New Apple Watch Friendly Terminals Make Airline Travel Less Stressful

Wearable technology has made it much easier for consumers to integrate new technology into their lives in a non-obtrusive way. Furthermore, wearable technology has brought about new features and applications that were not possible before.

Case in point is the Apple Watch. Beyond the time-telling capabilities, the device also operates as a fitness tracker, notification center, and in small capacities, a game console. But did you know that you can also use it for your boarding pass, too?

At the release of the Apple Watch, multiple airline companies already had apps in place. These included popular names like American Airlines, JetBlue, Delta, Air France, British Airways, EasyJet, and more. Their apps utilized the device’s easily accessible notifications to bring users information like gate changes, flight times, flight reservations, and more. Truly, the Apple Watch has made traveling easier…except for one small inconvenience. A majority of Apple Watch users have a hard time fitting or positioning their wrists so that scanners can read their boarding passes.

While this may seem like a minor inconvenience to most, it is certainly a roadblock that hasn’t been tackled…until now. British Airways has decided to start implementing new “Scan & Go” devices in Terminals 3 and 5 at London’s Heathrow Airport. The new scanners are wrist-friendly, and will allow for a smoother check-in process.

Previously, many customers who were using their devices for boarding passes had to remove the Apple Watch in order for the older scanners to accurately read their passes. But starting December 15th, passengers will be able to take advantage of the new scanners.

“When we saw the dramatic rise in the number of people using the app on their Apple Watches, we knew we needed to create new features in the terminal which would make the experience even better for them,” said Kevin McQuillan to Fortune. McQuillan is in charge of the British Airways website and mobile app, which includes the Apple Watch app. Their Apple Watch app saw an insane increase in use over the past four months, up an astounding 386%.

No word yet as to whether other big name airline companies will start adopting such measures. However, doing so would be advantageous in a market that is dominated by passengers who rely heavily upon technology to make their travels easier.