Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport has recently been equipped with the country’s first automatic consignment machine, allowing passengers to check luggage by themselves without waiting in line for airport staff.

The machine, namely "Self Bag Drop," is located in the No. 4 Counter of the Section N in the departure hall. According to the airport, passengers can, with a few taps on the built in touch-screen, complete all check-in procedures including selecting seats, printing boarding passed and luggage slips, and putting luggage onto the conveyor belt. The whole process takes only about one minute. In the past, passengers could only print boarding passes by themselves and still needed to check luggage through the counters handled by the airport staff.

The design of the machine is tailored to users and considerate to the convenience of the passengers. Its height and the position of its components are suitable for every passenger including wheelchair users. The user interface is in a touch-screen with Chinese and English instructions.

The new machine is part of the initiative of Baiyun Airport to implement International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) plan to promote convenient journeys. Airports in Amsterdam and Paris have adopted similar service. The Association estimated that about 80 percent passengers globally can enjoy convenient journey experiences by 2020, meaning they can automatically handle many key.procedures.