reader equipment must meet the stable operation of the environment.
Reliability: The baggage sorting system must accurately obtain the information of each piece of baggage in order to correctly complete the sorting, which requires that the reader equipment must have a very high degree of reliability, each piece of baggage information can be accurately collected.
Compatibility: The core control part of the automatic baggage sorting system generally uses PLC, in order to achieve the purpose of high-speed accurate sorting, PLC how to get to the reader equipment to collect the data is also very critical, which also requires that the reader equipment must be compatible with the PLC. Support instruction set control reader equipment can be compatible with PLC good.
Because the luggage has the diversity, the electronic label is easy to be influenced by the environment and the position influence causes the recognition rate to decline. There are two kinds of solutions, one solution is to use two reader antennas to the same location time-sharing collection, at this time you can use any form of label; Another solution is to use 3D tags (see section 4.3.6), at this time, regardless of reader antenna polarization direction, have a better recognition effect. In the former case the equipment investment is slightly increased and in the latter case the cost of the tags is slightly increased.
For the identification process on the conveyor belt, the need to ensure a certain recognition effect, the label affixed to the baggage consistency of different, need to have enough power to ensure; at the same time and to control the recognition range, the environment is more complex, through the reflection is easy to recognize the side or far away from the baggage tag. Therefore, it is necessary to make a small shielding environment identification (similar to 6.1.1 shielding box), or the use of RSSI processing identification.
5. System Advantages
In addition to baggage management applications, UHF RFID for airport systems have some other application points. The advantages of using UHF RFID airport system are mainly reflected in the following ten points:
Solve the problem of lost baggage and provide better service; the application of UHF RFID in the aviation baggage transportation system is outlined as installing RFID tags to the baggage at the check-in counters at the airport, and installing RFID readers at the counters, baggage conveyor belts, and cargo compartments respectively. This allows the system to track baggage throughout the entire process until it reaches the hands of the passenger. Solve the problem of lost luggage in the past.
Warehouse management of goods: UHF RFID technology can be done on the container electronic tags, record placement location, product category, date, etc., and through the EPC in the goods on the electronic tags, it can be based on each product-specific code, at any time to grasp the status of the goods, the location, whether or not there is a loss, the distribution of the place in order to warehouse management.
Transportation process and tracking of goods: real-time, accurate and complete records and tracking of product operation, can be comprehensive and efficient to strengthen the management from the production of products, transportation to sales and other aspects of the management, and to provide a variety of perfect and easy to use query, statistics, data analysis and other functions. Each cargo can be set up within the network complete information, cargo tracking and management of the content, routes and logs can be seen at a glance.
Save the airport management costs, improve efficiency: baggage misdelivery phenomenon often occurs, and airlines must spend a sum of money each year to deal with these problems; therefore, the entire air transportation system as well as the relevant logistics companies are hoping to find a complete solution as soon as possible. UHF RFID technology reduces these costs for airlines.
As far as possible reduces the aircraft the accident risk: First of all can reduce the aircraft maintenance error risk, in the huge aircraft maintenance warehouse, after the specialized training senior mechanic every day has to spend a lot of time to consult the log book, searches for the aircraft on the suitable fitting, they use this kind of outdated, the low efficiency way searches for the fitting to carry on the maintenance method not only will often make the mistake, but also wastes the large amount of the precious time. The use of electronic tags on aircraft parts can quickly and accurately display relevant information about the parts, helping airlines to more quickly and accurately replace problematic parts. Thus saves a great deal of labor and material resources. And installs the electronic label on the airplane position, the airplane management personnel may understand clearly to each position on the life jacket all whether or not in place, avoids encounters the emergency situation when the error occurs.
The goods and the personnel tracking, the localization: Enables after the ultra high frequency RFID technology, can in the multitudinous goods among correctly indicates each cargo the specific position. And can be in the airport or airplane to point out to find the specific location of the relevant personnel.
Cope with the terrorist attack and the security role: Through the ultra-high frequency RFID technology can be blacklisted in the personnel in the passes the gateway to send out the warning signal, and quickly indicates this person’s baggage where, in order to the management personnel can timely and accurately find out the baggage to make the related work, better prevents the terrorist incident to happen. Each electronic tag has a set of can not be modified, independent number, and after special encryption. May manage the sensor and the intrusion detection equipment, for example new, deletes, modifies the sensor attribute and the movement sensor.
To the airport staff’s entry and exit range authorization: The airport can according to each staff’s position, the identity to their activity range specification, then puts the above information’s electronic label in the staff’s work card. The ultra-high frequency RFID technology can identify whether the staff enters the unauthorized area, in order to carry on the better management to the staff.
The long-distance range determines the position: The ultra-high frequency RFID technology may in ten meters long-distance range accurately determines the position, avoids the traditional technology only in the short distance to detect the position inconvenience. Provides convenience for airport personnel in determining the location of objects and personnel.
With the upgrading function: the evolution of technology is to continuously improve, the application of the existing UHF RFID technology, will continue to enhance and improve. The system has the function of upgrading, can be improved with the improvement of UHF RFID technology.
So far, many domestic airports have realized the UHF RFID-based baggage management system, including Beijing Airport, Chongqing Airport, Wuhan Airport, Hong Kong Airport and so on.
6. Conclusion
RFID technology is transforming retail management by enabling real-time inventory tracking, reducing operational costs, and enhancing the customer experience. As smart retail continues to evolve, Seiko RFID’s innovative solutions empower businesses to streamline operations, minimize errors, and drive growth. By adopting RFID systems, retailers can stay competitive in an increasingly digital marketplace—turning data into actionable insights for a smarter, more efficient future.
7. Frequently Asked Questions
7.1 How does RFID improve baggage handling accuracy compared to barcodes?
RFID uses wireless radio waves to automatically identify tags without line-of-sight scanning, achieving 99.9% read rates vs. barcodes’ 80-90%. It reduces manual errors and speeds up sorting by scanning multiple bags simultaneously.
7.2 What RFID frequency is used for airport luggage tracking?
UHF RFID (860-960 MHz) is the global standard for baggage systems due to its long read range (up to 10m), fast data capture, and compliance with IATA RP1740C guidelines.
7.3 Can RFID tags withstand harsh airport environments?
Yes. Seiko RFID’s ruggedized tags are designed for extreme conditions:
- Temperature-resistant (-40°C to 85°C)
- Impact/shock-proof (ISO 2231/ISTA 3A tested)
- Waterproof (IP67/IP68 ratings)
7.4 How do airports integrate RFID with existing baggage systems?
RFID readers sync with BHS (Baggage Handling Systems) via:
- APIs for real-time data to airline/ground staff dashboards.
- Middleware (e.g., Siemens, Vanderlande) to merge RFID with legacy barcode systems.
7.5 What’s the ROI of implementing RFID for baggage tracking?
Airports report:
- 30-50% reduction in lost luggage (SITA 2023 data).
- 20% faster check-in/drop-off throughput.
- Labor cost savings from automated reconciliation.