Spanair extends mobile boarding card service to Madrid and Barcelona

Following the great success of this system launched by Spanair in November 2007 at Bilbao airport on the Bilbao-Madrid route, the company is set to roll-out its pioneering mobile boarding card service for users at Madrid-Barajas - at Terminals 2 and 3 and at the airport's metro exit- as well as at El Prat Barcelona airport.

Spanair is the first European airline to offer its passengers this type of service, following IATA's publication of a mobile boarding standard, based on two-dimensional codes.

Focusing primarily on business passengers, this innovative system facilitates receiving a Spanair boarding card via a multimedia message (MMS) sent to a mobile telephone.

To obtain their mobile boarding card, passengers will be required to check-in using the web-based check-in service at www.spanair.com, or by connecting to the Internet via their mobiles through the new mobile check-in service at Spanair.mobi, which will be launched in tandem with the mobile boarding card service. At the end of the process, the passengers are asked for their mobile phone number, to which Spanair will send the corresponding multimedia message (MMS) free of charge.

The multimedia message contains an image with a two-dimensional code (2D barcode) which transmits all the necessary information to carry out an automated boarding, as well as a text information section containing all the travel details. Thus, in order to use this system, passengers simply need to pass the code, sent to their mobile, through the scanners to obtain a paper receipt with which they will be able to pass through security and board their flight.

"Spanair is once again leading the field in commercial aviation with this mobile boarding card; a service which will enable our passengers to fly more quickly and more easily", states Marcus Hedblom, Spanair's CEO. "We are very pleased to be the first to offer our customers the innovation of receiving their boarding card on their mobiles, with the aim of checking-in and flying with the most advanced technology, reducing travel times from the main Spanish business centres, Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao", he added.

Further information on this service is available at: Spanair.com / Spanair.mobi

Spanair was founded in 1986 and offers more than 600 daily flights operated with a fleet of 63 aircraft and in code share with its partners, to 241 destinations. Since April 2003, Spanair is a member of Star Alliance, the largest and most prestigious airline network in the world.