- New ticket readers are part of Finavia’s service development work aiming for optimally easy and comfortable air travels. This also supports the extensive Development Programme going on at Helsinki Airport and the airport's preparation for passenger volume growth”, says Ville Haapasaari, Airport Director at Finavia.
Haapasaari says that automation and different digital solutions make for faster departures and introduce flexibility to travelling. At the same time, personal customer service can be allocated better to match passenger needs.
The ticket readers have been tested at the airport since April 2015. Good experiences have been obtained of their use. The machines have shortened the time spent on security check and boarding.
What to do at the electronic gate
For passengers, the new operating method is simple and easy. The passenger shows a printed or a smartphone ticket or inspection card to the reader of the electronic gate.
The machine reads the flight details from the barcode and lets the passenger through the gate. There always are staff members providing passengers with advice.
At the moment, there are e-gates at the security check of Terminal 2 and at seven departure gates. At the departure gates, electronic gates are available for customers of Finnair, Lufthansa, Norwegian, SAS and Swiss.
More e-gates will be installed this spring at the security check and departure gates of Terminal 1.
Digital services expanded in air travel
Finavia is among the top of European airports in introducing various electronic services. Helsinki Airport is one of the first airports where automatic services have been already introduced in the early 21st century.
The development was launched with the introduction of check-in machines and quickly expanded to passport machines that the Finnish Border Guard brought to the airport. Bag drop machines were introduced at Helsinki Airport a few years ago.
Check-in and Bag drop machines have also been installed at other Finavia airports.
The e-gates will improve the service and there will be less queues and rush at different locations at the airport. Electronic services in air travel are expanding at the same pace as digitalisation in society as a whole.
