Emirates Airline announced it is partnering with London Heathrow, Dubai International and Hong Kong International airports, to trial the latest RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology in baggage handling.

Emirates will be investing close to AED 2 million, to test the effectiveness and benefits of RFID against the existing barcode tracking system.

The largest-ever trial of its kind for the airline industry, some half a million bags on Emirates flights will be tagged with RFID chips over the 6-month duration of the trial.

Dale Griffith, Emirates’ Divisional senior vice-president Airport Services said: “Previous RFID trials by other parties on a smaller scale have shown that the technology almost eliminates scanner ‘misreads’, significantly improving the efficiency of the baggage system and customer experience.”

With 58 of the double-decked A380 aircraft entering Emirates’ service, each doubling the number of bags handled per aircraft, the airline is keen to find innovative technologies and new ways to improve baggage handling infrastructure and safeguard the level of trust of its customers.

RFID equipment has been installed at some of Emirates’ check-in desks at the three participating airports.

During the trial, trained staff will apply tags containing RFID chips to bags as part of the normal check-in process.

The chips are read as they pass through the airport’s baggage system, enabling effective sorting, security screening and delivery to the aircraft. Arriving bags are read on entry to the baggage system and receipted into the system for effective tracking. Essentially, the chips will enable bags to be tracked at every stage of their journey, and minimise the possibilities for mishandling baggage.

Emirates operates five flights weekly from Dubai to Malta via Larnaca in Cyprus, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the Boeing 777-200.