Emirates airline passengers to access passes through mobile

By Fredrick Obura

Passengers will now access their flight boarding passes through mobile phones.

The development, launched this week by Emirates Airline, targets Internet enabled mobile phones and aims at offering passengers paperless travel experience.

In the new plan, passengers will log on to the firm’s website — www.emirates.com — and choose to receive a web link to their mobile boarding pass by email or text message.

"The launch of the mobile boarding pass not only supports paperless travel, but also meets the demands of a new era of travellers who seek a more efficient means of managing their travel," said Mohammed Mattar, Divisional Senior Vice President Airport Services, Emirates.

He said the mobile boarding pass puts flexibility and control "completely" in the hands of the customers.

The boarding pass can be scanned and read directly at check-in counters, airport security check points, Dubai immigration, Emirates First Class and Business Class lounges and boarding gates.

The service allows customers to keep all their travel information in one place while also safeguarding the environment.

In the first year of implementation, it is estimated that the use of mobile boarding passes alone will save a minimum of 550 kilogrammes of paper.

At the Emirates Group, over 3.6 million kilogrammes of paper have been recycled in the financial year 2010/11.

Following the launch held in Dubai, over 30 other mobile boarding pass compliant airports have been identified for implementation across the Emirates network.

The move follows the launch of Emirates mobile booking services mid last year. Designed to work with over 3,000 mobile devices, mobile Emirates.com has been optimised to ensure that customers on the move can easily and efficiently access the emirates.com website.

"Consumers are far more mobile than ever before. There is a constant need for products and services to cater to the fast-paced lifestyle that today’s individuals lead, people want it here and now, without exception," Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Emirates Regional Manager for East Africa said of Emirates mobile booking and boarding services.

Regional expansion

Meanwhile, the airline is weighing a plan to buy more wide-body jets from Boeing and Airbus as it seeks to expand its global network.

"We are once again reviewing our fleet," said Tim Clark, the Emirates president.

"We have identified opportunities outside the fleet growth plan that we have."

The additional aircraft would be bought incrementally, rather than in one big order, to help "squeeze a little bit more out of the operation".

Emirates currently operates 153 aircraft and is expanding at a rapid clip, carrying 31.4 million passengers for the financial year ending on March 31, a growth of 14.5 per cent from the previous year.

The airline is looking at buying more Boeing 777-300ERs, long-haul, wide-body jets that form the backbone of its current fleet and are used on routes including the US west coast and points in Asia.

It will also look at ordering more of the Airbus A350, a new wide-body jet being developed using lightweight composite materials. The A350 is scheduled to enter the market around 2014. "The aircraft in frame would be more ERs (extended ranges), possibly some more A350s," he said.