In the aviation RFID tag market, applications are still flourishing

 RFID products are widely used in the aviation application market. In 2019, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) passed an agreement recommending the use of RFID technology to track luggage because it is more effective than the barcode technology currently mainly used. In the international market, many smart hardware vendors use IATA’s RFID standards as a basis to provide RFID baggage tracking services for a large number of airlines in North America, Europe and other countries, significantly reducing the rate of lost and mishandled 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 requiring traceability. Airbus defines “traceability” as any sequence, repair, replacement, maintenance or life cycle. Boeing also began using UHF RFID tags on parts in 2017 to track the manufacturer’s assembly process.

In the past few years, there have been some voices regarding the use of RFID products in the field of aircraft maintenance. There is a demand for aircraft maintenance products and various on-board products to be managed through RFID. There are many types of repair products and they are complex, and the use period of the products on the machine needs to be standardized, which requires the use of RFID, a more effective management tool.

The domestic civil aviation business has been affected to a certain extent due to the three-year epidemic. Civil aviation passenger traffic was nearly halved at the trough. However, with the relaxation of epidemic control and policies to encourage consumption, it is believed that civil aviation throughput will increase in recent years. with growth able to return to pre-2019 levels. At the same time, as the demand for airport digitization becomes stronger, the application of RFID tags in air luggage will gradually increase.

RFID application scenarios in the aviation market

1. RFID tag management of airport baggage

In the aviation baggage market, the application of RFID tags is mainly concentrated in the airport baggage scenario. Domestically, many airlines, led by China Southern Airlines, China Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines, are actively deploying RFID in aviation luggage. As of 2022, it has been applied in many large airports in first- and second-tier cities.

However, the current application of supporting facilities for airport baggage RFID applications (such as aisle machines, readers and writers) 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 use an RFID label printer to print labels at the baggage check-in area, tie the labels to the luggage, transport the luggage to the aircraft through the traditional transportation process, and have the staff use a handheld machine to confirm the luggage. 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.

2. Management of on-board assets using RFID tags

On-board assets mainly include life jackets, masks, aircraft meals, blankets, seat covers and other items. Airlines are also considering digital management of long-term assets. The current application management of on-board assets is mainly for long-term assets such as chair covers, life jackets, and oxygen bottles. Long-term management of warehouse and on-board assets is carried out through RFID tags, and the quantity and usage period are managed.

The application of this area is still in the trial period, and the shipment volume has not increased. In the field of in-flight asset management, the requirements for RFID tags are also higher. The tags need to have a lifespan of more than ten years, and they also need to have a series of characteristics such as temperature and pressure resistance.

3. RFID tag management of maintenance tools

Maintenance tool management is a market that has gradually grown in volume in recent years, but the overall scale is still small and it is a rapidly growing field. Due to the popularity of RFID in airport baggage systems in the early years, there has been a lot of demand for RFID tags in the field of aircraft maintenance in recent years. With the C919 put into use, I believe there will be greater market space in this area.

Since it is an emerging application market, there are still many pain points that need to be solved when it comes to the management of maintenance tools. For example, at present, maintenance tools mainly use RFID smart cabinets to manage tools. Products in the cabinets often miss reading, which cannot be solved well. Secondly, there are many types of maintenance tools, and the work of labeling these products is very cumbersome, and the labels are often misplaced. Falling may occur. This series of problems still need to be solved to achieve more shipments in this segment.

4. RFID management of airport facilities

Heathrow is the second busiest airport in the world (with flights to 84 countries). These international flights as well as domestic flights bring a large amount of luggage, which also creates a need for luggage handling. Like traditional airports, Heathrow has introduced a large number of luggage trolleys for use in the airport.

However, because the data on passengers’ use of luggage carts is not transparent, managers need to arrange the placement of luggage carts based on actual conditions, which leads to a certain lag. In order to save vehicle management time, the airport tried to install RFID passive tags on the handles of 2,000 luggage trolleys. A reader is installed at the baggage trolley collection area to read the tag information, and the information is transmitted to the cloud. Software is used to store, interpret and manage the luggage trolley 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 explored and developed by RFID tag application companies and RFID manufacturing companies.