location Denver, Colorado (CO), USA, Date 2021.12.02

Denver International Airport (DEN) opens the United States’ largest Self-Bag Drop (SBD) installation in cooperation with United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Materna IPS – our subsidiary specialized in solutions for automated passenger handling for airlines and airports.

Denver International Airport (DEN) has successfully completed Phase 1 of its Great Hall Project. The newly renovated Level 6 has received rave reviews from passengers and airline staff ahead of the travel season specifically praising the user friendliness of the 86 new self-bag drop (SBD) systems developed by Materna IPS.

With over 73 million passengers expected to travel through DEN in 2022, the opening of the 86 self-bag drop systems perfectly aligns with the airport’s extensive technological redevelopment project; and is designed to provide passengers with the best check-in experience, including the ability to check-in over-sized luggage, like skis and snowboards. The unique hybrid self-bag drops are also equipped with counters and can be operated by the airline staff, when needed. This gives the airport the increased flexibility to meet the growth demand. Materna IPS developed the self-service systems according to the exact requirements of the airport with various partners and equipped them with state-of-the-art technology.

This project is the largest and most extensive hybrid self-bag drop (SBD) installation in the United States. The systems went live with Southwest Airlines early in November 2021 followed by United Airlines a week later. Within the first two weeks, over 35,000 bags have been processed with the newly integrated automatic baggage handling system. The Materna IPS systems were able to decrease the average passenger transaction time at DEN by nearly 50% during this period.

In addition to the hardware solution, Southwest Airlines will be using the Materna IPS SBD Application to operate the new automated baggage handling process. Materna IPS will also be responsible for hosting the self-bag drop system within the AWS Cloud where the availability and functionality of the SBD units are constantly monitored.

With the outstanding successful implementation of this major project at Denver International Airport, Materna IPS continues to strengthen its leading position in the American market and is expanding its international growth. Gary McDonald, president of Materna IPS USA, reiterates, "Everyone involved is absolutely honored to be part of this incredible, groundbreaking and innovative project that is revolutionizing passenger handling in the U.S. at one of the busiest airports in the world."

New installation at DEN

New installation at DEN

See more of the installation at DEN in our video.

More information

Gary McDonald
President, Americas
Materna IPS USA
5323 Millenia Lakes Blvd., Suite 300
Orlando, Florida, USA
Phone: +1 619-724-9280
Email: gary.mcdonald@materna-ips.com

Press contact

Materna IPS GmbH
Vosskuhle 37, 44141 Dortmund
Germany

About Materna IPS USA Corp.

Materna IPS USA Corp. based in Orlando, Florida, as one of the most renowned suppliers for airports and airlines around the world, delivers solutions for automated passenger handling at airports. The company’s range of products and services is comprised of hardware and software implementations as well as service and maintenance. Materna IPS USA is part of Materna IPS GmbH - a 100% subsidiary of the Materna Group - with its headquarters in Germany. The international branches in the USA, Canada, India and the United Kingdom enable Materna IPS to support their customers individually and to react quickly and professionally to market requirements. The Materna Group currently employs more than 2,600 people around the world and generated sales of over a third of a $billion in 2020.