bmi trials Real Time technology to deliver a revolution in airline boarding -

The airline, which operates more than 1,700 flights a week across 50 destinations, has introduced FirstPass to selected domestic routes, including Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast City, for a three month trial period with a view to rolling it out across the complete bmi network as mobile phone boarding passes are accepted by airports. 

FirstPass uses mobile technology to encode a passenger’s details within an industry standard 2D barcode. The boarding pass can then be read directly from the mobile handset by the existing scanners recently installed at airports for the paper-based “print at home” boarding cards.

The solution removes the need for passengers to carry any type of paper-based boarding pass, and means that passengers checking in at home, in hotels, or at conference centres no longer need to find a printer to produce their boarding pass.

During the trial, bmi will use “Picture Messaging” (MMS) technology to deliver a boarding pass directly to the passenger’s mobile phone. Real Time’s technology then ensures that the boarding pass and 2D barcode are sized correctly for every mobile phone handset, PDA or Blackberry on the market, meaning that the tickets can be easily scanned and read.

Real Time has been working with the global airline standards body, IATA, over the last two years to develop the standard which will be used by all airlines. The bmi launch of FirstPass will be the first European rollout of the new standards.

© Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 18-Jun-08
 

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