Heathrow's Terminal 5 is the first UK airport building to be designed around the technology that runs it.

BAA and British Airways worked together on T5. The baggage system was designed by BAA, Vanderlande and IBM. A 2D barcode is attached to each bag with information on where it needs to go, and handlers use hand-held scanners to update the bag's position on the system and to work out which route it should take.

The technology being tested by Continental uses a two-dimensional encrypted bar code, which is much tougher to copy than the one-dimensional bar code used by many airlines for boarding passes printed online.

Airline Boarding Pass to Be Replaced by Mobile Phones

Under the International Air Transport Association's 'Simplifying the Business' programme, Siemens Airport Systems is working on a technology that will use mobile phones to replace a physical boarding pass. You can check-in, select your seat through the mobile phone and then you receive a 2D Bar Code which would replace the boarding pass.

Airlines to Launch Mobile Phone Check-In Services

Some air travelers in Korea can now use their mobile phones to check in for international flights. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines said Monday that they will launch mobile check-in services in cooperation with SK Telecom.

Upon arriving at Iuncheon International Airport, they can issue their boarding pass using self-check-in machines by inputting a barcode downloaded to their phone and their passport number. Luggage must be checked at a separate counter.

Airlines look at mobile phone boarding passes

By 2010 UK airline passengers could be checking in and boarding flights using an electronic barcode transmitted to their mobile phone, industry experts predict. [via Computing]

"Airlines including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are considering mobile technology as an alternative to traditional magnetic strip-based boarding passes."