Qantas launches mobile boarding pass

By Liz Tay on Apr 30, 2010 1:00 PM
Filed under Oddware

2D barcodes sent to web-enabled mobile devices.

A 2D barcode image is replacing paper boarding passes for domestic passengers using Qantas's new Mobile Check-in service.

Launched this week, the service allows passengers to check in via Qantas's mobile web portal between 24 hours and 45 minutes prior to departure.

Passengers receive an e-mail or SMS containing a 2D barcode image that is scanned at the boarding gate.

The service is available at airports including Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra and Sydney Terminal 3, and will be deployed at Sydney Terminal 2, Adelaide, and Newcastle in the coming months.

The launch of Qantas's Mobile Check-in follows that of Virgin Blue's Check-Mate, which was developed in partnership with Dublin-based Mobile Travel Technologies and introduced last week.

Virgin Blue CEO Brett Godfrey said electronic passes were more environmentally friendly, and offered travellers a "more sophisticated and advanced" option.

International airlines Air Canada, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Swiss International Airlines and Delta also offer mobile check in services and electronic boarding passes.

Qantas subsidiary Jetstar also expected to introduce SMS boarding pass technology this year.

4 comments in this discussion

"I've been doing something like this ever since the airlines started emailing e-tickets a few years ago: I would scan the email with the barcode from my phone at a checkin kiosk, which would print ..."

By nate.cochrane

Tags

qantas, airline, flight, boarding, pass, electronic

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Comments: 4

Mordd Apr 30, 2010 1:31 PM	"Launched this week, the service allows passengers to check in via Qantas's mobile web portal between 24 hours and 45 minutes prior to departure. Passengers receive an e-mail or SMS containing a 2D barcode image that is scanned at the boarding gate." Huh? I flew Qantas almost 2 years ago and checked in on the web on the day of departure, printed my boarding pass with 2D barcode, and presented it at the boarding gate only (not check in) at the airport to board the flight. @ OP - Are you sure the new part of it isn't only the barcodes working on the mobile phones, not the rest of the system? Because Qantas have had self check in on the web going for a quite a while now, its not new that you can do that, the only new part in the article is the barcodes on the mobile part.
Liz Tay Apr 30, 2010 1:44 PM	@Mordd Yes, the new part is the fact that the barcode is scanned directly from the mobile device; it doesn't have to be printed.
firofox Apr 30, 2010 2:10 PM	i didn't think they like mobile phones in airports, the concept also becomes more complicated when you're traveling overseas.
nate.cochrane Apr 30, 2010 2:53 PM	I've been doing something like this ever since the airlines started emailing e-tickets a few years ago: I would scan the email with the barcode from my phone at a checkin kiosk, which would print a paper boarding pass, or sometimes at the gate directly if I was running late for my flight (and had previously checked in on the web). The trick was to make sure the barcode was big enough for the scanner to read.