Over 1.5 billion boarding passes will be delivered via mobile by 2019 compared to approximately 745 million boarding passes estimated to be delivered this year, according to new research from Juniper. This means that mobile boarding passes will represent one in three boarding passes issued by airlines at the end of 2019.

The report notes that mobile boarding passes are increasingly used by frequent flyers, but less used by leisure passengers who are less likely to be familiar with the technology. According to SITA, the airline IT specialist, 53 percent of airlines have already implemented mobile boarding passes via apps, a figure that is expected to rise to 91 percent by 2017.

The new report, "Mobile & Online Ticketing: Transport, Events & NFC 2015–2019," found that the majority of airlines have implemented boarding passes via apps, and the industry is witnessing rapid adoption in markets such as the U.S., Far East and Europe. Some of the early adopting airlines are recording double-digit growth for boarding passes delivered via mobile.

However, the success of mobile barcode boarding pass adoption has meant that the transition to NFC will be delayed.

"The ultimate position that NFC can reach in the airline industry is 'the extinction of the boarding pass' whereby boarding pass, baggage tickets and identity information can be stored on the phone and simply accessed using NFC readers," Nitin Bhas, Juniper research author, said in a statement. "However, this transition will not only be delayed by the success of barcode, but there is the need to gain agreement and investment from airlines and airports around the world."

Other key findings in the report include: 

• The metro/bus sector will dominate mobile ticketing transaction volumes, due to the relative frequency of consumer purchase. 
• Metro/bus NFC-ticketing is expected to gain traction in the medium term in critical markets such as Europe and Asia as gating infrastructure is upgraded.