IATA wants mobile/PDA check-in by 2010

IATA has set a deadline of the end of 2010 for its 240 member airlines to phase out paper boarding passes.


Instead, passengers will use their mobile phones or personal digital assistants to check in.

In a statement IATA said new technology enabled airlines to send two-dimensional bar codes directly to passengers’ mobiles via text message. The bar code acts as a boarding pass and is read directly from the screen of the mobile device, eliminating paper completely from the check-in process.

‘Passengers want the convenience of self-service options in a paperless environment,’ said IATA director general and chief executive, Giovanni Bisignani. ‘This standard is an important step in getting rid of paper that bogs down processes and drives up costs.’

He added that historically, global applications for the use of mobile phone technology by airlines had been restricted due to different regional formats. The IATA standard uses existing codes: Aztec and Datamatrix, which are widely used in Europe and North America; and QR, which is widely used in Japan.

All three are proven technologies and can be read by a single scanner type that is cost effective and readily available globally.

IATA has set a deadline of end-2010 to implement 100% bar coded boarding passes. Once fully implemented, the system will save the airline industry over US$500m a year.

The global introduction of bar coded boarding passes to replace magnetic stripe technology is one of five ‘Simplifying the Business’ projects launched by IATA in 2004, the others being: electronic ticketing, common use self-service check-in, radio frequency identification for aviation and IATA e-freight.

The aim of Simplifying the Business is to use technology to make travel more convenient while bringing about cost savings of US$6.5bn.