The market for RFID has been enjoying steady growth in recent years, and one area of interest is the field of baggage tags at airports. Most prominently, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, NV, and Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) have implemented internal RFID systems; these systems allow the airports to track and trace baggage much more efficiently.

There is a strong business case for utilizing RFID baggage tags. RFID tag. In 2009, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated that 38 million pieces of luggage are lost annually, and up to $4 billion is spent tracking, returning and replacing lost or mishandled luggage. IATA reportedly estimated that each piece of lost luggage costs between $90 and $100 in direct costs. The present baggage tagging system primarily uses bar codes, which can be read at best at 90 percent.

RFID tag manufacturers report better than 99 percent read rates. For an airport like McCarran, which processes 57,000 bags om an average day, that comes out to a difference of more than 5,000 less bags to track.

For airlines, improved baggage handling will help ensure more on-time departures and improve customer satisfaction. For passengers, eliminating the aggravation of misplaced luggage would be a major improvement.

The system is proving to be successful, and more airlines and airports are looking into RFID.

The success of the system has led McCarran Airport to renew its contract with Avery Dennison and converting partner Print-O-Tape, Inc. for an additional three years. The tags use Avery Dennison’s AD-833 UHF RFID inlay,

Alien Technology has also been successful in the field of baggage tagging. Alien Technology and airport solutions partner, Lyngsoe Systems, were awarded the baggage tag business for a third complete European RFID baggage handling system using Alien’s Squiggle inlay, most recently at Portugal’s main airport hub in Lisbon. UPM Raflatac has worked with Korea Airports Corporation for airline baggage tracking.

TAGSYS and ICM Airport Technics, reently signed a cooperative agreement to produce and supply end-to-end bag drop systems for the aviation industry.The end-to-end bag drop systems include a TAGSYS RFID UHF Gen 2 Permanent Bag Tag (PBT) and self-service systems enabling fast bag dropping for international flights. It will be processed by ICM Self-Service Bag Drop, which has been implemented at all Qantas hubs in Australia.

Price does remain an issue. Traditional baggage tags cost an estimated 3 to 4 cents a piece, whole RFID tags are approximately 15 cents per tag. However, with airline fees going up for baggage handling, the savings far outweigh the extra costs.

Production time for RFID-based baggage tags is longer. While regular baggage tags can be printed on wide web flexo, RFID tags require inlays, and performance tests have to be conducted. The overall production of RFID tags is roughly 40 percent of regular tags; in the time it takes to print a million regular tags, approximately 400,000 RFID-based tags can be produced.

Still, when one considers the improved customer satisfaction along with cost savings, RFID systems are likely to become more prominent at airports in the coming years.