Qantas Airways and Jetstar, which are part of Australia's Qantas Group, will abolish paper boarding passes and safety manuals, and use electronic versions to reduce the pollution caused by waste papers to the marine and ecological environment.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said that the group's airlines will also reduce the use of disposable plastic products such as cutlery, cups, and headphones, and replace them with environmentally-friendly recyclable materials. Joyce plans to achieve this target by 2021.

The group also plans to reduce consumption of fuel, water and electricity, and reduce aviation power consumption by nearly 40 percent by 2020. Such measures will benefit the company's long-term interests and protect the global ecological environment. 

In China, it is expected that by the year 2020, electrical boarding passes in the country will achieve 100 percent coverage. Presently, the use of electronic boarding passes is increasing, and has saved significantly on costs for the aviation industry. During the next three years in the Chinese market, electronic boarding passes will save an average of 2.61 billion yuan per year, and a total of 7.83 billion yuan within three years.

It is no surprise that technology and its product, electrical boarding passes, are trending rapidly in China. From a global perspective, 74 percent of consumers have used electronic boarding passes over the past year. In the next five years, electronic boarding passes will save an average of 10.19 billion U.S. dollars per year, saving a total of about 51 billion U.S. dollars for the next five years.

China Southern Airline offers e-ticket service for direct flights taking off from Beijiing, Shenyang, Guangzhou, and Wuhan. Travelers in Beijing and Shenyang still need to print paper tickets after receiving the online boarding passes, while at the other two, an e-ticket is enough to go through security check and board. 

Yunnan Shangri-La Airport even installed AI facial recognition technology, saving time for travelers. 

Conventional boarding and security check methods take time, but still has the advantage of low error. But the whole world is embracing technology at airports to get us faster en route. 

(With input from Xinhua News Agency)