Mobile Phone Boarding Passes

With technological advances it is industry experts estimate that by 2010 UK airline passengers could be checking in and boarding flights using an electronic barcode transmitted to their mobile phone,.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airlines are among those considering mobile technology as an alternative to traditional magnetic strip-based boarding passes which would save airlines large amounts and make check in quick and more effecient.

According to Eric Leopold, spokesman for International Air Transport Association (Iata), barcode boarding passes, both printed and on mobile phones, will replace magnetic strip-based boarding passes in the near future.

The Iata believes some UK airlines will have mobile phone check-in capability by late 2008, and magnetic strip boarding passes will be replaced by 2010. They said the biggest challenge is installing infrastructure capable of detecting a barcode.

The basis of the technology is already in place at some international airports. At Tokyo and Peking, passengers already register their fingerprint for security purposes and receive a barcode acting as the boarding pass sent directly to their phone.

Some airlines, such as British Airways remain skeptical about the practicalities. Mobile phone check-in is something most are interested in, particularly as the majority of passengers have access to a mobile phone. However there are issues to be resolved, such as standardization of mobile phone technology.

Virgin Atlantic ecommerce project manager Lisa Rogers said the airline is also looking into mobile boarding passes, but has no firm plans to implement it. While Ryanair IT director Brona Kernan doubts the technology will be widely adopted in the UK. ‘Mobile phone check-in is more convenient for passengers but not for airlines,’ she said. ‘All we would be removing is a paper ticket that the passenger prints themselves anyway.’

www.britishairways.com