Qantas has announced it will be hauling out a range of dated check-in kiosks and replacing them with streamlined electronic terminals with the ability to check in passengers and print bag tags in just seconds.

The new technology couldn’t come at a better time for the airline – and for customers – given recent scenes at Sydney’s domestic airport when passengers were met with chaos as staff shortages created kilometre-long lines.

At Easter, passengers waited up to two hours to get through security lines and check-in queues also wrapped around the foyer and out the door with passenger levels close to 90 per cent pre-pandemic.

Speaking to news.com.au, Qantas product and service executive manager Phil Capps said customers were demanding less touch points and for the focus to be on a digital, more streamlined experience.

“It’s about four times faster (than the old kiosk),” he explained.

“Before, you had to put in your reference number, surname, destination … a lot of questions until you actually got to your booking.

“We wanted to bypass all of that given most of our customers now check-in online (on their device).”

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Mr Capps said 240 kiosks will roll out inside Sydney’s Domestic Terminal by September before moving to other ports around the country. And while providing as a convenience to consumers — it will also play a big impact on the environment.

“Before Covid, we were printing about 24 million boarding passes a year, and they can’t be recycled,” he explained.

“That’s for two reasons. One, they have the magnetic strip on them and secondly, they have customer information on them.

“So this a good way we can do our bit for sustainability but also give customers all of the same functionality if not better, as it’s one less thing to take through security.”

Given more than three quarters of Qantas customers already check-in online or use digital boarding passes on their smartphone, the expectation is that the new kiosks will primarily be used for printing bag tags – and take less than 20 seconds to do so.

“Responding to the natural migration to mobile first. Customers want everything in their pocket,” Mr Capps said.

“We wanted to make all the things you traditionally queue for are in your phone, so it’s like a travel companion.

“This is us responding to the shift of making life faster, easier, smoother, and everything from one device.”

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While Qantas encourages passengers to check in on their smartphone prior to arrival, those who are unable to will be able to use QR codes on the kiosks to quickly check-in online and receive a digital boarding pass.

Otherwise, customers will still have the option to be checked in by a customer service agent if needed.

How the new Qantas Kiosk works

1. Check-in online on your smartphone or device

2. Use new kiosk to print bag tag

3. Drop luggage at auto-bag drop with printed tag attached

4. Use digital boarding pass on device for flight

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This article originally appeared on news.com.au. It has been reproduced here with permission.