Heathrow's electronic tags will keep lost luggage in check

The world's largest trial of electronic baggage tags is about to begin at Heathrow amid claims it could mean an end to lost luggage.

Airport operator BAA's £150,000 project will test the effectiveness of the new tagging system against the airport's barcode tracking.

Passengers' bags will have radio identification chips attached at check-in so they can be monitored at the airport.

It will mean lost luggage can be identified quickly by a tag-reader and passengers will be able to receive details of a bag's location by text message.

The six-month trial will track around 50,000 bags per month for passengers travelling with Emirates to and from Dubai and transferring through Heathrow. A duplicate of the Heathrow system has been installed at Dubai International Airport.

Stephen Challis of BAA said: "We are extremely excited by this project, which will track bags at every stage of their journey and could significantly improve the efficiency of Heathrow's baggage system."

But the airport operator admitted the cost of installing the system could be high. A spokeswoman said even the latest equipment being installed in Terminal Five would need to be upgraded to cope with the technology.

Radio frequency identification equipment has been installed at nine Emirates check-in counters for the trial, with staff applying tags containing RFID chips to bags as part of the normal check-in process. The chips will store data including each passenger's name and travel route. Baggage tags will also be marked with normal tracking barcodes.

Scanners will read the chips as the bags pass through Heathrow to enable sorting, security screening and delivery to the aircraft. Each tag will then be re-scanned and logged before it enters the Dubai baggage system.

Passengers will also be invited to register their mobile phones with airport staff to receive a text alert on arrival with details of which luggage carrousel to collect their bags from.