Orange France, RIM and SITA will run an NFC trial this summer at Toulouse-Blagnac airport. In a worldwide first for an airport, 50 frequent flyers will pass seamlessly through the airport using just their mobile phones with a SIM card-based safety protocol. The participants will be equipped with BlackBerry NFC smartphones to act as a security pass, pay for parking and goods or receive information about departure gates, flight changes and other relevant information. They will even receive flight information on route to the airport in real-time. The advantages of NFC technology and services based on the AFSCM and GSMA standards include the fact that it works even when the mobile is switched off, its strong security and no requirement to download apps. The system is expected to improve the flow of passengers through airports. If the trial is successful, some of the functionalities used in the trial will be used in new smartphone apps to be released next year and in 2014.
