Although she almost generated about 12,000 new followers, which is quite a good growth, Lufthansa loses place 18 in Twitter-ranking and falls back on 20th place behind Malaysia Airlines and Iberia. The Twitter-account of those both airlines rise by about 7,000 followers and so they are placed just ahead of Lufthansa.

Despite good numbers especially the US-airlines are under pressure. AirAsia continues its expansion and is approaching to American Airlines on third place up to 1,000 Followers. Brazilian TAM Airlines overtook Delta Air Lines and has conquered place 7.

The greatest gains are exactly identical to those of February: The highest accession in March with about 27,000 new followers is on the account of AirAsia. She is followed by Southwest Airlines with about 23,000 new followers and Turkish Airlines with nearly 21,000 new followers.

Since the last ranking, as a special service we provide you the airlines’ facebook-fans in our monthly list. The number of facebook-fans also increases very much. The leader can be seen quickly with a click on the head of the facebook column.

Enjoy reading the Top 20 and our blog!

Rank	Airline	Follower on Twitter	Difference to last ranking	Last ranking	Fans on Facebook	Country	Continent
1	JetBlue Airways	1,672,130	+ 2,336	1	583,914	USA	North America
2	Southwest Airlines	1,283,350	+ 23,305	2	2,159,440	USA	North America
3	American Airlines	349,825	+ 17,174	3	275,627	USA	North America
4	AirAsia	348,406	+ 27,434	4	1,449,512	Malaysia	Asia
5	Virgin America	317,225	+ 10,207	5	200,750	USA	North America
6	Philippine Airlines	317,214	+ 17,452	6	412,277	Philippines	Asia
7	TAM Airlines	312,503	+ 15,017	8	125,214	Brazil	South America
8	Delta Air Lines	310,575	+ 14,552	7	303,336	USA	North America
9	KLM	237,073	+ 9,829	9	1,343,555	Netherlands	Europe
10	British Airways	209,881	+ 6,957	10	310,254	United Kingdom	Europe
11	US Airways	202,541	+ 5,382	11	32,532	USA	North America
12	United Continental Airlines	184,624	- 2,515	12	341,151	USA	North America
13	Volaris	178,841	+ 15,842	13	307,020	Mexico	North America
14	Aeroméxico	157,760	+ 16,554	14	195,493	Mexico	North America
15	Turkish Airlines	158,422	+ 20,853	15	397,087	Turkey	Europe
16	WestJet	138,918	+ 9,217	16	222,745	USA	North America
17	GOL Linhas Aereas	120,373	+ 7,462	17	709,385	Brazil	South America
18	Malaysia Airlines	118,698	+ 7,455	19	494,962	Malaysia	Asia
19	Iberia	118,629	+ 7,675	20	178,766	Spain	Europe
20	Lufthansa (USA + Germany)	118,127	+ 12,930	18	936,794	Germany	Europe

• If you think your airline should be on this list, please contact us: info@aviationexperts.aero.

As always we do not take any responsibility of the correctness of the data. If an airline has more than one Twitter account we normally only count the followers of the one with the most followers.

05. April 2012

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To get an impression of the training just click on the below slideshow.

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This time we welcome the latest airline in our twitter ranking: Aeroméxico. The largest Mexican airline, which is also member of the Skyteam, is placed just behind its biggest competitor – Volaris, also from Mexico.

At the top, AirAsia from Malaysia continues its march on the road to success. Although her growth is not as large as within the last months, she has now overtaken Virgin America and is located directly behind American Airlines. The top three are now within reach. We remain tense to see if they can be defended by the us airlines.  Besides AirAsia, the largest increases in this month have Southwest Airlines and Turkish Airlines.

Maybe you’ve noticed something new: In addition to the twitter follower we will give you the numbers of the airlines facebook-fans from now on. This additional information afford a better picture of the entire reach and popularity of the airlines in social media.

Enjoy reading the Top 20 and our blog!

