The white paper – called ‘The Benefits of Mobile NFC for Air Travel’ – highlights how NFC can benefit passengers in six different areas: passenger check-in; baggage check-in; security check-points; lounge access; boarding; and post-flight.
As outlined in the white paper, “This document identifies the benefits that Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC, also known as the “SIM card”)-based, mobile Near Field Communications (NFC) services can bring to the airline industry, airport authorities and the air-traveller.”
At the heart of the document are IATA’s e-Services and Simplifying the Business (StB) initiatives, and the five active areas of the Fast Travel programme: bags ready to go; document check; flight re-booking; self-boarding; and bag recovery.
Among the detailed conclusions, the paper explains that NFC boarding passes have the potential to replace the physical bar code image, therefore removing the need for a paper boarding pass, while passengers could also be able to identify themselves at bag drop kiosks and make any necessary baggage payments using their NFC-enabled mobile device.
It also highlights the potential of NFC to expedite security checkpoint processing and self-boarding, to simplify airport lounge access, and to improve the post-flight transport ticketing process.
For more information, you can download the white paper from IATA’s website.
