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in the automation of today’s mainly manual
reflighting processes. This is why we have
decided to work with SITA to explore possi-
bilities to digitalize the process. “Based on the
first results of our proof of concept, we believe
to be able to automatically reflight as much
as 70 per cent of Lufthansa´s mishandled bags
at Munich Airport. Interpolating this to our
global network, we expect more up-to-date
information and further improvements in the
mishandled baggage processes for Lufthansa
and high potential for other SITA airline cus-
tomers by digitalizing what was previously a
totally manual process,” Rudo added.
After a number of joint developments with
Lufthansa already (including WorldTracer
Desktop and WorldTracer Passenger Self
Services), the SITA automated baggage
reflighting solution represents a joint innova-
tion project to further automate and optimize
Lufthansa’s baggage management services.
Sergio Colella, SITA President for Europe, said:
“SITA’s automated baggage reflighting solu-
tion is built on the back of past successful
co-innovations with Lufthansa and meets
a critical industry baggage management
requirement as we see the return to the skies.
Our aim to make sure that when a bag is mis- Manual Handling
handled, it is reunited with its owner as soon The process of handling lost property today is also still largely
and simply as possible. manual. Multiple stakeholders are involved, and very often the
SITA has also launched WorldTracer Lost and airline lacks control or visibility of the entire chain of events.
Found Property, an artificial intelligence-en- Further complicating this manual process is the protracted time
abled solution that solves a million-dollar taken to match an item to a missing report.
headache for the air transport industry: how
to quickly return items left behind on aircraft Passengers can now register a claim using their mobile device
or in airports to their owners. in a matter of seconds to report, pay for, and organize repatria-
tion as well as track their item at every step. Using cutting-edge
Using cutting-edge technology such as com- technology such as computer vision, machine learning, and nat-
puter vision, machine learning, and natural ural language processing, WorldTracer Lost and Found Property
language processing, WorldTracer Lost and searches a global database of images and descriptions to match
Found Property searches a global database of the found item to a missing item report. The solution uses image
images and descriptions to match the found recognition to identify details such as brand, material, and color
item to a missing item report. of the missing item. It is also recognizes similar words in the

“We will continue to collaborate and support description to make a definitive match.
the industry to reduce mishandled baggage SITA said, the airline can then immediately notify the owner and
rates while driving operational efficiencies and have the item returned to them. The passenger and the airline
sustainable solutions when needed the most,” have full visibility of the process through the WorldTracer portal
said Lavorel of SITA. no matter where in the world the item was lost, a feature that

Leveraging SITA’s WorldTracer solution, which is expected to significantly improve passenger satisfaction. To
is used in 2,200 airports by the majority of try to keep tabs on their items of luggage, a growing number of
the world’s airlines, Lost and Found Property passengers, including Luthra, are turning to technology. Luthra
cuts the cost of repatriating lost items by 90 now makes sure to affix Apple’s AirTags, a tracking device, to his
per cent. Airline employees can register a luggage whenever he travels.
found item, create a missing item report, and
validate a match in under two minutes. The Apple has reportedly seen a rise in sales of its AirTag tracking
solution also dramatically speeds up the time device. The AirTag works by sending out a secure Bluetooth signal
taken to find and return found items, with 60 that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network.
per cent of these items returned within the These devices send the AirTag’s location to the iCloud, allowing
the user to go to the Find My app and see it on a map.
first 48 hours.
22 | MARCH - APRIL 2023 WWW.GBP.COM.SG/AAA