British Airways has partnered with creative product design company Designworks to create electronic bag tags. The new tags, if successful, will replace older paper printouts.
When a passenger checks in for a flight, they can hold their smartphone over the tags to automatically update the electronic device with a unique barcode.
Once updated, the electronic tag will then feature all of a passenger’s flight information including an immediate view of the bag’s destination.
The new technology uses e-ink technology, which only uses battery power to update information. E-ink ensures that a customers baggage does run out of batteries during a flight, thus causing transit issues upon landing.
The British Airways electronic flight tag will be reusable for multiple flights. The airline hopes to begin electronic tag testing in July 2013.
According to Frank van der Post, British Airways’ managing director of brands and customer experience, says:
This is a fantastically simple, yet smart device that gives each customer the choice to have their own personalised electronic baggage tag that changes with the swipe of a smartphone – every time they fly. As the saying goes, “good things come in small packages,” and this innovative device is no exception.
Airlines are constantly looking for new ways to speed up the check-in process while providing for reduced costs and the British Airways electronic tag system may accomplish both of those goals.
Various carriers have already switched to iPads and other devices to reduce paper waste and the extra weight that paper carries.
Here’s a closer look at the sleek new electronic baggage tags for British Airways:
Do you like the idea of beaming your checked in flight data to a flight tag from your smartphone ?
