Mobile phones could also become “personal travel folders”, says SITA, holding a passenger’s boarding passes, baggage tracking information and payment data and maybe even visa and biometric information.

It’ll be interesting to see how the airline industry balances privacy and convenience in the next few years. It’s easy to see passengers embracing mobile ticketing, even the tracking scenarios, but storing biometric data on their phone? I’m not so sure. After all, people have railed against such details being stored on passports and by the government, I’m not convinced they’d be willing to put such details in the hands of a commercial organisation for a few seconds shaved off check-in.