Passengers may not need to manually check in for their flights in future, following the development of a new tool by Lufthansa.

The European carrier’s “Innovation Hub” has launched AirlineCheckins.com, a new online system that automatically checks-in travellers for flights with more than 100 airlines.

The Lufthansa Innovation Hub tested the service last year on a small scale trial basis. Based on the findings of this trial, AirlineCheckins.com has now been improved and, effective this week, made available to passengers.

“Checking into a flight 24 hours in advance while packing, wrapping up work, planning your itinerary and more adds another level of stress to the air travel experience, particularly for those who travel often such as business travellers or families with multiple passengers,” said Holger Schneider, managing director of the Lufthansa Innovation Hub. “With the availability of AirlineCheckins.com, our aim is to eliminate this hurdle, making travel a bit more pleasant.”

Travellers can now register at AirlineCheckins.com and store their seating preferences, frequent flyer information and other details in their customer profile. They will then be automatically checked-in for all flights which are booked using their registered email address, and will automatically receive their boarding pass by email or SMS.

In the initial test phase, Lufthansa said that AirlineCheckins.com was used by 5,000 travellers from 60 countries. And in future, the tool could be expanded to include several other services such as car rental, hotels and activities.

“We consider AirlineCheckins.com as a starting point for a platform for travel-related services,” said Gleb Tritus, director of venture development for the Lufthansa Innovation Hub. “Online check-in for an airline is a strategically important customer touchpoint in the travel chain. Customised offers for activities at the destination or for the airport transfer could follow from this.”

Registration with AirlineCheckins.com is currently free-of-charge for travellers.