Paragon ID becomes Air France's official RFID bag tag supplier

Paragon ID, leading provider of identification solutions for Transport, e-ID, Traceability, Brand Protection and Payment is pleased to announce the signing of a 3-year contract with Air France for the supply of the airline’s RFID luggage tags.

The airline industry is preparing to carry more than 7.8 billion passengers per year.

Over the next few years it is expected that, due to the estimated growth in air traffic, the amount of baggage transported annually - which currently stands at 4.6 billion - will double. As part of its resolution 753, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has decided to support the global deployment of radio frequency identification (RFID) for baggage tracking. This resolution stipulates that passengers’ baggage must be tracked in real time across key points in the journey (at check-in, boarding, transfers and on arrival).

As a result, airlines have committed to replace, over the coming years, their current baggage tags with new ones integrating RFID technology.

Air France is one of the first global airlines to expand and standardize the use of RFID technology across all of its baggage operations.

The French airline has two key objectives in this project:

• Respond to customers' need for information about their luggage and offer them new services;
• Improve the identification rate and baggage tracking (punctuality, productivity), and thus reduce associated operating costs;

Following a tender process, Air France selected Paragon ID for the exclusive worldwide supply of its RFID luggage tags over an initial period of 3 years.

Paragon ID's expertise in RFID tags, combining the technological know-how in the design of inlays* with its expertise in the industrial processes for label manufacture at its site in Argent-sur-Sauldre, was key in meeting the quality and safety requirements set by Air France. The antenna, specifically designed by Paragon ID in close collaboration with NXP Semiconductors around their UCODE 8 chip, ensures optimal performance in the aviation sector. Special incisions also guarantee the label’s destruction after use or in case of attempted fraud.

Clem Garvey, CEO at Paragon ID comments:

“We are very proud to have been awarded this tender by Air France, one of the world’s leading airlines. Paragon ID has demonstrated its capacity to address the sector’s specific challenges and requirements. Thanks to our strong label-manufacturing history and our ability to innovate in RFID technologies and solutions, significantly enhanced by our merger with ASK in 2017, Paragon ID’s strategy of fulfilling its clients’ needs for increased security and traceability has never been more pertinent.”

*embedded chip and antenna