Bar-Coded Boarding Passes (BCBP) Implementation guide - IATA

5. KEY BCBP COMPONENTS
The purpose of this section is to outline the key components underlying the airline’s BCBP
project. This section describes the technical elements of the implementation of BCBP. The key
technical issues concern 2D bar code, web site, printers, readers and systems. This publication
does not address technical details, as this is left to each carrier and its vendors, and is intended
to provide a working basis so that technical and non-technical persons can work together on the
project.
5.1. 2D bar codes
The IATA standard 2D bar code replaces the magnetic stripe standard and provides an
alternative to non-standard bar codes. The section below describes the bar code symbology and
the content of the bar code.
5.1.1. Bar codes history at a glance
Date Description Examples
1970’s
1990’s
2000’s
The first bar code readers were installed in
supermarkets in the 1970’s. Retail packaging
contain one dimensional (1D) bar codes
defined by either Universal Product Codes
(UPC) or European Article Numbering (EAN).
Other 1D bar code symbologies include the
Code 2-of-5 used on bagage tags as defined
in the IATA Resolution 740.
The first two dimensional (2D) code, known
as Code 49, was invented in 1987. PDF417,
the 2D code selected by IATA in the BCBP
standard, was invented in 1991 and is in the
public domain, meaning that there is no fee
associated with the printing and the reading of
the code.
The latest generation of 2D codes, known as
matrix codes, are square rather than
rectangular like the 1D bar codes or earlier
2D stacked codes. The Aztec code (1995),
Datamatrix and QR code (1994) are used by
airlines and in the public domain. Those
codes fit nicely on the screen of mobile
phones.
1D bar code
Stacked 2D code
2D Matrix code
Figure 18 - Key dates in the evolution of bar codes
Original bar codes scanners were laser scanners and could read 1D bar codes. Scanners with a
moving beam enabled the use of stacked 2D codes, like PDF417. The latest Charge Coupled
Device (CCD) scanners are image sensors that can read 2D matrix codes, as well as the 1D bar
4 th edition - June 2009 - www.iata.org/stb/bcbp 33/128