Amsterdam's Schiphol International Airport tries self-service luggage check-ins

Anybody who has been to Amsterdam's Schiphol International Airport knows that it is a pretty hectic place. O.K., not Heathrow hectic, but depart there at the wrong time and it's not fun.

Well, Schiphol authorities are now experimenting with self-service baggage checks in an effort to cut down on waiting times. In conjunction with Dutch carrier KLM, this trial, launched yesterday, gives passengers who have checked-in using a self-service kiosk or online to drop off their bags at a machine, Reuters reports.

Travelers then scan their boarding passes; the machine weighs their luggage, prints out the routing slip which travelers will then attach themselves.

Of course, there is some room for wrongdoing, authorities acknowledge. Right now, they are performing random passenger screening, checking passports to make sure their baggage belongs to them. In the future, the new machine will have the ability to scan passports much like self-service check-in kiosks can.

Authorities also say that bags self-checked will still go through the usual security screening.

A KLM spokesperson tells Reuters that the current six month trial of this machine is the first such test run in the world.

Filed under: Airports