03 December 2008

Mobile phone boarding on the horizon

Bmi has said it is almost ready to introduce technology to allow passengers to board planes using their mobile phones instread of boarding passes.

The airline has been trialling paperless boarding since May, which sees two dimensional bar codes sent to passengers handsets once they have checked in online. These barcodes are them scanned by crew.

So far only passengers on services from Edinburgh and Manchester to London Heathrow (one way) and from Belfast City to Heathrow (return) have used the new paperless boarding service.

But a spokesman for the carrier said the trial had been very successful and an announcement on where across the network the technology would be put to use was expected in the next couple of weeks.

Bmi is the first UK carrier to use 2D technology which allows passengers to simply wave their phone through security checkpoints right from entering the airport to boarding the plane. The barcode is simply scanned each time.

by Dinah Hatch

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