Mobile Check In by Finnair: Used by 50% on some routes!

Finnair was the first airline to introduce mobile phone based check-in back in 2001. Now I have updates that up to half of Finnair's passengers on some routes already check in with mobile phones.

I liked the idea and discussed it in my 2002 book, m-Profits. The concept spread and I've occasionally returned to the idea, from reporting that many other airlines from flag carriers like JAL in Japan to Lufthansa in Germany and even discount airlines like Ryanair and Norwegian adopting the concept. I've also given updates from time to time on the Finnair pioneering mobile check-in. And I made it the seventh case study in my current hardcover book Mobile as 7th of the Mass Media. There I report that on some of Finnair's busiest short-haul business travel routes (that have a high percentage of Finnair's frequent fliers, obviously) up to 20% of passengers use the service.

Well, I heard from Book It CEO, Jukka Salonen in Finland. Book It is the company that has developed a more intelligent SMS based interctive system that deploys many innovative services. And they run the advanced version of the Finnair mobile check in today. It has evolved a lot since the first SMS text messaging based mobile check-in that I reported about in 2002, and today includes MMS messages and 2D barcodes and is operational in several airports outside of Finland as well, such as Stockholm and Copenhagen.

But the most amazing numbers. Book It reports that now on some of Finnair's busiest business routes, over half of the passengers use mobile check in. Yes! Magic. Wonderful. This is the future, and it is spreading. Coming soon to an airport near you... Thank you Jukka for the update. If you want to read Book It's press release about the latest in the mobile check in for Finnair, see this link Finnair Introduces 2D Barcodes.