Airline Consortium Chooses Unisys System to Improve Security, Reliability and Accuracy of Baggage Handling at Australian Airports

SYDNEY, Sept. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 40 international airlines operating to and from Australia have signed a two-year contract extension through 2016 with Unisys Australia to continue providing an advanced baggage reconciliation system at seven Australian international airports at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, Perth, Adelaide and the Gold Coast. The contract extension is worth more than AU$11million (approximately US$11.7million).

The Board of Airline Representatives Australia (BARA), an industry representative organization for airlines, manages the engagement with Unisys on behalf of the 38 airlines. Unisys has worked with BARA since 2004 to provide the baggage reconciliation system that links passengers with their bags, tracking both as they move through the system.

Each year these airlines must secure and validate up to 17.5 million bags for approximately 10 million air travelers on international flights to and from Australia.(1)

The Unisys baggage reconciliation system helps airlines comply with the Aviation Security Act's "Triple A" (account and authorize) regulations relating to baggage handling, which is mandated by the Commonwealth Government's Office of Transport Security.

"The Unisys baggage reconciliation system assists our member airlines to comply with compulsory security requirements for baggage handling. More importantly it also helps improve the flying experience for our airlines' customers, as the efficient, standardized process helps prevent delays to passenger processing and meet tight flight schedules – two things that we know are essential for air travel customer satisfaction," said Mr. Warren Bennett, Executive Director, Board of Airline Representatives Australia.

When passengers check in, each bag receives a barcode, which is then scanned and reconciled with a passenger record before it can be loaded onto the aircraft. As the airline has a record of the baggage loading order, bags can be quickly identified and recovered if passengers fail to board. This process is designed to prevent take-off with a mismatch of passengers, crew and baggage and enhance security levels by avoiding unaccompanied baggage being loaded on the flight.

"The global economy and the competitive nature of the airline industry means that airlines seek business efficiencies and yet must concurrently protect, or improve, their customers' travel experience as well as meet the mandatory security requirements which apply to air carriers," said Sury Chavali, Partner for the Asia Pacific Airports Practice, Unisys. "The Unisys baggage reconciliation system helps achieve such efficiencies by avoiding lengthy processing or flight delays when baggage needs to be found and removed from flights."

The Unisys baggage reconciliation system team provides a full managed service to the BARA member airlines. This service includes managing the network infrastructure and security architecture; training and onsite support; application management; and round-the-clock help desk support.

The BARA extension builds on Unisys credentials for delivering baggage reconciliation systems for the Asia Pacific aviation industry. In 2010 Qantas selected Unisys to provide an innovative solution for its Australian domestic flights using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track and verify bags. Qantas introduced Australia's first self-service baggage check-in facility, part of the airline's Next Generation Check-in initiative to streamline and speed up a passenger's journey through domestic airports, using technology such as RFID bag tags called Q Bag Tags.

(1) Board of Airline Representatives Australia

About Unisys

Unisys is a worldwide information technology company. We provide a portfolio of IT services, software, and technology that solves critical problems for clients. We specialize in helping clients secure their operations, increase the efficiency and utilization of their data centers, enhance support to their end users and constituents, and modernize their enterprise applications. To provide these services and solutions, we bring together offerings and capabilities in outsourcing services, systems integration and consulting services, infrastructure services, maintenance services, and high-end server technology. With approximately 23,000 employees, Unisys serves commercial organizations and government agencies throughout the world. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements rely on assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. In particular, statements in this release regarding the anticipated value of the contract extension are based upon the performance of the contract continuing for its full term. As the airlines have the right to terminate the agreement in certain circumstances before the end of its term, the value of the extension is not guaranteed. Additional discussion of factors that could affect Unisys future results is contained in periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

RELEASE NO.: 0902/9059

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SOURCE Unisys Corporation