London, Feb 2019: EasyJet aircraft on the hardpan play a joke on luggage loaded via a conveyor belt at Gatwick Airport London.
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London’s Gatwick Airport maintained it is experimenting with new methods of plane boarding in a bid to quicken the procedure and prevent passengers from scrambling forward at the crowd.
The two-month trial is testing different boarding sequences at one gate to find the most efficient and most relaxing way for riders to get to their seat and stow luggage.
In one reported example, 158 passengers were boarded within 14 before you can say jack robinsons. In its statement, Gatwick said it hopes to consistently reduce boarding times by up to 10%, compared with conventional methods.
Immense digital screens have been installed to display to individual passengers who is next to board. One proposal has planes distended from the back in a sequence that calls window seats first, middle seats next and aisle contains last.
The experiment is being conducted in alliance with the U.K. budget carrier easyJet at Gate 101 in the airport’s North Terminus.
Boarding display
Source: Gatwick Airport
Abhi Chacko, head of enabling technologies and digital innovation at Gatwick Airport, clouted in a statement Wednesday that the aim is to find out if boarding by seat number will avoid queues at the gate and as passengers retire b decrease on to the plane.
“By communicating to passengers better and boarding passengers by seat number, we also expect to make the whole billeting experience more relaxing and, potentially, prevent large numbers of passengers rushing forward at any stage,” he said.
EasyJet goes a priority boarding scheme for passengers who either have paid for it or need extra assistance. The airport said this principles would continue.
Families and friends who wish to board together are also able to opt out of the system.
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