Lufthansa Upgrades Baggage Services for 2016

Lufthansa has begun 2016 with a hat-trick of innovations aimed at simplifying and smoothing its baggage services.

For both airlines and passengers alike, baggage is the ultimate bugbear. However, German flag carrier Lufthansa has revealed a hat-trick of innovations that it believes will give passengers more control over their checked luggage.

First among these is Lufthansa’s mobile lost and found service, which is basically a mobile version of the paper report that passengers currently complete if their baggage has been lost. As long as they are using the Lufthansa app, passengers can track their luggage via their mobile device. Should their luggage be lost, passengers will be notified and Lufthansa will provide a link to the digital version of this report. To ease things along, many of these fields will already have been pre-filled with the passenger’s information and so all they will need to do is enter the details of where they would like their baggage to be delivered when it does arrive. This system saves passengers from needlessly waiting at baggage reclaim or at the airline’s lost and found counter.

Next up, this year also sees the introduction of Lufthansa’s touchless bag drop system at its German hub airports. Aimed at those who have pre-tagged their luggage at home as well as passengers who have the RIMOWA Electronic Tag, the idea is that passengers will be able to drop their bags off at self-service stations with minimal staff interaction.

Speaking to Future Travel Experience, Dr. Björn Becker, Lufthansa’s Director Product Management, Airport & Passenger Services, explained this process, saying, “Most of the steps you have to process today will be eliminated – you just place your bag on the machine and everything else is done automatically based on RFID, barcodes and the info on your pre-filled bag tag.”

Finally, the airline is also introducing its Instant Compensation scheme, which is intended to smooth the process for those who are attempting to claim cash back from the airline.

These new innovations, Becker explained, are aimed at simplifying and improving travelers’ overall experience with the airline.

“With these new services the Lufthansa passenger will experience a next level baggage service,” he added.

[Photo: Wikimedia Commons]