Mobile check-in goes live for Australian international flights

Source: It News, 06/08/2018

Qantas to introduce service in October.
International travellers flying out of Australia will no longer have
to physically check into their flight under changes to the border
clearance process unveiled today.
The federal government has begun allowing airlines to issue electronic
boarding passes for international flights, as part of its ‘seamless
traveller’ initiative.
It follows several successful trials by the Department of Home Affairs
with airlines.
The changes will allow travellers check-in and display their boarding
pass using a mobile device instead of having to visit the check-in
desk before being issued with a paper ticket.
However this will be conditional on individual airlines implementing
the changes and issuing electronic boarding passes.
Qantas, for instance, expects to begin offering customers access to
digital boarding passes - with the exception of US departures - from
October.
It started offering customers the service between Australia and New
Zealand over 12 months ago as a trial with Border Force, a Qantas
spokesperson told iTnews.
Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Alan Tudge said the
change was the government`s latest step to respond to an increasing
volume of international travellers, which climbed to 21.4 million last
year.
“These increasing volumes mean we are always looking for ways to
clear legitimate travellers efficiently and seek out those of interest
to law enforcement,” he said.
“This change will cut out the need to visit the check-in desk to show
your passport and collect your paper boarding pass.
`Australia is a world leader in seamless travel and this move will
allow travellers to move across our border smoothly.”
The government had already done away with the outgoing passenger card,
opting to pull passenger information from existing government data
since July 2017.
It is also planning to replace the physical incoming passenger card
with an online solution that collects answers to questions and passes
them onto Home Affairs systems.
Tudge said the introduction of mobile boarding passes would complement
the government’s fleet of departures and arrivals smartgates.
The newer smartgate technology at departure gates currently processes
more than 73 percent of travellers leaving Australia.
Home Affairs is currently trialling ‘face on the move’ passenger
recognition technology at selected airports to replace the ageing
arrivals smartgates.
The new automated biometric border control solution is intended to
match individuals against facial images stored in airlines’ advanced
passenger processing systems, removing the need for travellers to
present their passports at the gate to clear immigration
Initial tests have correctly matched 94 percent of travellers.
Sydney Airport has similarly begun conducting its own `couch-to-gate`
biometrics trial with select international Qantas passengers.