Lufthansa begins biometric boarding at LAX
Expected to expand to all U.S. airport departures
Finnair starts off airport baggage check-in trial at Kittilä
Trial runs for 3 weeks ending on 24 March
Marseilles Provence Airport introduces self bag drop
2 units now in use by Air Corsica, 6 more on the way
Gold Coast Airport to introduce passenger tracking
Ceiling mounted sensors will count and track passengers anonymously
Saudia now allows check-in 48 hours in advance
Online check-in available up to 48hrs before departure for bookings made through SAUDIA’s electronic channels
Kansai Airport to trial KATE the roaming self check-in kiosk
2 robotic kiosks on trial in Terminal 1 between 05 and 28 February
Lufthansa adds auto check-in for flights within Schengen
The service is now available for all flights within the Schengen area
Hamburg Airport launches new self bag drop kiosks
Kiosks currently used by Air France, KLM and easyJet
Lufthansa makes SmartDepart permanent from Munich Terminal 2
Follows successful trial that started in July 2017
Soekarno–Hatta trials self bag drop
Passengers of Batik Air and Citilink can use the new service
S7 Airlines uses staff to make flight check-in quicker
S& staff uses mobile devices to check-in staff
easyJet passengers can now book a pet sitter along with their flight
easyJet survey shows most pet owners would travel more if they had better pet care
Air New Zealand to trial translation technology
Google technology could allow passenger service staff to receive live translation of 40 languages
British Airways trials biometric boarding at Los Angeles
Biometric eGates from Vision-box use facial recognition for simpler boarding
KLM adds its service bot to Google Home
Service can help passengers pack smarter for trips
Singapore Airlines launches chatbot to help passengers with pre-flight queries
Kris the bot is reached through Facebook Messenger
Gulf Air launches Bahrain tourist visa service
Passengers can apply for a visa at gulfair.com or at Gulf Air offices
Off airport check-in at Sydney convention centre
Passengers check-in and drop off their luggage at an the convention centre
Finnair starts flight ticket sales directly via WeChat Pay in China
Passengers can use WeChat Pay for tickets sold through Finnair's official WeChat account
Air Canada uses Virtual Reality to showcase its Dreamliner
Passengers can fly, dine and play virtually on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner