As one in four passengers are making the most of the recently-installed self check-in kiosks at Kolkata Airport, queuing is expected to be cut in half according to airport staff.

The six kiosks were installed last month and already, the time savings are said to have been brought down by almost half an hour during peak times for frequent fliers, who can now issue their own boarding passes in under a minute.

Now that almost a quarter of all travellers through Kolkata are using the kiosks to such advantage, the airport are planning to introduce another four kiosks over the next few months to further streamline the check-in process.

Previously, the queues at Kolkata were described as serpentine, and many of the commuter passengers were struggling to meet the flights. One passenger, Rajesh Dwivedi, who takes weekly flights in and out of the airport spoke of his previous problems with the queues. “I was twice denied boarding as the system shut down 45 minutes prior to scheduled departure,” he said. “The kiosks have come as a boon. At have been using the facility at other major airports and am glad that it’s finally come to Kolkata.”

Self-service check-in is a system that is proving itself all over the world as passengers prefer to take greater control of their journey. The introduction of the multiple airline common-bag drop also gives airlines and airports increased flexibility and offers the opportunity for cost-sharing and space saving with a better utilisation of airport personnel, particularly at peak times.