Boarding pass travel
Letting go of the printed boarding pass. Emirates will allow the online version for most passengers travelling through Dubai. Image Credit: Shutterstock

Dubai: Emirates airline is doing away with paper where possible - even with the boarding pass. 

From May 15, the Dubai airline will require most passengers departing Dubai to use a mobile boarding pass instead of the paper version. Passengers checking in at Terminal 3 will receive their mobile boarding pass via email or SMS. Checking in online, they can load their boarding pass onto their Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, or 'retrieve their boarding pass on the Emirates App.

The checked-in baggage receipt is also emailed directly to passengers, or available on Emirates App.

But some passengers may still require a physical boarding pass to be printed – when travelling with infants, unaccompanied minors, passengers requiring special assistance, passengers with onwards flights on other airlines.

And all those passengers travelling on flights to the US.

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This will 'significantly reduce paper waste while simultaneously offering a convenient and speedy digitised check in experience for passengers departing Dubai', the airline said in a statement. Plus, of course, it does reduce the risk of lost or misplaced boarding passes.

The mobile boarding pass can be used throughout the travel journey – in Dubai Duty Free, at security and for boarding, simply by showing the boarding pass on the phone. Emirates agents and airport staff will scan the QR code on the mobile boarding pass as passengers move through the airport and onto the aircraft.

Still can take a printout

The option to print a boarding pass is available - by request - to Emirates agents at check-in counters, if passengers do not have a mobile device, or if unable to access the information on their devices for reasons such as: running out of battery power, a system breakdown or glitch, message delivery delay, or inability to access WIFI, network or a data package.