It seems that Russia will soon be able to completely abandon paper air tickets. Order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation No. 7 of January 14, 2021 came into force, simplifying the rules for boarding a plane with an electronic ticket and making life much easier for air travelers. Passengers have been waiting for a decision for a long time, airlines and carriers have been preparing for it, because such a system has been operating in Europe for a long time.
What changed
The order amended the general rules for air transportation in the part related to the use of electronic tickets. Now - from February 24 - airports are obliged to let passengers into the sterile zone using boarding passes submitted in electronic form, without the previously required printout.
Clause 84 of the rules in the new edition establishes: when online check-in for a flight on the carrier's website, the boarding pass is issued electronically and sent to the mobile phone number specified by the passenger when booking.
In this case, the passenger's right to print or receive a paper coupon directly at the airport remains. It is also noted that the service is available if there is a pre-flight inspection accounting system at the airport: it includes an electronic database and scanning devices. Airlines and airlines are obliged to inform the passenger about this possibility, including through their own websites.
Experts assess the new system positively, noting that it was necessary to get rid of paper tickets for a long time and there is more than enough personal information in an electronic ticket to identify a passenger. The registration procedure, flow control will be simplified, the procedure for boarding the plane will be accelerated.
On the other hand, the baggage drop-off algorithm has not yet been worked out according to the new scheme: in automatic mode without the presence of an airport employee.
Are the airports ready
The press services of the Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo airports have already announced their full technical readiness for the new requirements. All boarding gates are equipped with turnstiles that automatically read 2D barcodes and QR codes from any medium, but the date of the practical launch of the service has not yet been determined.
A Vnukovo spokesman said the airport plans to start using electronic boarding passes this year. According to information from Ufa, the possibility of boarding with an electronic ticket has been implemented since the end of last year, and about 1200 people have already used the service. Sochi is also ready to launch the service.
In most other airports in the country, the corresponding systems are still under development:
- In the Kaliningrad Khrabrovo they said that they are working on the possibility of introducing the service.
- In St. Petersburg Pulkovo, the prospect is still being studied, but the service is not yet available.
- The press services of the airports of Volgograd and Simferopol also announced their unavailability.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Transport is confident that the corresponding systems will work in all major air harbors within the next few months.
Essential questions from air travelers
Since the rules for boarding a plane have changed at Russian airports, passengers cannot but be interested in issues related to the event. We have prepared answers to the most relevant ones.
- Could this innovation somehow affect the price?
As stated in Utair and Aeroflot, absolutely not. The service cost will remain the same. Moreover, some experts believe that the innovation will optimize the costs of airlines and airports by reducing the number of employees who check boarding passes.
- Can I use my electronic boarding pass to report my trip?
Unfortunately, this is not yet possible. The employer still requires a printed ticket, since the requirements for the report on travel expenses, defined in the letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. 03-07-11 / 63996 dated 09/07/18, have remained unchanged.
The SFS instructions do not allow considering electronic tickets for the carriage of passengers and baggage, as well as cargo by air, road, sea and river transport as settlement documents, since their forms have not yet been legally established.
Conclusion
Well, the passengers can be congratulated, because the hardest thing is to start. Considering that about half of all air travelers pass through the Moscow air hub, pleasant innovations will soon affect the majority of flying Russians.
If the process proceeds at the promised pace, it will soon be possible to forget about the queues at the check-in counters. Almost after booking and paying for tickets, the passenger will be sent to take a seat in the aircraft cabin.
