Jetstar offers boarding pass straight to your mobile phone

Photo / Supplied

Passengers of low-fare airline Jetstar can now get boarding passes delivered to their mobile phones.

Jetstar is launching the system in New Zealand, starting in Auckland today.

At first it will be available to single passengers travelling without checked bags.

Customers book flights online and are given an option to automatically check in and have an SMS boarding code sent to their mobile phone 24 hours before departure.

At the airport, passengers go straight to the departure gate, present their phone and the SMS boarding code is scanned, with a paper receipt printed so the phone can then be switched off.

Jetstar Group chief executive Bruce Buchanan said the system was compatible with nearly all mobile phones.

"With SMS boarding there will be no more queuing for check-in desks, and no more need to find a home or work computer to print out your boarding pass," Buchanan said.

New Zealanders embraced new technology and the country's high penetration of mobile phones made it an ideal location to launch the technology, he said.

"Everything you need to board your Jetstar domestic flight can be sent to your mobile through this hassle-free approach."

The system would be extended from next month to include multiple passengers, such as families, with checked-in luggage.

Jetstar said it would expand the technology to its 18 Australian domestic airports to be fully in place before the December holiday period.

"Given more than half of our customers travelling on Jetstar domestic services already use self-service options such as web-check or kiosks, we think the uptake for this additional choice of SMS technology will be extremely strong over time," Buchanan said.