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New research has revealed that around a third of boarding passes will be issued through mobile devices in four years time.
According to analyst firm Juniper Research, we’ll see over 1.5 billion boarding passes delivered via apps each year by the end of 2019, representing around 30 per cent of the market.
That’s compared to the 745 million boarding passes currently delivered through mobile applications.
The report claims the mobile boarding passes are increasingly used by frequent flyers, but are used notably less by ‘leisure passengers’.
It also notes, interestingly, that only 53 per cent of airlines are currently offering mobile boarding passes via apps.
That figure is expected to rise dramatically by 2017 however, with the next two years bringing it up to 91 per cent.
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Juniper Research also claims that the success of mobile barcode boarding pass adoption has actually led to a delay in the transition to NFC-powered boarding passes.
Nitin Bhas, research author at Juniper Research, said: “The ultimate position that NFC can reach in the airline industry is ‘the extinction of the boarding pass’ whereby boarding pass, baggage tickets, and identity information can be stored on the phone and simply accessed using NFC readers.”
“However, this transition will not only be delayed by the success of the barcode but there is the need to gain agreement from airlines and airports around the world.”
It’s worth noting that adoption of app-based boarding passes is significantly more rapid in the UK, US, Far East, and Europe compared to other markets.