Siemens and Aeritas Team to Develop Lufthansa's m-Barq® Service Allowing Business Travelers to Bypass Lines At Ticket Counters and Kiosks, and Check Into a Flight Utilizing Barcode Technology

Siemens Business Services (SBS), Division Transportation, and Aeritas, a leading mobile commerce company, have teamed together to provide a new technology for seamless travel to German airline Lufthansa. The mobile check-in and boarding project called m-Barq® expands the mobile check-in services via the Internet or wireless application protocol (WAP) enabled mobile phone launched by Lufthansa last November and enables passengers to bypass the check-in counter or kiosk and speedily board their flight.

m-Barq® allows frequent travelers holding etix®, an electronic ticket, to check-in and receive an electronic, barcode-based boarding pass on the display of their WAP-enabled mobile phone. The barcode will then be verified via scanners at security and boarding control points prior to boarding the flight.

``We are excited to be the first carrier to provide this innovative technology to its customers,'' said Michael Harwerth, m-Barq® Project Manager. ``Teaming with Siemens Business Services and Aeritas to provide a wireless barcode check-in allows Lufthansa to enhance its pre-boarding customer service and ensures a speedy departure process for our customers.''

Siemens Business Services is key to the successful rollout of Lufthansa's m-Barq® service. Siemens assisted Lufthansa in identifying the technology required for this innovative offering and plays a crucial role in the implementation and deployment of Lufthansa' s m-Barq® service. ``We strive to provide technology that allows our customers to differentiate their services and reduce costs,'' said Peter Marburger, director business development, SBS, Division Transportation (Germany).

Lufthansa's m-Barq® offering is deployed utilizing the Aeritas Mobile Platform and the Aeritas Express(TM) for Travel application. The Aeritas Mobile Platform provides the underlying technology by utilizing its patent-pending fulfillment function that allows barcodes to be transmitted over a wide variety of networks and devices. ``The main tenet for our technology is that it must solve real problems today and provide enormous value that will drive immediate adoption,'' said Malik Mamdani, CEO of Aeritas. ``We are pleased to partner with these two dynamic market leaders to deploy Aeritas' technology.''

The trial service will be rolled out by the end of the year to Lufthansa's Frequent Travellers on route within Germany. Upon the successful implementation, Lufthansa will expand m-Barq® to other routes.