Ras al-Khaimah (RAK) airport has gone live with new passenger processing services provided by US firm Arinc.

The 10-year contract was signed in September last year and involved designing, supplying and installing Arinc’s processing solutions.  

The technology will include solutions that provide passengers with real-time flight information via screens in the airport, aiming to improve the comfort and speed at which passengers pass through the airport.

Arinc’s technology will also help the airport eventually offer passengers the ability to check in and drop luggage off remotely at various hotels and resorts in the emirate. The first site for this technology is due to be announced in the coming few months.

“They are very close to putting in place the off-site check-in solution. They are going to confirm the first location very soon and are coordinating with RAK Tourism Authority,” says Tony Lynch, Arinc’s regional director, Middle East and Africa.

Arinc also completed the installation of passenger processing solutions to five regional airports in Egypt in July.

The implementation was completed within a tight 14-week time frame, and Lynch says Arinc’s Egyptian operations have not been affected by the ongoing political turmoil in Egypt.

“For the past two years, apart from peak times [of violence], the aviation sector has maintained an equilibrium. There are certain industries where the government recognises that is a national asset that needs to be protected and aviation is one of those sectors,” he says.

Arinc has also won a contract to provide passenger processing solutions to a Libyan airport in partnership with Italian firm A-ICE.