Rank	Airline	Follower on Twitter	Difference to last ranking	Last ranking	Fans on Facebook	Country	Continent
1	JetBlue Airways	1,669,794	+ 2,372	1	567,434	USA	North America
2	Southwest Airlines	1,260,045	+ 37,385	2	2,019,927	USA	North America
3	American Airlines	332,651	+ 13,142	3	259,356	USA	North America
4	AirAsia	320,972	+ 25,988	5	1,405,320	Malaysia	Asia
5	Virgin America	307,018	+ 11,081	4	190,768	USA	North America
6	Philippine Airlines	299,762	+ 11,522	6	389.088	Philippines	Asia
7	Delta Air Lines	297,486	+ 11,244	7	291,283	USA	North America
8	TAM Airlines	296,023	+ 12,278	8	100,436	Brazil	South America
9	KLM	227,244	+ 9,399	9	1,048,391	Netherlands	Europe
10	British Airways	202,924	+ 6,768	10	214,874	United Kingdom	Europe
11	US Airways	197,159	+ 5,498	11	30,228	USA	North America
12	United Continental Airlines	187,139	---	---	336,308	USA	North America
13	Volaris	162,999	+ 10,956	14	275.658	Mexico	North America
14	Aeroméxico	141,206	---	---	185.214	Mexico	North America
15	Turkish Airlines	137,569	+ 28,794	16	266.579	Turkey	Europe
16	WestJet	129,701	+ 7,291	17	197,815	USA	North America
17	GOL Linhas Aereas	112,911	+ 4,938	18	651.150	Brazil	South America
18	Lufthansa (USA + Germany)	111,243	---	---	782,154	Germany	Europe
19	Malaysia Airlines	110,954	+ 5,209	19	476.198	Malaysia	Asia
20	Iberia	105,197	+ 9,007	20	122.458	Spain	Europe

• If you think your airline should be on this list, please contact us: info@aviationexperts.aero.

As always we do not take any responsibility of the correctness of the data. If an airline has more than one Twitter account we normally only count the followers of the one with the most followers.

22. February 2012

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For some impressions of the ORAT in Donetzk have a look on the below slideshow.

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In preparation for the EURO2012 tournament, aviationexperts provides training to airport managers during a 5-day training program. The program covers such topics as airport management and operations, ORAT procedures, customer service and communications, to name only a few.

To get an impression of the training just click on the below slideshow.

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Let’s take a look: They are places of rest and relaxation away from the hustle and bustle in the terminal and offer passengers many ways, to reduce the waiting time for the flight the easy way. However, many of the passengers don’t know or don’t use that possibility. But in the future especially airport lounges will change. Already today, anyone without frequent flyer status or a thick wallet can use airport lounges. Various operators, such as “ChillOutLounge”, offer to access their own lounges for little money. There are also combination tickets, so you can use lounges at various airports. Compared to the lounges of major airlines, these lounges provide the same amenities like free W-Lan, food and beverage, newspaper and magazines, television news, a good airport view, etc.

In the future, also the airline lounges are getting more individual to differentiate themselves from each other and from external providers. For example, Swiss Airlines put about 10 tons of limestone from the Jura into its new lounge at Zurich Airport, to create a typical, local atmosphere. In addition, their 28.6 meters-bar is probably the longest airport bar in the World.

The future lounges’ equipment is much better than today, as with beds, showers, iPads to borrow and even offers limousine services, laundries, conference rooms or libraries. For instance, in 2010 Emirates invested more than € 60 million in their lounges. The airlines have noticed that it is important for passengers to feel comfortable at an airline or an airport lounge – especially at hubs – because satisfied customers will book again. As an aspect of customer loyalty, in an experiment Air China provides all its passengers free access to their new lounge at Beijing Airport for 3 hours.

The future lounge orientation will focus mainly on three passenger types: First, there are the rest-seeking passengers, who are recovering in the lounge while reading or watching television, secondly, the networker, who are using the lounge as a meeting room, and thirdly, the actively-working business travelers, who expect that the lounge is equipped with the latest technological standards and with some wireless Internet access.

Besides the three main directions, there will be lots of other new types of lounges, such as Welcome lounges, where arriving passengers can spend their waiting time for baggage or their relatives. Other lounges will be smoking lounges, party lounges, crew lounges, animal lounges, lounges for children, etc.

So, the lounge of the future will not only be for the rich and the famous, it will be individually. And what’s your favorite lounge of the future?

The ten best airport lounges in the world can be found here.

This week: Security check/Passport control

Does this sound familiar? You’ve already checked in at the airport and now looking for the quickest route to the gate. But there is still a barrier: Just arriving at the security checkpoint, you can line up once in a long queue. Sensed hours later you’re finally walking through the metal detector and it happens: It beeps. Whether it’s the belt you forgot to take off, you passed through the metal detector too fast or too slowly or the random generator caught you – it doesn’t make a difference. Now you’re viewed strictly while getting to know the hand scanner and someone rakes up your hand luggage. In worst case your flight is gone.

