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Rachel Clarke

Better designed check-in counters and Immigration Department desks plus 12 baggage reclaim carousels should ensure travellers have a speedy passage through the new airport.

 There are 12 carousels - double the number at Kai Tak - which are capable of handling 19,200 pieces an hour.

 The Airport Authority predicts that processing time should be, on average, between 10 and 15 minutes, making the airport one of the quickest to travel through.

  New technology plays an important role throughout the workings of the airport. However, when passengers climb out of taxis or buses, one of the first services they will encounter will be the humble baggage cart.

  Or not so humble, because a worldwide search was launched to ensure that, as with other parts of the airport, the trolleys were the best available.

   Wanzl Metallwarenfabrik GmbH of Germany won a $13.7 million contract for 8,000 trolleys, including one year's maintenance.

  The three-wheeled model is sturdy and durable and, to prevent dangers of runaways, the brake is on and must be released by the passenger before the cart can be moved. As at Kai Tak, all the trolleys in the arrival and departure areas will be provided free of charge.

  With suitcases safely on trolleys, passengers next encounter the check-in desks - 288 of them, including 16 counters for outsize luggage.

  While passengers may see just the front as they hand over their passports and tickets, a great deal of thought has gone into these desks.

  Designers at NKI were given the concept of the airport from architect Norman Foster and then set about turning it into a practical blueprint.

   Security and precision are vital for, while no one wants it to be their bag that heads off on a flight to London when they are only having a getaway weekend in Manila, the threat from terrorists or banned items in luggage also has to be considered.

  Jonathan Crone, NKI project director at the Chek Lap Kok site, said: 'Check-in desks are chock-full with different bits of equipment and gadgets and computer systems to run the desk and everything it does. It's quite a complex area and it's important as one of the points of contact with the public.

  'In that desk we have all the equipment needed to run the baggage handling system, all the interfacing, all the data equipment, all the messaging systems that tell the airline this person has checked in, where the bag should go, the bag tag printer as well as the boarding cards.'   One of the main differences passengers checking in will notice is that the desks are much closer together than at Kai Tak, with more streamlined design and less 'dead' space.

  For the check-in staff, there is another obvious difference - the stations have all been ergonomically designed to make their work more comfortable.

 'Something we also do with our own design and one of the approaches they have taken here is to make it as easy as possible for the operator to control the system without getting up and getting down,' Mr Crone said.

  'Now [the check-in assistant] just has to slide her chair slightly. There will still be situations where she will have to get up but, in the ergonomic design we have, she should be able to press a series of buttons that weigh the bag, identify where the bag is going and print the bag tag label. She should be able to just lean over and attach it to the suitcase without having to get up and drag a bag around.'   One of the hi-tech pieces of equipment tucked behind the NKI desk is the check-in computer supplied by Siemens Nixdorf which is also used in international airports across the region, including Macau, Taipei, Singapore, Bangkok and Osaka.



Travellers can expect fast passage