Ethiopia’s Bole Airport Installs SITA Self-Service Tech

SITA is helping Bole International Airport with its digital transformation. The airport is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and has installed SITA’s self-service check-in kiosks and Smart Path Drop & Fly baggage drop tech to streamline the passenger journey for Ethiopian Airlines passengers.

Under the new system, those flying with Ethiopian Airlines will be able to check-in at a self-serve SITA Kiosk, or through the Ethiopian Airlines app before they get to the airport. From there, they can proceed to baggage drop, which is similarly self-service. That means that travelers will not need to wait in a line or interact with an agent in order to complete that part of their passenger journey.

The technology has been installed in a new extension of Bole’s check-in area. Self-service technology has become increasingly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, since it minimizes the amount of physical contact between passengers and airport staff, and makes it easier to maintain social distance at the facility. The kiosks and baggage drop tech will pave the way for other digital technologies at Bole, with SITA suggesting that the airport will eventually be outfitted with biometric screening capabilities.

“ADD is one of the first airports in Africa to implement Smart Path bag-drop technology and Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest growing carrier, is the first adopter,” said SITA Middle East and Africa President Hani El-Assaad. “This deployment marks a significant milestone in Africa’s air transport industry evolution. It shows that airports and airlines are ready to embrace automated and intelligent airport solutions to ensure sustainable growth and lays the groundwork for a smarter, touchless future of air travel.”

SITA has provided self-service solutions for numerous airports in the past few months. The company’s TS6 check-in kiosks were recently deployed at Václav Havel Airport in Prague, and a Smart Path trial is currently underway at Istanbul Airport in Turkey.

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July 28, 2021 – by Eric Weiss