Juniper: 1.5 billion mobile boarding passes by 2019

According to Juniper's 'Mobile & Online Ticketing: Transport, Events & NFC 2015-2019' report, almost one in three boarding passes, around 1.5 billion, will be issued via a smartphone by 2019.

Driving this growth will be frequent fliers who are already familiar with using apps while traveling by air. Leisure travelers, on the other hand, are not so familiar with the technology and are not likely to use it to the same extent. Currently, the regions with the fastest-growing adoption of boarding pass app use is the U.S., Europe and Far East.

More than half of airlines currently issue mobile boarding passes via apps, according to recent figures from SITA (Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques) and, within the next two years, nearly all (91%) will do so.

However, most of the apps currently in use by airlines deliver boarding passes as bar codes. Using a NFC chip in mobile devices to transmit boarding data is the way of the future, says Juniper, but transition to that format is moving slowly.

"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," says Juniper researcher Nitin Bhas. "However, this transition will not only be delayed by the success of barcode but, there is the need to gain agreement and investment from airlines and airports around the world."

Image via Shutterstock

Tags: airline industry, barcode, mobile, NFC, trends