British Airways will be trialling new intelligent queuing technology from Qmatic, that will enable customers to virtually queue at check-in by pre-booking their slot time in advance of arriving at the airport. Hopefully, if you are flying in First or a Gold Card Holder it would not be an issue, but with travel ramping up, flying other classes could see some longer queues at peak times.
The technology, that is optional for customers, will be trialled by British Airways for three months on selected flights departing from Heathrow Terminal 5. Customers will be sent an email before travel inviting them to book their personal check-in time.
When it is time for a customer to check-in, the Qmatic system will notify them that it is their turn, allowing them to then simply go to the dedicated desk and the airline’s customer service team will be able to assist. Customers who have not booked a check-in slot through Qmatic, can proceed as normal, or have the option to join a virtual queue when they arrive at the airport by scanning a QR code.
British Airways will be the first airline to trial Qmatic, which is currently used extensively in public sector, retail, healthcare and financial organisations around the world, including BP Service Stations, the Tate Modern and the Post Office in the UK, to help manage the flow of customers.
Declan Pollard, British Airways’ Head of Heathrow Customer Experience, said “In this new Covid-19 era we know that customers have been travelling less frequently than they normally would, and in most cases not at all. We understand many people will feel unfamiliar with the airport journey, so we are committed to exploring how technology can simplify that experience for them.
This technology means that our customers can plan their departure knowing that they have a personalised check-in time. We think this technology, coupled with digital travel apps, will help efficiently manage the flow of customers in the airport at any one time and give our customers reassurance.”
Elsewhere, British Airways is also trialling digital travel apps to ensure customers meet the entry requirements for their destination before arriving at the airport. The airline’s customers can currently use VeriFLY on all flights to the US, Canada and France as well as on all inbound flights and the airline has been assisting in the development of IATA’s travel pass. British Airways’ customers also travelling to Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, can now also upload their negative Covid-19 test result and other documentation directly into ba.com for verification before travel.
British Airways will continue to explore how it integrates other technologies, such as VeriFLY, into its systems to further streamline the customer experience.
I will be trying VeriFLY and hopefully the upload of test information next week when I fly. If I get a chance to try the virtual queue I will also do that and report back.
4 comments
Hi Michelle – I was wondering which supplier you have gone to for the return test before departure whilst abroad. I am about to book for Malta in the hope it’s going to go green next month. I don’t know whether it is better to go with Qured which is supervised, or Medicspot where you take a photo and send it in. I’ve never had a covid test so am nervous about doing it wrong and being stuck abroad.
I have booked the BA Qured one. I wouldn’t worry about it at all. If you do it wrong it’s most likely that it would give a negative result, you certainly wouldn’t get a positive from doing it wrong. They are pretty simple. I have purchased two so I will take both with me in case there’s an issue with one test. Then if it’s all OK I can just use it for the next time.
Hi Michele, is it safe to assume the BA implementation of the Qmatic app/system has no impact on online check-ins and bag drops? Thanks, John.
Yes it should not affect that. To be honest I think it’s going to be fairly quiet anyway given the tiny number of extra destinations on the green list!
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