Wearable boarding pass now available for smartwatch owners

The concept of electronic airline tickets isn't new, but one airline will soon offer hands free boarding without having to dig for your smartphone.

A new app collaboration from Spain’s Iberia airlines and Samsung allows passengers to store their boarding pass information in wearable devices, including the Samsung Gear 2 and Gear Neosmart smart watches.

Passengers just tap their wrist on the scanner when going through security or before boarding the aircraft.

“At iberia.com we are constantly incorporating new services and technologies. We believe that this innovative boarding pass will be very well-received by our customers,” said Miguel Ángel Henales, Iberia’s director of Digital Business, in a press release.

The application can be downloaded from the Samsung Galaxy apps store and can be used to send mobile boarding passes from a cell phone directly to the watch.

The idea behind the app is to provide a more seamless travel experience for guests as well as airline personnel. The app will also alert passengers to flight status updates including delays and gate changes.

Other airlines have been playing around with wearable technology. Virgin Atlantic rolled out a Google Glass and Sony smart watch experiment at London’s Heathrow Airport to help crew better assist guests. Vueling, a low cost Spanish carrier, partnered with Sony to create a different smartwatch-based boarding pass.