Vnukovo Airport on November 11 announced that the ability to use electronic Boarding has also become available to passengers of international flights. But there is a caveat. In which cases this service can be useful, where it is available, and when it does not make sense at all, we tell you in our review.
The practice of using electronic boarding passes has appeared in Russia relatively recently. It was started to be discussed in 2013. In 2017, the Ministry of Transport issued an order allowing the use of an electronic document instead of a paper one. And in 2019, Russian airports began to actively use this technology (although they had tested it before).
Significant changes in the process occurred five years later – at the beginning of 2024, the problem with accounting for business travelers was finally solved. Companies have also begun to accept electronic boarding passes as a flight confirmation document. The reason for this was the relevant clarifications of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport.
WHICH MAJOR AIRPORTS CAN USE ELECTRONIC BOARDING PASSES
Technically, electronic boarding passes can now be used at many of the largest Russian airports. But the very possibility of generating them also depends on the airlines.
Sheremetyevo Airport has equipment for scanning electronic boarding passes on both domestic and international flights. But in practice, as representatives of the aviation industry said, only Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways passengers can use this system. And Aeroflot, as the official representative of the national air carrier assured the editorial board of Vestnik ATOR.
In Pulkovo, from March 1, 2023, the service is available on domestic routes based on domestic software.
The pioneer in the field of electronic boarding – Moscow Domodedovo Airport – has the appropriate equipment in the domestic and international sectors.
Representatives of Vnukovo announced yesterday that they had extended the practice of using electronic boarding passes to the international segment as well. It was already available for domestic flights.
At Sochi airport, representatives of the air harbor confirmed, it is also possible to use electronic boarding gates on flights within Russia and abroad.
In Novosibirsk Tolmachevo, according to its base carrier, S7 Airlines, you can use a mobile boarding pass on domestic flights. Similarly, in Koltsovo in Yekaterinburg.
You can use the electronic boarding gate in Kazan.
IMPORTANT NUANCES OF USING A MOBILE BOARDING PASS
However, despite the fact that the technology is spreading, passengers still have quite a lot of questions.
The first and important point that still has to be paid attention to: an electronic ticket and an electronic boarding pass are not the same thing.
Even if there is a barcode on the ticket – and it is correct to call it an “itinerary receipt” – then check-in is still mandatory. But you can go through it online on the airline’s website and get the most cherished boarding pass – in the form of a QR code.
The itinerary receipt is not enough: check-in is still needed! Image: ATOR
The second thing to remember is that to use a mobile boarding pass, there should be enough charging on your mobile device until you board the plane. And “oh, my battery is dead,” the problem is not at all as rare as it might seem.
The third. It is best to save the mobile boarding pass in the photo gallery (in the form of a screenshot) so that you do not need Internet access to use it in any case.
And fourth: the presence of a mobile boarding gate relaxes and speeds up the passage of pre-flight formalities, but does not relieve the passenger from other duties.
For example, the need to arrive at the airport on time or have all other documents with you, such as passports, certificates for children or papers confirming benefits, if you need them. It would seem that there is no connection. But in practice, it exists, because the improvement of technology often makes passengers more distracted and forgetful.
And finally, the fifth – even if you have issued a mobile boarding pass, the luggage will not hand itself over and you will still have to go to the counter. And there, to be sure, you can, in the old-fashioned way, print a piece of paper. In all Russian airports, the use of paper boarding passes is still possible and widespread.
WHEN AN ELECTRONIC BOARDING PASS IS COMPLETELY USELESS
Now the most important thing is when a mobile boarding pass is really convenient, and when, in fact, it is not needed.
Practice shows that in Russia, an electronic boarding pass is convenient mainly when a passenger travels without luggage and on domestic flights. Then the QR code on the gadget screen can really save some time. Especially the one that is spent searching for a paper boarding pass in the bag. And then, you can’t forget it at the control or in the store.
With luggage, you will still have to “surrender” to specially trained employees and stand in line. But drop-off counters can help out here, where they are: there may be fewer queues for them.
But on international flights, an electronic boarding pass is virtually useless. Firstly, upon departure, the passenger must still at some stage check the validity period of the passport and documents confirming the theoretical possibility of entering the destination country: the availability of a visa, payment of the necessary fees, vaccination certificates (when they are needed), insurance somewhere, and other nuances.
When receiving paper coupons, all this is checked by the agent at the counter. If you fly abroad without luggage and do not go to the counter, then all these documents will be checked right at the gate before boarding. This will obviously take no less time than checking at the counter. And if something goes wrong, then it takes longer and more insulting to come back. And most importantly, there will be no chance to fix anything, even if they were still there two hours ago (“I forgot to pay for insurance”, and you never know how many different ridiculous cases).
But the most important thing is that you simply cannot pass the border control without a paper boarding pass: OT accepts only paper documents. That is, one way or another, you will still have to harm nature with extra garbage.
Airports know about all this. And they try to prevent the possible risks of a passenger with an electronic boarding pass. So, according to the observations of the correspondent of Vestnik ATOR, in Domodedovo, special “reprinters” that allow you to print mobile boarding passes are installed right in front of the booths of border control.
Thus, airports are ready to use high technologies. And some of them even use Russian software. But on international flights, progress is still very relative due to the demands of border guards.
Ekaterina Tropova
