Hong Kong airport to deploy next-generation RFID tags

Motorola announced Friday that it has won a three-year contract to supply Hong Kong International Airport with up to 70 million radio frequency identification (RFID) enabled IATA standard 21" RFID baggage tracking tags.

Specific to this baggage tag award, Motorola has teamed with two industry leaders: Avery Dennison RFID for the AD-833 inlay and Print-O-Tape for the baggage tag, said Motorola.

Motorola said it supplied hardware and tags, and implemented the first RFID project at Hong Kong International Airport in 2005. HKIA uses Motorola's XR400 and AR400 fixed RFID readers, Motorola MC9090-G RFID handheld mobile computers, and will utilize Gen-2 baggage tags supplied by Motorola and its partners.

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Motorola announced Friday that it has won a three-year contract to supply Hong Kong International Airport with up to 70 million radio frequency identification (RFID) enabled IATA standard 21" RFID baggage tracking tags.

Specific to this baggage tag award, Motorola has teamed with two industry leaders: Avery Dennison RFID for the AD-833 inlay and Print-O-Tape for the baggage tag, said Motorola.

Motorola said it supplied hardware and tags, and implemented the first RFID project at Hong Kong International Airport in 2005. HKIA uses Motorola's XR400 and AR400 fixed RFID readers, Motorola MC9090-G RFID handheld mobile computers, and will utilize Gen-2 baggage tags supplied by Motorola and its partners.

"To maintain its position as a premier regional and international aviation centre, HKIA is committed to providing our passengers with pleasant, hassle-free services and state-of-the-art facilities. The application of RFID is also another testament to our continuous efforts to achieve service excellence," said C K Ng, deputy director, airport operations, Airport Authority Hong Kong.

Unlike bar code-only tags, which require the scanner to be in the line of sight to read the tag, the EPC Gen2-enabled RFID bag tags can be read at long distances and without direct contac, said Motorola.

The RFID system is also more reliable, achieving average read-rates of more than 97 percent, versus 80 percent from a bar code-only system. As a result, RFID tags allow more accurate tracking of baggage through HKIA's baggage system, Motorola added.

HKIA currently tags passenger bags in multiple locations, including check-in counters in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, in-town check-in desks in Kowloon Station and Hong Kong Station of Airport Express, and upstream check-in facilities in the Pearl River Delta area. Today, there are more than 70 airlines involved in this program, Motorola noted.