Russia allows carriers to use electronic boarding passes

Russian airlines will be permitted to issue electronic boarding passes now that a Ministry of Transport decree has come into force, the authority said Feb. 19.

The decree was enacted in September 2017, but the Ministry of Justice did not register the document and returned it for further evaluation. As a result, carriers can now send passengers a barcode that can be used with smartphones and tablets to board aircraft. Previously, passengers had to have paper boarding passes.

Utair Aviation said Ufa International Airport has already installed barcode scanners and passengers were able to use them as of Feb. 21.