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China selects SITA to meet airport projected demand
Aug 11, 04 | 10:27 am
THE Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) has selected SITA, leading provider of air transport focused applications, communications and IT infrastructure, to provide a range of integrated airport systems, as part of the first phase of the new Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (GBIA) construction. GBIA will be the first international hub of China�s Civil Aviation Authority to use a common platform throughout the airport campus, servicing both international and domestic passengers, the Civil Authority of China stated.
SITA�s sophisticated airport system includes the implementation of SITA�s Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) check-in solution, BagManager for baggage reconciliation, PassengerHandler for a common language check-in facility, a back-up Departure Control System (DCS), Common Use Self Service (CUSS) kiosks and additional supporting systems such as mobile wireless services.
�SITA�s CUTE solution will provide GBIA with a smooth and efficient check-in process for our passengers, enabling airlines to operate efficiently from anywhere within the airport,� commented Zhang Chun-lin, president of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Group Corporation. �What will be particularly important for us, will be the ability to easily expand these systems as passenger numbers grow over the next few years.�
Representing the largest single investment in CAAS�s history, the GBIA terminal complex has been designed to handle projected annual passenger traffic of 25 million by 2010. It covers an area of 300,000 square meters with some 250 check-in desks � with a planned expansion to 1,000 desks in order to welcome as many as 80 million passengers a year.
Russ Lewis, SITA�s vice president of Asia Pacific Airport & Desktop Services, added: �SITA will provide GBIA with a set of advanced systems as part of a comprehensive turnkey solution. We will provide a shared departure control system by supporting multiple back-end hosts and sharing all front-end departure workstations and peripheral devices on the same platform. We�re immensely proud to be working with GBIA and this partnership underscores our commitment to delivering best-in-class services to the airports of China�.
SITA�s solutions provide airports with the technology architecture required to take advantage of a broad range of Internet Protocol (IP)-based services that are vital to the future of the air transport industry.
�Our systems are designed to help airports maximize security, combat congestion, improve operating efficiencies and reduce costs,� Elyes M�Rad, SITA�s regional vice president of North Asia and China added. �We�re working hand-in-hand with GBIA to help them maximize the use of their resources and enable them to deliver premium services to their tenants and passengers across the entire airport complex.�
Meanwhile, SITA�s CUTE continues to lead the evolution in shared-use systems and offers Java-based, end-to-end IP connectivity from host to the airport desktop, providing airlines with access to their own applications via an open industry platform.
SITA currently manages some 30,000 CUTE workstations for 285 customers in more than 200 airport locations worldwide, checking-in an estimated 580 million passengers a year.
Nelson Alcantara
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Posted by Craig at August 11, 2004 05:21 PM