This page is old and out of date. It remains here only as an historical archive. The new detailed and functional page can be found here.
Baggage is one of the infrastructures of your airport, handled separately from passengers.
Introduction[]
Conveyor belts, baggage trucks, and belt loader trucks make the handling of baggage more efficient. There are regular and fast conveyor belts available, as well as tilt trays.
Note that belts on different levels will not intersect, requiring the use of conveyor-ups and conveyor-downs to switch levels. Also, conveyors switched to another level actually can interfere with construction on that level, requiring planning in order to avoid possible conflicts in construction.
Baggage can be introduced to the system by:
- Passengers dropping off bags at a check-in desk
- Ramp agents dropping off bags from a loaded service truck (arrival baggage) to the baggage bay.
Baggage can exit the system by:
- Passengers claiming their baggage at a marked baggage claim
- Ramp agents loading baggage into departing aircraft from a loaded service truck, either by hand or with a belt loader truck (to more quickly load into medium, and large-size aircraft).
- Destruction of baggage by a baggage destroyer.
Procurement[]
Baggage handling is a system that needs to be procured through the R&D Menu. Upon receipt, additional items unlock for procurement, these include tilt trays and scanners.
R&D project | Unlocks | Other R&D projects unlocked | Prerequisites | Length of R&D (In in game hours) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Baggage Handling R&D | Basic Baggage items |
|
Commercial License | 24 hours |
Baggage Security (Tier 1) R&D | Baggage Scanner (Tier 1) | Baggage Security (Tier 2) R&D | Baggage Handling R&D | 12 hours |
Baggage Security (Tier 2) R&D | Baggage Scanner (Tier 2) | Baggage Security (Tier 3) R&D | Baggage Security (Tier 1) R&D | 24 hours |
Baggage Security (Tier 3) R&D | Baggage Scanner (Tier 3) | None | Baggage Security (Tier 2) R&D | 48 hours |
Tilt Tray R&D | Tilt trays | None | Baggage Handling R&D | 12 hours |
High-speed Conveyor Belts R&D | High speed belts and elevators | None | Baggage Handling R&D | 8 hours |
Do note that most baggage systems wont make a huge (if any) profit. Researching baggage is more for increasing airline happiness and realism.
Designing a functional baggage system[]
For a baggage system to function properly, there are many elements to account for:
- Conveyor belt connects a check-in desk to a baggage bay.
- (optional) Conveyor belt allows passage through baggage scanners and has a route for rejected baggage. (Note: this is highly recommended and increases rating)
- A baggage bay is accessible both by ramp agents and service trucks.
- Conveyor belt connects a cargo bay with a baggage claim room. A baggage claim room must include accessible conveyor belts that passengers can retrieve their bags from.
- If a bag is scanned and marked as containing illegal contraband, it then gets broken by the baggage destroyer.
It is imperative while constructing a baggage system that arrows are observed as they will direct the flow of baggage. In addition to designing the physical infrastructure associated with a functional baggage system, it is necessary for the player to manually assign stands (and by extension, check-in desks) and baggage claims to the desired baggage bays. A baggage bay can be assigned to 12 "points" worth of stands, which is equivalent to a maximum of 12 Small stands, 10 Medium stands, 8 Large stands, or a combination of the three.
Baggage Overlay[]
The baggage overlay lets you see which direction and where your baggage belts are going to. You can turn this on by clicking the baggage icon around the bottom center of your screen or pressing shortcut "B" (can be change in the control setting)
Directing baggage through complex systems[]
At points that converge, directing baggage is as simple as connecting conveyor belts together while ensuring the flow of baggage continues downstream. At points that diverge, a tilt tray is necessary to properly sort baggage to one of two downstream belts. A tilt tray can only have two downstream belts, no more and no less. The settings of a tilt tray determine how baggage is sorted (right-click on title tray for popup):
- Forward and Left, Forward and Right, Left and Right - these settings are used to equally distribute the baggage load into two streams.
- To destination - this setting is used to sort baggage according to the destination they need to reach (cargo bay or baggage claim).
Screening of baggage[]
Screening of baggage is performed by passing through scanners. There are three stages of scanners, (I), (II), and (III).
Generic Baggage Scanner (I) is a basic scanner capable of automatic broad-range threat detection. Suspicious bags are redirected to the reject output. All passed bags may continue to baggage bay.
Specific Baggage Scanner (II) is specific to the type of threat being screened for (Drugs, Guns, Explosives, Organics, Money). Suspicious bags are automatically redirected to the reject output. All passed bags may continue to baggage bay.
Scanning Station (III) is a staffed position that allows a security staff member to make a decision as to clear or reject a bag. It is typical to find the Scanning Station as a final point of decision for suspicious bags coming from upstream automatic scanners. All passed bags may continue to baggage bay BUT routing baggage through another level lll baggage station is suggested, as there can be false negatives!
Reject outputs must eventually connect to a baggage destroyer that consolidates and removes rejected bags from the baggage system.
Baggage Tags[]
Baggage tags inform the player to the disposition of any bag. They will first show the flight number to which it is destined to, then whether or not a bag has been screened, and if screened, what its contents are.
Things to remember[]
- Baggage bay room has to be built in Terminal building and in Secure Zone. Ramp Agents will not be able to access the Baggage Bay if it is not in Secure Zone, causing delays to your flights.
- Hire Ramp Agent through applications menu.
- Conveyor belts can cross over each other, but you must use a conveyor up or down to move it to another floor.
- You must connect each of your check-in desks to a baggage bay for the check-in desks to operate once you turn on Baggage Handling Services in the Operations Screen
- Each of your commercial stands must be connected to a baggage bay otherwise you will get errors. This includes stands for light aircraft. It also includes remote commercial stands. Therefore the use of a Baggage Handling Services system is an all-or-nothing decision.
- Baggage scanning areas can be built underground. Make sure the ground floor and underground are both in the same secure zone. Remember to build escalators or stairs so security guards can go down and station at the scanning station (III).
|
|