BUDGET airline easyJet today launched online check-in and a 15-minute gate arrival time for passengers travelling only with hand baggage.
The internet check-in service is available from all routes from London's Gatwick and Stansted airports and Edinburgh.
It will be rolled out to customers across Europe and should be available to 90% of passengers by April, easyJet said.
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Travellers will still face the same security checks, the firm said.
Passengers who have checked in online will be able to arrive at the boarding gate 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time.
Online check-in is available with many major airlines including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
Andy Harrison, easyJet chief executive, said: "With online check-in and Europe's most generous hand-baggage allowance it is no surprise that business passengers keep flocking to us."
The news comes a day after the airline conceded that higher fuel costs and the timing of Easter were likely to drive it sharply into the red at the half-year stage.
EasyJet braced investors for pre-tax losses of £45 million for the six months to March 31 - double the £22 million deficit that it recorded at the same stage last year.
But the carrier insisted that the anticipated losses did not mean that its full-year forecasts had changed, pointing out that it was winning the battle to strip costs out of the business.
In December, easyJet said it was spending another £505 million on 20 new Airbus A319s for its fleet and these planes will come into service in 2008 and 2009.
