The name of the game is automation at Lukou Airport Terminal 1, due to reopen in the coming days after 6 years of reconstruction. The unquestionably beautiful facelift has also brought with it numerous innovations in the form of automation to speed passenger flow.
29 July is the date slated for the reopening of Nanjing Lukou International Airport Terminal 1 (T1), after its closure for renovation following the opening of Terminal 2 (T2) in time for the Youth Olympics of 2014.
Upon first glance at the exterior, the renovated terminal roof retains the shape of its predecessor, inspired by waves on the Yangtze River.
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Inside, and away from the aesthetics, highlight of the revamped terminal is the capability to provide paperless self-boarding all the way from check in to aircraft seat.
The long-awaited T1 provides 30 self-service check-in machines, 10 self-service baggage check-in machines, nine automated security lanes and four boarding gates equipped with face recognition devices.
It will therefore be technically possible to take one’s seat on the aircraft without having interacted with a single other person.
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Also receiving the high tech touch are the departure hall toilets. A large screen by the entrance shows at a glance the number of available toilets, their temperature, humidity, air quality(!) and other data.
In addition, the quality of T1’s overall indoor environment can now not only be monitored, but also controlled, thanks to 174 real-time temperature and humidity sensors, reported Nanjing Daily.
At present, Lukou handles more than 30 million passengers annually. The reopening of T1 shall provide our aviation hub with an annual passenger volume exceeding 50 million.
As to flight operations, The Nanjinger can reveal that T1 shall be solely used for domestic flights, while T2 shall handle international operations and the domestic flights of China Eastern Airlines, its subsidiaries such as Shanghai Airlines and China United Airlines, and Shenzhen Airlines.
As a result, when we head to Lukou to return to the skies with trepidation, so too can we answer the question, “T1 or T2?”, something we have not had to do for the past 6 years.
