Airlines are starting to adapt even more Apple technology. Apple is expected to reveal the new iPhone 5 with iOS 6 at an announcement event on Sept. 12. Airlines will start to adapt iOS 6's new feature, Passbook as passengers can use it as their boarding pass for flights.
Delta Airlines, American Airlines and Virgin Australia will all accept boarding passes through the Passbook feature. Passbook will be on the new Apple products when iOS 6 is available starting September 19. Passbook allows users to store boarding passes, store coupons, movie tickets and loyalty cards all in one place. The app send notifications to a user depending on their location. So when a traveler gets to their airport, their boarding pass notification will be sent right to the lock screen of their iPhone.
When travelers arrive at the gate, they will be able to scan their boarding pass on the Passbook feature of the iPhone as if they're scanning a printed boarding pass.
Virgin Australia is just the latest airlines to confirm that they will be accepting Passbook boarding passes. This week the airline tweeted "The rumors are true, we'll be supporting Passbook for iPhone."
This tweet comes after an article on travel website Skift revealed that Delta Airlines and American Airlines will use Passbook.
"A spokesperson for American Airlines reveals it will be 'rolling out an app update in the coming weeks in support of Passbook. In the meantime, customers can still access their mobile boarding passes in the current version of American's mobile app," Skift reported. "And, Delta is known to be actively working on supporting Passbook's functionality for mobile boarding passes, although the airline wouldn't talk about it publicly."
Apple revealed the new iPhone 5 and iOS 6 at their event onWednesday, Sept. 12. In addition to Passbook, the new operating system will have new features such as new maps, new language for Siri and more. The new iPhone with iOS 6 will be available to purchase on September 21.
Some airports allow travelers to scan QR codes already and the Eurostar network, which connects London with Paris, Lille and Brussels, also has a movile boarding pass options for train travelers.
Apple's new Passbook option will make it even easier to board flights. Since the boarding pass notification is sent to the user once they get to the airport they don't have to go searching through emails. If there are gate or flight time changes, users are also notified of these through the feature.
