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ASIA-PACIFIC AIRPORTS MAGAZINE
SPECIAL REPORT: CONNECTIVITY Tokyo Narita’s Terminal 3 is the airport’s dedicated low-cost carrier facility.
remember where they were in Tokyo when their home country, sports icon, or idol secured the gold or was beaten by a quarter of an inch at the finish line. More moments such as this are enabled by removing the hassle of luggage. If a traveller can drop their baggage at an off airport check-in location at their hotel or a central location such as Shinjuku Station or the Tokyo Dome, then they are then free to explore and enjoy Tokyo for longer, prior to their flight. Instead of manoeuvring their luggage through the busiest metropolitan area in the world or going straight to the airport to avoid the hassle, travellers can now spend more time in the city centre. There, they can shop, eat, or visit a sporting event, which they may not have otherwise had the capacity to visit. This gives travellers a greater experience, increases tourist spend for the Japanese economy, and relieves stress on airports as travellers spend less time at the terminal and more time in the city. APA Issue 1, 2018
THE NEXT STEP FOR AIRPORTS
When speaking to Matt Lee, CEO of OACIS for this article he said: “Traditional solutions are still based on the premise that you must come to the airport to check-in and bag drop. “The minute you sever ties with that traditional thinking, you can think, if you choose to do it (off airport check-in and bag drop), where do you do it? You then open up a whole new world.” In the lead-up to the upcoming passenger surge of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, airports in Japan much re-evaluate their traditional systems, and look for new ways to manage the influx of travellers. By thinking outside of the box and outside of the airport, airports in Japan can leverage innovative solutions such as off airport check-in and bag drop to meet the demands of travellers and offer the best possible Olympics experience. APA
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Samuel is Amadeus IT Group’s head of airport IT for the Asia-Pacific region.