British Airways is to start the gradual roll-out of mobile boarding passes for routes across its network as part of the suite of tools for its upgraded smartphone apps.
The airline is celebrating the two-year birthday of its iPhone app by overhauling the existing service for Apple handsets and also launching the app for Android and Blackberry devices.
Mobile boarding passes will initially be available on the Heathrow to Edinburgh route, with the remainder of other domestic services added during August 2010.
Around half of BA's international short haul routes will be added during the latter part of this year before attention turns to long haul destinations.
Head of digital Chris Davies says extending the mobile boarding card service is reliant on airports around the BA network accepting the process at security points and departure gates.
Functionality on the new version for iPhone (which will eventually be replicated for Android and Blackerry) includes integration with BA's Executive Club system.
Users will be able to manage bookings, including mobile check-in, switching flights and amending passenger details, as well as access detailed information about services and airport information. BA's Twitter feed of new and service updates will also be streamed into the app.
An alert system to notify users at airports when a departure gate opens will be added shortly, Davies says.
The Blackberry version of the app will include a sync mechanism with the device's calendar to populate bookings into the user's schedule.
Davies says the recently approved partnerships and mergers with American Airlines and Iberia respectively will see "a greater sharing of technology, expertise and experience" on projects such as mobile functionality.