This is great news – Just a few days back came the announcement from
IRCTC that virtual e-tickets will be accepted on-board all the trains of
Indian Railways. Indian Air travellers also can look forward to similar
kind of service where the Flight Boarding passes may go completely
mobile.
According to news in HT today,
SITA, an IT solutions provider in travel space, is in talks with
airlines and other agencies concerned for implementation of their PassengerWeb check-in application that allows people to check-in via electronic boarding passes sent directly to their phones.
The way the system works is very simple – The passenger logs into the
Airline website and carries out the process as it is done for normal
web or kiosk check-in. He / She has option to either print the boarding
pass or send it to mobile. If the passenger chooses, “Send it to Mobile”
a sms is sent with a link. The link contains a QR code, which
essentially will work as your boarding pass.
At the time of check-in, QR code will be scanned which will provide all the information that a Boarding Pass provides.
Check out the video below to see how PassengerWeb check-in works:
PassengerWeb check-in application Demo
The Mobile Check-in is not only extremely convenient
to the passenger, but brings along huge cost savings to the Airlines as
well. According to industry experts, the average saving per online
check-in is estimated at US$3.58, rising to US$5.34 for online check-in
without baggage. So if an airline manages to save about Rs. 150 to Rs.
250 per passenger for each check-in, it definitely is a huge plus!
Additionally, lesser trees will have to be cut as passenger will not
have to carry a paper print-out, no waiting in line for getting your
boarding passes among other advantages.
I just hope that TRAI, with its recent directive
does not become a hurdle for implementation of this system because if
travelers don’t get the sms, they cant have their boarding pass on their
mobile phones.
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