Spanair Introduces Paperless Ticketing Service

Mobile check-in has landed in airports across Spain following the introduction of a paperless ticketing service by Spanish carrier Spanair Airlines.

Paper boarding passes can now be replaced by an electronic 2D barcode received via MMS and stored by the passenger’s mobile phone.

The system is enabled by NeoMedia Technologies, which has to date installed its EXIO scanners in eleven Spanish airports. The scanners read the 2D codes on the phones at the airport terminal check-in desks and security points.

With the widespread installation of the streamlined and convenient service across Spanish airports, Spanair has forecast that 800,000 2D barcode mobile tickets will be issued in 2009 –some 10 percent of its total ticketing transactions.

Spanair was the first airline in Spain to offer its passengers mobile check-in, following the publication by IATA of a mobile boarding standard based on two-dimensional codes. The technology was piloted in the airports of Bilbao, Madrid and Barcelona, initiating a service that could save the airline industry up to $500 million each year.