Siemens checks in with Dublin airport

03-06-2008

by Bryan Collins

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has awarded Siemens a EUR40 million contract to design and build a baggage handling system for its new T2 passenger terminal.

The baggage handling system from Siemens is part of a EUR395 million development project to build a second terminal at Dublin Airport, which will be capable of handling up to 15 million passengers per year.

Under the contract, Siemens will design, build and integrate a six kilometre baggage handling system that will carry checked-in baggage through security screening, before sorting the bags by flight number for specific destinations. The German electronics manufacturer will also supply six baggage claim units which, according to the DAA, will speed up ground handling related processes for arriving, departing and connecting passengers.

"Siemens' proven ability to design and build a high-quality, integrated, airport logistics solution, as well as its strong local presence, were critical factors in the DAA's decision to award it the contract," said the DAA's chief executive, Declan Collier.

Construction work on the T2 terminal started last October and it is designed to meet the needs of both long-haul and short-haul passengers and airlines. The DAA said that the new terminal is on schedule to open in April 2010.

"The steel frame of the baggage sorting hall, which will be at the heart of the new Siemens system, is now fully complete," said Collier. "The frame of the terminal building proper is also beginning to take shape and work is underway to build Pier E, the new boarding gate facility that is part of the overall T2 project."

Siemens, which also designed and built the new baggage terminal at Cork airport, will be aware of the potential problems when building a new terminal. When Heathrow's Terminal Five opened in March, British Airways misplaced more than 23,000 bags while check-on baggage was banned from numerous flights as the terminal's high-tech baggage system crashed.

Siemens was not involved in the Heathrow system and has declined to say how the Dublin T2 baggage system will differ to the set-up in Heathrow's Terminal Five.