BMI ditches paper plane tickets for MMS

BMI has become the latest airline to consider ditching paper tickets for a mobile equivalent. According to the Glasgow Daily Record. The paper says the airline is trying a new system which works by sending a barcode to a passenger’s handset over MMS, which is then scanned at the boarding gate as well as when passing through airport security.

The mobile plane tickets were introduced last week in Edinburgh, with BMI set to expand the system – created by local company Real Time – to other Scottish airports including Glasgow and Aberdeen.

The Herald says that “dozens” of customers have tried the mobile boarding system since it was introduced. Dozens? Was it a slow week at BMI or is the airline not really pushing the mobile ticketing system? Surely, given that everyone carries a mobile with them at all times, it’s way more convenient to have a mobile ticket than a bit of paper that can get lost – there’s got to be more than a few dozen people willing to give the system a go.