British Airways will this week become the first airline in the UK to enable passengers departing from Heathrow…
British Airways will this week become the first airline in the UK to enable passengers departing from Heathrow to print their own boarding pass from the comfort of their own home or office.
Passengers, who check-in online for flights from Heathrow Terminal 1 to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow and Newcastle, will now be able to print their own boarding passes. Passengers travelling from Manchester will be offered the facility on both domestic and international routes.
Online boarding passes have proved very popular with British Airways’ customers, since being introduced in Edinburgh in February this year, with over 12,000 printed in October.
The pass can be printed on A4 paper and contains a unique barcode containing all the passenger’s relevant flight details. It enables passengers with hand baggage only to go straight to security, by-passing the need to go to a check-in desk or self-service check-in kiosk. At security, barcode is checked by an airport security guard using a barcode reader.
Customers with bags to check-in, can use the fast baggage drop facility.
The online printed boarding pass initiative is part of British Airways’ drive to simplify the check-in process for passengers and help smooth their way through the terminal and onto the aircraft.
Simon Parks-Smith, British Airways head of product management, said: “The system helps our customers as it saves them even more time when going through the airport. The technology we are using and the process for checking the barcode at the airport means that customers can be reassured that security is in no way being compromised. We aim to roll out the service across the majority of our global network within the next 18 months.”
Online boarding passes are available for all customers who check-in online at ba.com. Executive Club members can check-in 24 hours before departure and all other BA customers 12 hours before their flight.
There are now 34 airports across Europe, which can use online boarding passes.
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