The Norwegian shipping company Hurtigruten Group is planning to offer its passengers online check-in. The system was
introduced on one of the shipping company’s routes in February to speed up passenger processing at the port. The checking
in is done via the reservation system BOOKIT, provided by Hogia Ferry
Systems.

Previously, Hurtigruten Group passengers have been able to reserve and
pay for their tickets over the Internet. Now they will also be able to
check in online.

“The way it works is that customers print out their own boarding card
with a bar-code from the internet. This card is then read off and
registered as they go onboard the ship. So passengers do not have to go
to a special check-in before they can board,” says Sales Manager John
Bertell at Hogia.

The system was designed as a supplement to the reservation system BOOKIT
after Hogia’s customer Hurtigruten Group said that they wanted tighter
control over who boarded the ship. At the same time, the shipping
company is also introducing BOOKIT Embarkation so as to be able to read
off the boarding cards.

“This makes it easier to register passengers without increasing the
workload of port staff,” says Operations Specialist Lars Petter Sundbakk
at Hurtigruten Group.

Since a couple of years back, some airlines have offered online check-in
but Hurtigruten Group will be the first shipping company to introduce a
similar system.
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