Today Continental Airlines announced that it would be bringing its mobile boarding pass option to the Heathrow Airport in London. The service provides a customer an easy way to board their flight without the use of paper boarding passes. While the green approach to saving paper is great and all,  for geeks like us, we’re just excited to have another reason to whip out our phones!

The technology used for the service — QR codes — has been around for a couple of years already, and Continental has been using them since it’s early days.  Today, QR code readers are found on certain mobile phones, like the iPhone and Android phones. Google added it’s own QR code reader into Android’s SDK back in 2007, and many applications utilize the technology. These QR codes can be turned into something of fun. Writing messages that only someone who has a barcode reader to receive, and even swapping contact information that way seems rather, well, fun. Now that Continental is pushing this technology for paperless tickets, one can see a true, beneficial way as to how this technology makes people’s lives easier.

Heathrow Airport in London is the 42nd airport to have the mobile boarding pass service. Martin Hand, Continental’s vice president of reservations and eCommerce had to say, “We are pleased to add Heathrow to the growing list of airports we serve with mobile boarding passes. Customers have told us this is the type of product improvement they want, and we will continue to expand the self-service technology to more of our domestic and international destinations.”  So hopefully we will start seeing mobile boarding passes being adopted by other airlines, and at a more rapid pace.

Boarding passes were not the only expansion announced today. Continental  also will begin to provide access to flight information through mobile devices. Passengers will be able to access the status of their flights, amenities available on the plane, and standby lists.

Press release after the break.

Continental Airlines Launches Mobile Boarding Passes at London’s Heathrow Airport

First carrier to offer paperless boarding passes on flights from U.K. to U.S.

HOUSTON, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today announced  the expansion of its mobile boarding pass service to London’s Heathrow Airport, becoming the first carrier to offer paperless boarding passes on nonstop flights from the United Kingdom to the U.S.

The service allows customers to receive boarding passes electronically on their cell phones or PDAs and eliminates the need for paper boarding passes.

“We are pleased to add Heathrow to the growing list of airports we serve with mobile boarding passes,” said Martin Hand, Continental’s vice president of reservations and eCommerce.  ”Customers have told us this is the type of product improvement they want, and we will continue to expand the self-service technology to more of our domestic and international destinations.”

Mobile boarding passes display a two-dimensional bar code along with passenger and flight information, which scanners at the security checkpoint and boarding gate validate. The technology prevents manipulation or duplication of the boarding passes and heightens security.

In addition to boarding passes, Continental provides access to enhanced flight information through mobile devices.  Customers may view onboard amenities and standby lists, as well as track the status of their flights.

Continental was the first carrier to offer paperless boarding passes in the U.S. in a pilot program with the Transportation Security Administration that began in December 2007.  The airline currently offers mobile boarding passes at 42 airports, including its hubs in New York, Houston and Cleveland.  Continental was the first U.S. carrier to offer mobile boarding passes from an international destination when it launched the service at Frankfurt Airport late last year.

Continental operates five flights per day to Heathrow – three from its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and two from Houston.  The airline announced recently that it will add a fourth daily service to the New York - Heathrowroute in March and a fifth daily service in October, bringing the total number of Continental daily departures to Heathrow to seven.  Continental also announced that effective June 2, 2010, all aircraft scheduled for its Heathrow flights will feature new, flat bed seats in BusinessFirst.

Continental Airlines is the world’s fifth largest airline.  Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 2,500 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 133 domestic and 135 international destinations.   Continental is a member of Star Alliance, which overall offers 19,700 daily flights to 1,077 airports in 175 countries through its 26 member airlines.  With more than 41,000 employees, Continental has hubs servingNew York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with its regional partners, carries approximately 63 million passengers per year.

Continental consistently earns awards and critical acclaim for both its operation and its corporate culture.  For the sixth consecutive year, FORTUNE magazine named Continental the   No. 1 World’s Most Admired Airline on its 2009 list of World’s Most Admired Companies. For more company information, go to continental.com.

SOURCE Continental Airlines