All China's major airports to apply RFID luggage tracking by end of year

BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- China's major airports will enhance their luggage management service capabilities by intensively applying the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in luggage tracking, according to the country's civil aviation authorities.

Within the year, all major airports with annual passenger throughputs exceeding 10 million will apply RFID, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

As of June this year, 27 major airports with annual passenger throughputs above the 10-million level have approved and are pushing forward RFID application projects.

Multiple Chinese airlines are capable of providing services through which passengers can check the conditions of their luggage throughout their journey.

From January to June this year, China's civil aviation industry provided whole-journey luggage tracking services for more than 792,800 pieces of luggage aboard 32,667 flights, according to statistics from the CAAC.

China's civil aviation industry is driving new developments in digital innovation, which is of importance to ensuring safety, efficiency and low-carbon growth.

In addition to applying RFID tech, the CAAC has been promoting other technologies such as facial recognition, vending machines, automatic luggage check-in facilities and intelligent inquiry services. It is also encouraging innovation in related technologies and drafting roadmaps in fields such as inflight WiFi.

Digital technologies help limit delays at airports. In the first half of the year, the on-time performance of Chinese airlines' commercial flights was 85.57 percent, up 5.22 percentage points compared with the same period in 2019.

The CAAC has this year set an annual target of maintaining the industry's on-time flights at above 80 percent, based on its performance over the last three years, according to the CAAC.