Air India: Country’s first to add self-bag drop for int’l flights

Dhaka : Passengers of Air India on its domestic and international flights can now opt for self-bag drop at Delhi Airport for a smoother airport experience. The facility was made available in Delhi earlier in 2023 for domestic flights, however, Air India now is the first Indian airline to offer the service for passengers on one of its international flights too.

Air India has announced that its passengers can now use self-baggage drop and self-kiosk check-in service at Terminal 3 of New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The facility is applicable to all of the airline’s domestic flights out of Delhi and its flights to Australia, making Air India the first Indian carrier to offer this service for international flights. It will soon extend this service to other overseas flights as well.

Reports cited Rajesh Dogra, Chief Customer Experience and Ground Handling Officer, Air India, saying, “Airport experiences can be daunting for many air travellers, despite how frequently one travels. ‘Project Abhinandan’ is our sincere effort to simplify the airport experience for our guests and make a meaningful difference to their overall travel experience, and more broadly, to make them feel at ease and welcomed when they fly with us.”

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Delhi Airport introduced a self-baggage drop facility for the first time in June 2023, with IndiGo becoming the first airline to use it for its domestic flights.

With the airport experience increasingly becoming time-consuming and more stressful for passengers, this facility eliminates the waiting time for check-in over the counters.

Air India plans to offer this for flights to more countries and intends to introduce it at other airports in India and other parts of the world.

The self-baggage drop announcement comes soon after Air India rolled out ‘Project Abhinandan’ to elevate the airport experience for its guests. The project aims at providing Air India guests with personalised and hassle-free on-ground experience at airports.

As per reports, Air India said, specially trained Service Assurance Officers are now available at 16 major Indian airports to offer on-ground assistance at various touchpoints such as check-in area, lounges, near the boarding gates, during transit, or at the arrival hall.

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From launching a new digital customer support app to addressing customer complaints more quickly, the airline has gradually tried to improve the overall passenger experience.

Under its larger project Vihaan.AI, Air India has given itself around five years for a significant overhaul of various aspects of its operations, and customer service is a part of it.

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