Spanair celebrates first anniversary of mobile check-in

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 ten per cent of its total ticketing transactions.

Spanair, the second largest airline in number of passengers in Spain, was the first 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 $500million each year.

Earlier last year industry analysts Juniper Research estimated that transport-based mobile ticketing will grow from 37.4million transactions in 2007 to just over 1.8 billion by 2011, with some 2.6 billion mobile tickets in total being issued by 2011 to 208 million mobile phone users.

"Our mobile check-in system is proving to be the fastest way to get on the plane in Spain. It's innovative, efficient and offers great benefits in terms of both time and convenience - advantages that are particularly appreciated by our business customers," said Sergio Allard, Chief Commercial Officer, Spanair.

"This is a fantastic success story that underlines the simplicity and elegance of the mobile 2D barcode," said Iain McCready, CEO of NeoMedia.

"Implementing mobile ticketing expands Spanair's customer service offering in an innovative way and increases customer convenience significantly - it's a win/win scenario. NeoMedia's scanners can be integrated into many different systems and used for a wide variety of mobile CRM solutions (ticketing, couponing, loyalty) and payment systems. With the mobile device increasingly used as a tool for business, it makes absolute sense to utilise it in as many ways as possible to streamline services for both business and consumer users."