One of the recent developments in Greece was the takeover of Olympic Air by the Marfin Investment Group (MIG), which took place a few months back. This came to end a long period during which the Olympic Airlines had slowly built up a huge debt, as a public sector company, and the Government decided to privatise the company, in an attempt to 'save it'.

Regardless of your view and mine on the privatisation of public sector businesses (this was a major issue of debate back then here in Greece and you are welcome to discuss it further if you wish in the comments below), the move has certainly brought in some positive developments -- at least from a mobile marketing point of view.

Olympic Air has recently announced it is now offering interactive mobile services, such as mobile check-in and live departure information.

Here's the information directly from the Olympic Air website:

Olympic Air gives you the option to check-in by means of any mobile device connected to the internet. You can now easily and quickly check-in during meeting breaks, at your hotel or even on the way to the airport.

Passengers can select their, receive their boarding card via SMS or email and enjoy the journey with one of the youngest fleets in Europe.

Using the 2D barcode technology, the passenger can store the link to the boarding pass in his incoming messages (SMS) or email as well as all the relevant flight information and he no longer needs to use a printer.

The service is available 23 hours to 1 hour before departure and only for Athens airport. The boarding passes via mobile phone are recognized at controls and when boarding the plane (currently supported only by Athens international airport)

MOBILE CHECK-IN Advantages

• Check-in on the way to the airport yourself
• Select your seat
• The boarding card is stored in the incoming messages (SMS) or your email
  

Admittedly, neither of these is cutting edge stuff, nor is this the first time these type of services has been offered by an airline / airport. I've posted a number of articles before (see below) about such services, because the sector is very open to mobile marketing approaches, and there is great value for travelers in the services offered.

Still, it is great to be finally seeing this here in Greece too! I am confident if Olympic Air make sure their service works the greek public will soon adopt and encourage such initiatives. (For example, we are not best known for our patience as a people, so WHY NOT!? save ourselves the hassle of queueing up for check-in and doing it on our mobile phones..)

If you are interested for further reading, you can also check out these past posts on mobile marketing in airports, from a number of airlines around the world: