Sheremetyevo to double capacity

The majority of Russian international air passengers will be checked in using SITA systems following an announcement today that SITA will take charge of master systems integration at the new Sheremetyevo-3 terminal which will double the Moscow airport’s capacity to 25 million in 2009.

This means that SITA is now contracted to provide state-of-the-art check-in systems at the top three Russian international airports as a wave of IT modernisation sweeps the country’s airport sector.

Today’s announcement from JSC Terminal, a subsidiary of Aeroflot and the operators of Shermetyevo Terminal 3, concerns the first master systems integration deal for an IT provider at a Russian airport. 

Over 100 airlines will rely on SITA’s AirportConnect Open for both agent and self-service kiosk check-in, and RFID baggage management systems, for efficient passenger management. SITA will also build and transfer a Resource Management System, an Airport Operations Data Base and ensure integration with third party systems.

In 2007, Sheremetyevo International had 14.4 million passengers and catered for 60% of Russia’s international flights. The new terminal will serve anchor tenant Aeroflot, and other members of the SkyTeam Alliance including Alitalia, Air France, Delta, KLM and Korean Air. 

Kirill Budaev CEO, JSC Terminal said: “When designing the terminal we turned to SITA for their global expertise. We wanted to maximise the space we had available and by using SITA AirportConnect Open and CUSS kiosks, which can be shared by all international airlines serving the airport, we will be able to process up to 3,800 passengers per hour.” 

Ilya Gutlin, Regional Vice President Eastern and Central Europe SITA, said: “Privatisation has brought competition to Russian airports and this combined with strong passenger growth has encouraged airport operators, such as JSC Terminal, to select technologies that provide the highest level of customer service and the most efficient use of capacity.”

“Shermetyevo Terminal 3 will use SITA’s leading common use self-service and desk check-in along with new technologies like RFID with SITA’s Baggage Management solutions to make the operation of this new terminal efficient for both the airlines and the millions of passengers using it”.

Source: Transportweekly