American Airlines launches in-app passport scanning
American Airlines has rolled out a new tool on its mobile app to streamline the passenger experience for international journeys.
American has introduced in-app passport chip scanning, allowing travelers to skip the usual manual passport scan at the airport.
When customers check in for an overseas flight on the app they will be asked to input some basic passport information and then scan the passport chip with an iOS or Android device.
American claims it is the first airline to tap near field communication (NFC) tech to transmit passport information securely.
They will still need to show their passport at the boarding gate although it won’t need to be scanned.
To begin, it is only available for journeys with one person on the reservation but will be expanded in the near future for bookings containing multiple travelers including family groups.
Kevin MacFarland, managing director of digital customer experience for American, said it will speed up the process from check-in to boarding gate, as oftentimes a passenger’s passport is not scanned during the first leg of an international journey which involves a domestic connection.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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