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Customer Case Study

January 11, 2011

Skymark Airlines Inc. (Japan)

Automatic Check-In with the SUKIT™ Kiosk Terminal
Alleviates queues at airport counters and leads to improvement of the user service level and reduction of workloads


Skymark plane

Skymark Airlines, offering reasonably-priced flights, introduced automatic check-in machines in June 2010 in the effort to reduce check-in congestion at airport counters. This has led to an improvement in user convenience as well as airport operation efficiency.

Skymark Airlines chose the general-purpose OKI kiosk terminal SUKIT™ as its automatic check-in machines. The application software and large-scale LCD uniquely developed by OKI offer a user-friendly system.

Skymark Airlines was established in September 1998. As an airline company that features low-cost operations, it was established for the purpose of making the domestic flight market competitive to increase user benefit.

The company started operation with only two planes flying six flights a day (three round trips) between Haneda (Tokyo) and Fukuoka Airports. Since then, however, the routes have expanded to connect Sapporo (New Chitose) Airport, Asahikawa Airport, Kobe Airport, Naha Airport, Kita Kyushu Airport, Kagoshima Airport, Kumamoto Airport, and Ibaraki Airport. As of November 2010, 16 airplanes fly 17 routes with a total of more than 100 flights a day. More than three million passengers fly on Skymark flights every year.

Background and objective of system introduction

Introduction of automatic check-in machines was planned when upgrading the ticket machines for counter clerks


Saori Miyamoto
Chief
Passenger & Cargo Service Department
Airport Operations Division

Skymark conventionally engaged in face-to-face check-in operations at airport counters. In addition to the check-in operation, the counter clerks were also responsible for ticket sales, ticket reimbursement, luggage check-in, and passenger support.

As the number of flights and passengers increased, however, counters became crowded. Saori Miyamoto, a chief in the Passenger & Cargo Service Department of the Airport Operations Division, described the counter situation at the time saying "During busy times of the year or during rush hours, we had queues at the counters causing inconvenience to the passengers. At the same time, we thought we were no longer able to handle everything at the counter, especially at Haneda Airport, because there are many flights to and from there."

Meanwhile, the ticket machines that counter clerks used had to be replaced. In June 2009, Skymark requested OKI, the manufacturer that had delivered the previous models, to offer proposals for new machines. This is when Skymark started considering the use of automatic check-in machines in order to improve customer convenience and counter operation efficiency.

An easy-to-develop-application environment was the key determinant

The product OKI proposed as an automatic check-in machine was a kiosk terminal "SUKIT". It was a terminal with applications that could support many types of operations. In August 2009, Ms. Miyamoto visited OKI's showroom for a demonstration of the machine. "The moment I saw the terminal, I though it was cute," she remembers and laughs.


Jitsuko Ibaraki
Chief
Passenger & Cargo Service Department
Airport Operations Division

On her first impression of the machine, Jitsuko Ibaraki, another chief in the Passenger & Cargo Service Department of the Airport Operations Division, says "Not only did it have a good overall design, but the very large LCD suggested that it was user-friendly."

Ms. Risa Haraguchi from the Information System Department comments "We (Skymark) develop all business applications internally, and therefore, we planned to develop the system for the automatic check-in machine. For this reason, we wanted the terminal to be easy to use and also flexible and scalable so that we as a developer could improve functions easily."

SUKIT satisfied Skymark's development requirements since platform middleware (called SUKIT platform) with web service based easy-to-understand APIs was offered.

It did not take long for Skymark to choose SUKIT. Ms. Haraguchi comments that "We did consider and compare other vendors' products, but we rated OKI's proposal the highest including its introduction cost and maintenance support plans."

System overview and key points of system introduction

Total of over 30 terminals at airports including those for new routes


Ms. Risa Haraguchi
Information System Department

Skymark started application development in the beginning of the fall of 2009. Ms. Haraguchi remembers "Our development focused on creating simple screens to reduce the number of operations required for passengers. This was quite easily achieved by the platform middleware."

During the development process, there was repeated testing at the Transportation Service Department. Ms. Ibaraki says, "We tested the machine from the customer point of view and gave feedback on what was needed."

After completion of both the hardware and software, the automatic check-in service started at Kobe Airport in June, at New Chitose Airport and Fukuoka Airport in July, at Haneda Airport and Kita Kyushu Airport in August, at Kagoshima Airport in September, and at Kumamoto Airport in October, 2010.

Ms. Miyamoto continues, "We will increase the number of automatic check-in machines except for some airports where all necessary tasks can be done through conventional counter operations." For the time being, Skymark had already decided to install the terminal at Ibaraki Airport and also at Nagasaki and Chubu Centrair International Airports where Skymark will start operation in the near future. As a result there will be more than 30 terminals in total.

Results of system introduction and future vision

More than 50% of passengers are using the automatic check-in service

An automatic check-in machine reads a 2D barcode which contains information on a reservation made online by a passenger along with his/her credit payment information and is generated on the website or sent to a mobile phone. After the machine reads the barcode, a passenger follows the on-screen instructions to check in, selects a seat, and prints out a receipt. The easy-to-understand screen and easy-to-use system seem to have been positively received by many passengers.

Ms. Miyamoto adds information saying "Clerks quite often had to show customers how to use the system at the beginning. But the customers quite quickly accustomed themselves with the system, and now, most of those who select a seat at the time of reservation walk directly to the automatic check-in machine. Approximately 50% of passengers now use this system." The introduction of the system has contributed to elimination of queues at the check-in counter even during rush hours.

Ms. Ibaraki further comments on the resulting improvement of operational efficiency saying "Since the workloads for check-in operation at check-in counters dramatically decreased, we are now able to efficiently assign staff members. For example, we can assign staff members to take care of check-in luggage when luggage becomes concentrated at a particular counter."

Functional expansion of SUKIT may realize self luggage check-in

Meanwhile, there have been demands for functional expansion from sites of system operation. Ms. Haraguchi says "An English version is one of them. At Haneda Airport, for example, international flights will become available in December. Accordingly, we believe that an increased number of people from overseas will use our domestic flights. So, it needs to be dealt with promptly," indicating that translation of the system screens is now being planned.

Furthermore, there has been a plan to incorporate the check-in luggage reception function into the automatic check-in machine operation. More specifically, the plan is to allow a passenger to use an additional post check-in operation to print out a luggage tag from the terminal. According to Ms. Miyamoto, "The self luggage check-in service where passengers put luggage tags on their luggage and put it on a conveyor belt has already been introduced in Europe. This can not only eliminate queues at the luggage check-in counters, but also further promote low-cost operations." Such a system has not been introduced yet by any domestic airline companies in Japan, and Skymark Airlines will be looking to OKI, the terminal supplier, for support in its implementation.


Haneda (Tokyo) Airport Terminal 1: SUKIT terminals at the check-in counter

Service overview

About Skymark Airlines

Company Name Skymark Airlines Inc.
Headquarters 1-5-5 Haneda Airport, Ota-ku, Tokyo 144-0041, Japan
Representative President/CEO Shinichi Nishikubo
Date of Foundation November 12, 1996
Number of Employees 1,474 (As of January 1, 2011)
(Except temporary employees and workers from other companies)
Company's Business Regular air transportation service, etc.
Web Site http://www.skymark.jp/en/
  • * SUKIT is a trademark of Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. in Japan.
  • * The names of the companies and products mentioned in this document are the trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies and organizations.
  • * Information in the customer case study is current on the date of the announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice.

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