American Airlines has become the first airline to offer passport chip scanning that securely transmits passport information directly from the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip embedded in the passport.

This allows customers to head directly to the gate for international flights without having their passports rechecked by a customer service agent.

“We are continuously adding features to our app to make travel easier and worry-free for our customers,” said American’s Chief Information Officer, Maya Leibman.

“Mobile passport scanning removes a time-consuming step, providing our customers with a smoother check-in experience for international flights.”

Currently, customers departing on international flights who check in on the app, have their passports rechecked at the airport. This step is required even if the customer has uploaded a photo of their passport via the mobile app.

With this new enhancement, the customer will be prompted to enter their passport information and then scan their passport with an iOS or Android device.

Mobile passport scanning is the latest in a long line of new customer features American has implemented to the airline’s app to make travel easier for customers.

Other recent introductions include boarding notifications, Siri shortcuts and a dark mode option. American has also rolled out additional services to improve the travel experiences, including biometric international boarding, virtual 3D aircraft tours online, a redesigned self-service kiosk menu that simplifies the check-in process and an improved family seating approach, which ensures adults and kids under 14, when traveling together on the same reservation, are seated together.