Airline passengers will from next year be able to check-in using cellphone technology, Business Day reported on Friday.
The International Air Transport Association (Iata) said on Thursday that paper tickets, which use magnetic-strip technology instead of barcodes, would no longer be accepted from June.
The Geneva-based global airlines lobby group said passengers would from June simply register their cellphone numbers with their airline at the time of booking to receive a SMS with a barcode, or instructions on how to download it. The barcode, which would be used as the passenger’s boarding pass, would be read directly from the cellphone, eliminating paper completely from the check-in process, the newspaper’s report said.
Besides cellphone-based bar-coded boarding passes, passengers would also be allowed to use online or e-tickets at check-in counters.
”Passengers want the convenience of a self-service option in a paperless environment. This standard is an important step in getting rid of paper that bogs down processes and drives up costs,” Iata’s director-general and chief executive Giovanni Bisignani said.
He said Iata would work with its 240 member airlines to develop standardised processes and guidelines to facilitate global implementation of the cellular phone technology.
Airlines such as Air Canada, Spainair, Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Air Berlin were already using the technology.
Iata said the use of cellphone technology and e-ticketing systems would not only reduce the long queues at check-in counters, but could also help reduce the costs of flying.
E-ticketing allows customers to make their bookings and select their seats. Unlike the call-centre bookings, the online option also has the flexibility of allowing passengers to change their departure times or dates without incurring heavy penalties, Business Day said.
South African Airways , which is a member of Iata, has started charging a service fee of up to R500 a ticket for flight bookings not made online. – Sapa