Most of the world's leading airport operators intend to make passenger self-service the primary channel for check-in, according to a new global survey by SITA Airport IT Trends.

About 52 percent rated the introduction of "electronic documents" as the technology which will have the most significant impact at airports in the near future, initially driven by the adoption of bar-coded boarding passes sent directly to mobile phones – a key enabler for genuinely paperless travel.

The 6th annual SITA Airport IT Trends survey, co-sponsored by Airline Business and the Airports Council International (ACI), had a record 106 responses from airports and airport groups representing 172 airports from around the world including 56 from the Top 100 in terms of revenue and passengers.

The survey which was launched at the ACI World Conference in Kuala Lumpur, also found that IT budgets for airports in 2008 were largely unaffected by the global economic downturn with IT investments as percentage of revenue decreasing slightly from 3.5% in 2007 to 3.2% in 2008.

The world airport IT industry is estimated to be worth $3 billion and 45% of this year's survey respondents expect an increase in budget in 2010 while only 14% expect a lower budget.

Catherine Mayer, SITA Vice President for Airports, said: "This year's survey confirms that self-service is a global trend with almost 80% of respondents planning to make it the primary means for check-in by 2010 as is already the case at 40% of the world's top 100 airports."

"Airports are also recognising that passengers bypassing check-in counters may be faced with new bottlenecks and queues at baggage drop-off and security screening areas. As a result, airports are turning to various automation tools to track wait times at different checkpoints such as security and immigration."

Of the respondents who said they will monitor wait times in the future, 60% will use video analytics, 43% will use RFID and 27% plan to use Bluetooth technology. (EHL)