A departure control system (DCS) automates processing an airline's airport management operation, which includes managing the information required for

airport check-in Airport check-in is the process whereby an airline approves airplane passengers to board an airplane for a flight. Airlines typically use service counters found at airports for this process, and the check-in is normally handled by an airline ...

, printing boarding cards, baggage acceptance, boarding, load control and aircraft checks. Today, DCS mostly (98%) manage e-tickets using interfaces from a number of devices, including check-in kiosks, online check-in, mobile boarding cards, and baggage handling. DCS are able to identify, capture and update reservations from an airline's

computer reservation system Computer reservation systems, or central reservation systems (CRS), are computerized systems used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel, hotels, car rental, or other activities. Originally designed and ope ...

for passengers stored in a so-called

passenger name record A passenger name record (PNR) is a record in the database of a computer reservation system (CRS) that contains the itinerary for a passenger or a group of passengers travelling together. The concept of a PNR was first introduced by airlines that ...

(PNR). A DCS is used to update reservations, typically as checked-in, boarded, flown or another status. Additionally and increasingly, a DCS for some city-pair sectors may also interface with

immigration control Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...

(such as

Advance Passenger Information System Advance Passenger Information System or APIS is an electronic data interchange system established by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), APIS governs the provision of a limited number of data elements (identification details from the p ...

) for visa, immigration and passenger no-fly watchlists. Historically, systems developed in North America have incorporated DCS functions as part of the reservations systems with check-in being initiated directly from the PNR. Load control (weight and balance) is then provided by a standalone application. Systems developed by airlines outside North America have traditionally had a separate database for DCS, requiring passenger data to be transferred from the PNR into DCS records. These systems have an integrated weight and balance capability. "New generation" DCSs are being developed and deployed by vendors such as Amadeus and SITA as part of the overall re-engineering of airline Passenger Services Systems. These new systems typically use a common database and a services oriented architecture that allows reservations, check-in and other services to maintain a consistent view of passenger information. Larger international airports will have a range of DCS or a single DCS which each particular airline carrier can integrate with for streamlined operations.

References

{{reflist Airport infrastructure

See also

References