Reducing the load

Changing traveller behaviours are reshaping airport operations worldwide and creating new baggage handling challenges and opportunities for the industry, writes Dohop’s Marc Pyette.

With traveller habits changing, arguably a new imperative for airports is to improve the way they handle airside baggage transfers on ‘virtually interlined flights’.

Virtually interlined itineraries and self-connecting travel are surging in popularity; they account for approximately 5% of total global passengers.

And annual double-digit growth is projected for the foreseeable future. What makes the virtual interline trend particularly notable for airport operators is that it fundamentally alters how they approach baggage-handling infrastructure and passenger-flow management.

SURGING VIRTUAL INTERLINE AND SELF-CONNECT VOLUMES

The numbers tell a compelling story about changing travel patterns. Self-connecting passengers increased from 55 million in 2016 to more than 200 million in 2023, according to OAG data.

At the same time, virtual interline arrangements have simultaneously gained traction as airlines explore partnership models beyond traditional codeshare and interline agreements. Combined, these booking patterns now account for a large share of connecting traffic at many airports worldwide.

This growth reflects several converging factors. Travellers are prioritising price, as multi-carrier journeys can often provide cost savings.

Airlines and online travel agencies have made multi-ticket itineraries easier to book. And low-cost carriers have expanded their networks to create new connecting opportunities.

What began as niche booking behaviour has become mainstream, particularly on routes where legacy carrier connections are limited or expensive.

For airports, this alters some crucial assumptions about baggage flows, terminal utilisation, and infrastructure capacity.

Airport baggage handling processes are configured for connecting passengers on traditional interline tickets, with baggage transferred between flights. That assumption no longer holds.

CURRENT BAGGAGE TRANSFER CHALLENGES

The operational reality of self-connecting travel creates different pressures across airport systems.

When passengers must claim and recheck bags between flights, those bags are transferred landside, by the passenger, creating recirculation through systems that are already process pinch points. Each bag that exits baggage claim and re-enters through departure screening constitutes a complete cycle through airport infrastructure.

This recirculation increases congestion at baggage claim carousels, check-in counters, and security screening checkpoints.

The unpredictability compounds the problem: whereas scheduled baggage transfer volumes are predictable, self-connecting passengers arrive at variable times, creating erratic demand spikes that strain resources.

Research published in scientific journals examining airport baggage systems highlights how sub-optimal baggage flows affect terminal efficiency, baggage system throughput, peak-time resilience, and airport capacity planning.

Current systems are ill-equipped to handle this passenger flow, leading to issues. Delays of delivering bags can result in passengers rushing to re-check bags and potentially missing their connections.

Misconnection rates increase as bags move through more touchpoints and manual processes. Security concerns emerge when larger volumes flow through security checkpoints operating near capacity.

Queue times at check-in and security are lengthening, disrupting the passenger experience and creating bottlenecks that affect airline operations across the terminal.

The infrastructure challenges can also be longer-term. Airports planning expansions must account for higher baggage system capacity than traditional volume forecasts would suggest, as each self-connecting traveller generates twice the typical number of baggage interactions.

A MORE STRATEGIC APPROACH TO AIRSIDE TRANSFERS

Rather than treating self-connecting travel as an operational challenge to manage reactively, forward-thinking airports and airlines recognise the strategic value of removing baggage-transfer friction for passengers.

The question isn’t whether self-connecting and virtual interline travel will continue growing — the data confirms it will — but rather on how aviation stakeholders can support continuity and connectivity across complex journeys.

Strategic partnerships and purpose-built solutions are central to addressing current challenges while positioning airports to capitalise on future opportunities.

Solutions like Dohop’s BagConnect, which enable airside baggage transfer between airlines even when no traditional interline agreement exists, are key to seizing those opportunities.

By keeping the transfer of bags airside, these solutions eliminate the need for passengers to claim and recheck baggage while simultaneously reducing the operational burden on airport systems.

The benefits extend throughout the airport ecosystem. Airlines can offer more competitive connecting itineraries without the complexity of traditional interline agreements. Passengers experience reduced connection stress and shorter minimum connection times.

Airport operators see decreased congestion in capacity constrained landside areas and more predictable baggage flows that align with actual passenger type.

THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR AIRPORTS

Beyond solving operational challenges, airside baggage transfer creates revenue and strategic positioning opportunities for airports.

When travellers remain airside during connections, for instance, they have access to a range of retailing options.

Industry research consistently shows that airside passengers spend considerably more than landside passengers, as they have more dwell time and fewer alternatives.

For airports where non-aeronautical revenue is an important source of income, keeping self-connecting passenger’s airside directly impacts financial performance.

And the strategic advantages may be even greater for regional and mid-sized airports.

Historically, hub status was held almost exclusively by major airports with extensive legacy-carrier presence.

Enabling efficient airside transfer for virtually interlined and self-connected itineraries allows smaller airports to become genuine connecting points, increasing traffic volumes and revenue-generating capacity without requiring traditional hub airline partnerships.

An airport serving two or three low-cost carriers can facilitate connections among those carriers’ networks, creating additional landing fees, passenger facility charges, and concession revenue.

From a capacity management perspective, minimising landside baggage interactions addresses one of the most consequential constraints on airport growth.

Terminal expansions are expensive and time-consuming; optimising flows within existing infrastructure offers a faster, more cost-effective path to handling volume growth.

By keeping virtual interline transfer bags airside, airports reduce the load on baggage arrival halls, check-in facilities, and outbound passenger screening — three areas that frequently become capacity bottlenecks during peak periods.

Predictable, end-to-end baggage flows are becoming fundamental to how airports manage capacity, resilience, and operational stability in an era of complex, connected travel.

Solutions such as BagConnect help both airlines and airports make the most of the opportunities created by virtual interline and self-connect travellers while building infrastructure resilience for continued growth.

Airports that treat baggage transfer as a strategic opportunity rather than an operational cost centre will better serve their passengers, expand more sustainably, and position themselves as valuable hubs in the global aviation ecosystem.