Oracle helps Manchester Airport lift baggage rule

Manchester Airport has implemented Oracle's BI service to enable it to become one of the first airports in the UK to lift the one item of hand baggage per person regulation.

The rule had been in place since August 2006, and was applied in response to security fears. A recent ruling by the Department for Transport (DfT) means airports can now apply for permission to lift the ban.

In order to lift the ban, airports had to demonstrate that check-in times and passenger movement would not be affected by having extra baggage and security checks.

Oracle's BI service has provided Manchester Airport with interactive dashboards containing flight information and passenger and baggage movements. Oracle's software analyses passenger and baggage information with the aim of identifying trends.

It is hoped this will give Manchester Airport the ability to cope with screening extra bags as well as helping the management team at the airport to plan in advance to employ extra staff or install additional X-ray machines during busy periods.
Martin Bell, Business Consultant, Information Services, Manchester Airports Group (MAG), owners of Manchester Airport, said that the core team of 12 workers who will be using the software required two days of training. "We received customised training and support from a dedicated team. The integration was reasonably easy because we're using Oracle's BI Enterprise edition which helps with third party database integration."

Although MAG did consider other proposals, previous dealings with Oracle persuaded them to use Oracle's BI software for this project. "We did review other companies but our knowledge of Oracle meant there was no need to go elsewhere," Bell said.

MAG has plans to install the software at its other airports, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside. Bell said: "We hope to install this at East Midlands Airport within the next six months, certainly within the next year. Hopefully, the other airports will follow."

Author: Steve Evans @ www.cbronline.com

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