Electronic boarding passes come to international flights

From today, airlines are able to issue electronic boarding passes for international flights departing from Australia.

The changes mean that passengers catching international flights will be able to show their boarding pass on a mobile device.

Today’s announcement follows several trials run by the Department of Home Affairs.

Citizenship and multicultural affairs minister Alan Tudge said that last financial year more than 21.4 million travellers caught flights departing Australia.

“These increasing volumes mean we are always looking for ways to clear legitimate travellers efficiently and seek out those of interest to law enforcement,” the minister said.

“This change will cut out the need to visit the check-in desk to show your passport and collect your paper boarding pass.”

Mobile boarding passes complement the government’s Seamless Traveller push. The government in 2015 revealed it would earmark $93.7 million over five years to boost automated biometric processing at Australia’s major international airports and sea ports.

Some 73 per cent of travellers departing from Australia are currently processed through SmartGates.

Earlier this year the government revealed that Unisys will design and implement the new Enterprise Biometric Identification Services (EBIS) system for conducting biometric checks on people travelling to Australia.

EBIS will be able to analyse the biometric data of 100 per cent of travellers and alert the Australian Border Force when necessary.

A separate project undertaken by Sydney Airport in collaboration with airlines is the rollout of ‘couch to gate’ biometrics. Last month the first stage of a facial recognition pilot went live.

The trial initially involves passengers on select Qantas international flights and covers automated check-in, bag drop, Qantas Lounge access and boarding.