After more than a decade of study and recommendations, the International Air Transport Association has voted to require the use of UHF RFID on air-travel baggage to prevent the mishandling of bags. – Page 1

Jun 14, 2019

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has adopted a resolution supporting the global deployment of RFID tracking for checked airline baggage. The resolution serves as the latest step toward global baggage tracking with UHF RFID tags on passengers’ luggage. The group voted at the 75th Annual General Meeting, held earlier this month in Seoul, South Korea.

The transition to radio frequency identification has been a wide-scale collaboration between all stakeholders across the baggage industry, including airports, airlines, luggage handlers and technology providers. IATA says it plans to work with airlines and airports to bring RFID to 80 percent of baggage checked for air travel throughout the next three years. This means that the implementation of RFID reader infrastructure needs to be deployed in at least 74 airports.

The vote was unanimous to adopt the resolution, along with the implementation of baggage messaging standards, to more accurately track passengers’ baggage across key points—when the luggage passes through reader portals—throughout a traveler’s journey. The resolution follows a decade-long process of research and recommendations, including specifications for how RFID should be employed.

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Source: IATA Mandates RFID Use on Baggage for Airlines, Airports – 2019-06-14 – Page 1 – RFID Journal