British Airways says technology is critical to its plans to increase productivity by 35 per cent and cut costs by £450m over the next two years.

The airline wants travellers to be able to do as much as possible before they arrive at the airport, says BA chief information officer Paul Coby.

‘Passing through an airport is a hassle so one of the key things is to ensure the passenger arrives ready to fly,’ he said.

So far, 10 per cent of BA’s passengers book flights and check in using the BA.com web site, and six per cent use the online boarding pass service.

When BA moves to its new headquarters at Heathrow Terminal Five (T5) in 2008, it wants 80 per cent of customers to check in online or use self-service kiosks, and 95 per cent to use etickets.

The firm also plans to relaunch BA.com with improved navigation and extra services such as more advanced seat booking facilities and excess baggage registration services. The site will also offer integrated hotel, car hire and excursion bookings.

‘We can already book hotels and car hire, but we can’t yet bundle that together with the flight,’ said Coby. ‘We are looking at developing a package for customers who want the whole combination.’

Meeting the business plan’s targets will mean improving productivity without increasing IT investment levels.

‘We will have to deliver more in parallel, and deliver projects and produce benefits 20 per cent faster,’ said Coby.

BA.com and a web-based staff portal have already helped cut £134m from the airline’s costs (Computing, 18 May 05).

BA re-engineered its IT to create a common platform so the code used for seat selection, for example, is the same whether it is accessed by a passenger online, through a kiosk, or by BA staff.

‘Our vision is a truly web-enabled, componentised, common platform that enables all the different products to be presented to customers where and when they want them,’ said Coby.