RFID products are widely used in the aerospace application market. In 2019, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) adopted an agreement recommending the use of RFID technology to track baggage, as it is more effective than the barcode technology currently predominantly used. In the international market, many smart hardware vendors have provided RFID baggage tracking services for a large number of airlines in North America, Europe and other countries based on IATA's RFID standards, which has greatly reduced the rate of lost and mistaken packages.
Earlier, aircraft manufacturing companies such as Broadcasting and Airbus were already exploring RFID solutions. In 2015, Airbus required suppliers to install passive RFID sensors on all parts that need to be traced. Airbus defines "traceable" as any sequence, repair, replacement, maintenance or full life cycle. In 2017, Boeing also began using UHF RFID tags on parts to track manufacturers' assembly processes.
In the past few years, there have also been some voices about the use of RFID products in the field of machine maintenance. For aircraft maintenance products and various on-board products, there is a need for RFID management. There are many types of maintenance products, and the service life of the products on the machine needs to be standardized, which requires the use of RFID, a more effective management tool.
However, with the relaxation of epidemic control and the encouragement of consumption by policies, it is believed that in recent years, the throughput and growth of civil aviation can return to the level before 2019. At the same time, with the increasing demand for airport digitalization, the application of RFID in air baggage tags will gradually increase.
RFID Application Scenarios In The Aviation Market
RFID Tags For The Management of Baggage At Airports
In the air baggage market, the application of RFID tags is mainly focused on the scene of airport luggage. In China, many airlines, led by China Southern Airlines, China Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines, are actively deploying the application of RFID in air luggage. As of 2022, it has been used in many large airports in first- and second-tier cities.
However, at present, the application of supporting facilities (such as tunnel machines, readers) for the application of RFID in airport baggage is slightly behind the development of tags. In other words, this market is currently dominated by labels, printers, and software systems. The workflow is to print the tag at the baggage drop-off point using an RFID tag printer, tie the tag to the baggage, transport the baggage to the aircraft through the traditional transportation process, and confirm the baggage by a staff member using a handheld machine. After the baggage arrives at the station, the baggage is reconfirmed through the cooperation of the staff on the conveyor belt and handed over to the customer.
RFID Tags For The Management of In-Flight Assets
In-flight assets mainly include life jackets, face shields, in-flight meals, blankets, chair covers and other items. For long-term assets, airlines are also considering digital management. At present, the application management of in-flight assets is mainly for long-term assets such as chair covers, life jackets, oxygen cylinders, etc., and long-term management of warehouse and in-flight assets through RFID tags, as well as management of quantity and service life.
The application of this piece is still in the trial period, and there is no volume in terms of shipments. In the field of in-flight asset management, RFID tags also have higher requirements, requiring tags to achieve a life span of more than ten years, as well as a series of characteristics such as temperature and pressure resistance.
RFID Tags for The Management of Repair Tools
Maintenance tool management is a market that has gradually started in recent years, but the overall scale is still not large, and it belongs to the field of rapid growth. Due to the popularization of RFID in airport baggage systems in the early years, there has also been a lot of demand for RFID tags in the field of aircraft maintenance in recent years. With the C919 put into use, it is believed that there is still more market space in this area.
As it is an emerging application market, there are still many pain points to be solved for the management of maintenance tools. For example, at present, the maintenance tools are mainly managed by using RFID smart cabinets, and the products in the cabinet often miss reading, which cannot be solved well; Secondly, there are many types of repair tools, and the work of labeling these products is very cumbersome, and the labels often fall off. This series of problems still needs to be solved in order to achieve more shipments in this segment.
RFID Management of Facilities Within Airports
Heathrow Airport is the second busiest airport in the world (with flights to 84 countries). These international flights, as well as domestic flights, bring a lot of luggage and create the need for baggage handling. Like traditional airports, Heathrow has introduced a large number of luggage trolleys for use at the airport.
However, due to the opaque data of passengers using the luggage cart, the management personnel need to arrange the placement of the luggage cart according to the actual situation, which has a certain lag. To save time on vehicle management, the airport experimented with RFID passive tags on the handlebars of 2,000 luggage trolleys. And by installing a reader at the baggage cart claim area to read the tag information, the information is transmitted to the cloud, and the software is used to store, interpret and manage the luggage cart usage data.
In the future, there will be more cases from 0 to 1 in the aviation field, and this huge space from scratch needs to be excavated and developed by RFID tag application enterprises and RFID production enterprises.