A method to evaluate determinant factors on airport check-in level of service

Understanding how operational procedures and demand growth can influence the check-in level of service (LoS) is an important issue for airport operators, but the importance of these factors has never been determined. With the aim of filling this gap, this paper proposes a method to evaluate the main variables that can influence the LoS of an international airport check-in. The methodology used for this study included the collection and processing of data, infrastructure analysis, software simulation of 273 scenarios and non-linear regression. São Paulo–Guarulhos international airport, Brazil, was used as a case study. The main results suggest that, among operational procedures, the processing time at counters is the most important factor, followed by the number of counters per airline, the use of self-service technologies and the opening time of the check-in desks. Airport operators must be aware of increases in flight load factors and the addition of new flights to adjust the need for counters for each airline.