London Gatwick Airport has opened the world’s largest self-service bag drop zone following an 18 month construction programme as part of the transformation of the North Terminal.

The £36 million project is a major part of the airport’s growth strategy as the investment in technology will speed passengers through the check-in and bag drop formalities, allowing Gatwick to handle greater numbers of passengers by increasing peak check-in capacity from 3,000 to 4,350 passengers per hour.

Self-service bag drop was originally trialled in the South Terminal, proving that queuing times can be significantly shortened by allowing passengers to take charge of their own journey through the airport.

The technology enables passengers who have checked in online to take their bags straight to a machine upon arrival at the airport, where they can print their luggage tag, apply it to their bag and load it straight onto Gatwick’s state-of-the-art baggage sorting system.

Gatwick now has 60 check-in points in total with 48 of these being self-service bag drop units. This means the check-in process can be completed in less than two minutes.

#London