New Study Illustrates Business Benefits for RFID Baggage Handling Systems in Airline Industry

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BearingPoint, Inc. , a leading global management and technology consulting firm, announced today that it has completed a feasibility study to help airlines and airports quantify the potential business benefits and return on investment for Radio Frequency Identification-based (RFID) baggage handling systems.

The study, conducted this summer in conjunction with the German airline Hapagfly, and the Hannover Airport in Germany, was the first to benefit from a new BearingPoint-developed methodology and tool set that provides analysis of quantitative cost issues as well as considering qualitative service issues that airlines and airports should take into account when evaluating RFID-based systems.

Though many successful RFID technology pilot programs have been conducted for the aviation industry, the focus of most programs has been on the ability of the technology to perform at an acceptable level and to measure reliability of equipment. BearingPoint's new methodology goes a step further, providing analysis of the business and financial impacts of implementing an RFID-enabled baggage handling solution.

Key findings of the study included: * Price point at which RFID technology begins to provide real return on investment to an airline or airport. * Return on investment will vary greatly depending on an airline's or airport's performance in areas such as the number of mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers, airline and airport costs for handling and delivering mishandled bags, barcode read rates, and industry RFID tag pricing. * Those who operate a hub and spoke system, or have a higher number and cost of mishandled baggage, or a relatively low automated barcode read rate would be the best candidates to benefit from an RFID system. * Midsize airports and airlines with a focus on point-to-point traffic and limited transfer activities are less likely to be able to justify an investment into RFID by quantitative savings alone in the near term.

The study, which also included operations at the airports in Stuttgart, Germany and Palma de Mallorca, Spain, generated significant understanding of cost implications to the airline, potential RFID solution scenarios, benefit generating mechanisms, and insight to future return on investment. Hapagfly and Hannover Airport teamed with BearingPoint for the study in order to explore new ways of serving their customers better and to understand business implications of implementing RFID baggage tags.

"Hapagfly is always looking for ways to improve its value to its customers, and we wanted to understand if and how our already high performance in baggage handling could be improved through RFID," said Roland Taylor, Director of Operations for Hapagfly. "The BearingPoint study provided valuable insight and perspective of such an investment."

Gert Hennighausen, Director of Operations at Hannover Airport said they participated because of a "planned refurbishment of the baggage handling systems in Terminals A and B, and we wanted to understand whether and how RFID technology could be integrated into our plans."

Based on a set of standardized questions and observations, BearingPoint's methodology allows the firm to quickly assess the business feasibility of implementing RFID baggage handling in any given environment: a single airline, airport or a system of airlines and airports. The tool takes into account historical, current, and forecasted performance measurements, and factors-in current and planned technology costs (including those for baggage tags) to help BearingPoint clients develop a solid RFID implementation strategy.

"We are convinced that RFID will become a standard for baggage handling in the industry," said Dr. Christian Petschke, managing director for BearingPoint's European aviation practice. "Although RFID may not be suitable for every airline and airport in the near term, we believe BearingPoint's methodology and experience will provide clients a better ability to evaluate the technology and forecast potential return on investment."

Additional information on the RFID-enabled Baggage Handling feasibility study findings is available at http://www.bearingpoint.com/baggagestudy or by contacting BearingPoint at 1-800-BRNGPNT.

About Hapagfly

Hapagfly is the holiday airline of TUI AG, Europe's leading tourism group. Hapagfly's blue holiday aircraft will be taking off throughout the winter season 2005/06 from 18 German and European airports heading for 27 holiday destinations in ten countries around the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Black Sea. The average age of all the Hapagfly aircraft is just 7.25 years, making it one of the youngest fleets in Europe. Five Airbus A310s and 31 Boeing 737-800s make up the fleet, which last year carried 7.1 million passengers. Besides being based at the airports in Hanover, Frankfurt and Munich, the holiday airline has hubs in Stuttgart, Munich, Nuremberg and Palma de Mallorca. Hapagfly was introduced in April 2005 as the new brand name of the long-standing Hapag-Lloyd Flug airline. When the airline was renamed the successful campaign advertising 'Europe-wide from 29,- Euro' was likewise established on the market. Hapagfly employs almost 2,700 staff on the ground and in the air. More information about the company is available at http://www.hapagfly.com/.

About Hannover Airport

Major corporations with internationally recognized brands call Hannover Airport's immediate vicinity home. The region's choice location at the center of Europe makes possible this concentrated economic power. A 24-hour operating permit and an excellent road and rail network in all directions, including constant commuter service to high-speed ICE trains are just some of the reasons to make Hannover Airport the takeoff point for your next flight. Hannover is the northern Germany's connection to the major centers in Europe. Service to the continent's hubs, to Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Copenhagen and Zurich is augmented with interesting direct connections. With excellent connections to Russia and its neighbors, Hannover Airport is Germany's no. 2 gateway to Eastern Europe after Frankfurt. Passengers appreciate the high quality: Hannover Airport expects to serve some 5.5 million passengers this year alone. The current flight schedule includes more than 110 direct destinations in over 30 countries, with some 700 takeoffs and landings every week. And Hannover Airports continues to grow.

For more Information: http://www.hannover-airport.de/. About BearingPoint, Inc.

BearingPoint, Inc. is one of the world's largest management consulting, systems integration and managed services firms serving government agencies, Global 2000 companies, medium-sized businesses and other organizations. We provide business and technology strategy, systems design, architecture, applications implementation, network infrastructure, systems integration and managed services. Our service offerings are designed to help our clients generate revenue, reduce costs and access the information necessary to operate their business on a timely basis. Based in McLean, Va., BearingPoint has been named by Fortune as one of America's Most Admired Companies in the computer and data services sector. For more information, visit the Company's website at http://www.bearingpoint.com/.

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