Swissport is speeding-up the air freight handling processes at its cargo warehouses by introducing newly developed self-services kiosks. The digital innovation reduces waiting times and increases the quality of the air freight documentation.

Swissport has launched a global initiative to speed-up air freight handling processes at its cargo warehouses by introducing newly developed self-services via kiosks. Swissport’s cargo business at Brussels Airport was the front runner, followed by Amsterdam Airport in rolling out the new service, which Swissport will roll out across all core cargo stations within the next 24 months. With this digital innovation Swissport wants to reduce waiting times, increase the quality of the air freight documentation and ultimately aim to raise customer satisfaction.

“Our new kiosks support the paperless eFreight initiative by IATA and at the same time accelerate the import and export processes for our customers significantly”, says Hendrik Leyssens, Vice President Global Operations Cargo at Swissport International. “Truck drivers benefit from minimal wait times and faster turn-arounds.”

After the drivers register and identify at the kiosk with an official ID or passport, they can scan all relevant air freight documentation. They then receive a text message with the information at which truck gate they must drop their cargo. Shipping information can also be entered via a Kiosk-Web Portal by the forwarders directly. Furthermore, customers may link their IT systems via an API interface to Swissport’s data base.

And the new system increases efficiency and security. During the documents check, the kiosk system, which is connected to the EU Regulated Agent database, also checks the security status of every shipment. 

In 2018, Swissport International AG provided best-in-class airport ground services for some 282 million airline passengers and handled roughly 4.8 million tons of air freight in 115 cargo warehouses worldwide. Several of its warehouses have been certified for pharmaceutical logistics by IATA’s CEIV. The world's leader in airport ground services and air cargo handling, with 66,000 employees, achieved consolidated operating revenue of 2.99 billion euros in 2018. At the end of June 2019, Swissport was active at 310 airports in 49 countries on six continents.