Swissport launches self-service kiosks for air freight

Sep 28, 2019: Swissport has set up self-service kiosks to speed up the air freight handling processes at its cargo warehouses. The service was first rolled out for Swissport’s cargo business at Brussels Airport, followed by Amsterdam Airport.

The digital innovation will reduce waiting times, increase the quality of the air freight documentation and ultimately aim to raise customer satisfaction. Swissport plans to roll out the service across all core cargo stations within the next 24 months.

“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. Truck drivers benefit from minimal wait times and faster turn-arounds,” said Hendrik Leyssens, vice president global operations cargo at Swissport International.

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 database. 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.

At the end of June 2019, Swissport was active at 310 airports in 49 countries on six continents.