But the future is coming to rescue you: It seems that the body scanner will solve all these problems. The passenger steps into a kind of box and is completely scanned in seconds. In some countries, like the United States, Israel, Russia or Switzerland, such scanners are been used since several years. The benefits seem to outweigh: Control is fast, simple and without special action by the passenger.

A 10-month long practice test at Hamburg Airport in Germany wasn’t so positive. The most concerns at this test from 2010 and 2011 were mainly in the areas of privacy and health hazards. The real benefit seems to be obscure, because often items were displayed incorrectly and passengers had to be re-scanned with hand scanners. Compared to today’s methods even the scanning time is longer, making the time advantage to naught. Additionally the costs are associated with 120,000 € per unit and about 10 times as high as for ordinary metal detectors. On the other hand the passengers were mainly in agreement, about 88% of the feedback was positive.

So there’s no security check of the future? Then you don’t know the 2011 featured “IATA checkpoint of the future”. This is simply a tunnel with three courses, where the passengers will be scanned while only walking through it. The passenger’s use of the appropriate courses should be made by a risk group classification. The passenger is identified by his passport and assigned to a special risk group. Passengers with criminal records will have to use a separate course as passengers “with average risk” and be scanned more intense. Eventually there will be even a separate course for registered frequent flyers. But again there are concerns, especially in data protection and the risk group classification.

There is also news in the field of passport control. In the future, by entering or leaving a country, it will be possible to put the passport on a scanner by yourself, while looking into a camera. The machine compares the data with a computer of the police and checks ultimately whether person and passport fit together. In case of a wanted person silent alarm can be triggered. This model is already being successfully used at many airports such as Frankfurt, Prague or Bangkok.

Despite all these innovations you should be at the airport on time. Even at the airport of the future devices can fail. And then it’s time to line up in a queue again…

The low-cost airline AirAsia from Malaysia is catching up tremendously. About a year ago AirAsia was just under the end of top ten and now she’s close to the top three. If this trend continues, the future top will be no longer alone among the U.S. airlines. Despite high follower rates, also their further development is very well.

Since the last posting, twitter ranking has changed a lot. In the actual ranking, we summarized the followers of Lufthansa USA and Lufthansa Germany to get a better comparison. Don’t wonder of the large number differences concerning the airlines followers – we compare this ranking to the last one from May 2011. So you can see the further development and significance of Social Media.

Rank	Airline	Followers	Difference to last ranking	Last ranking	Country	Continent
1	JetBlue Airways	1,667,422	+ 42,720	1	USA	North America
2	Southwest Airlines	1,222,660	+ 100,835	2	USA	North America
3	American Airlines	319,509	+ 112,025	3	USA	North America
4	Virgin America	295,937	+ 88,868	4	USA	North America
5	AirAsia	294,984	+ 145,789	9	Malaysia	Asia
6	Philippine Airlines	288,240	+ 120,446	8	Philippines	Asia
7	Delta Air Lines	286,242	+ 102,485	7	USA	North America
8	TAM Airlines	283,745	+ 79,612	5	Brazil	South America
9	KLM	217,845	+ 88,515	11	Netherlands	Europe
10	British Airways	196,156	+ 72,857	13	UK	Europe
11	US Airways	191,661	+ 63,506	12	USA	North America
12	United Airlines	189,253	- 7,455	6	USA	North America
13	Lufthansa	185,272	---	---	Germany	Europe
14	Volaris	152.043	+ 98,525	18	Mexico	North America
15	Continental Airlines	141,992	- 4,460	10	USA	North America
16	Turkish Airlines	128,775	+ 79,706	20	Turkey	Europe
17	WestJet	122,410	+ 51,309	14	USA	North America
18	GOL Lineas Aéreos	107,973	+ 50,703	16	Brazil	South America
19	Malaysia Airlines	105,745	+ 46,947	15	Malaysia	Asia
20	Iberia	96,190	---	---	Spain	Europe

• If you think your airline should be on this list contact us: info@aviationexperts.aero.

As always we do not take any responsibility of the correctness of the data. If an airline has more than one Twitter account we normally only count the followers of the one with the most followers.

23. January 2012

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American Airlines, AirAsia and Volaris this week’s winner. Philippine Airlines continues enormous growth.

American Airlines continues the march to the top of the Airline Twitter ranking. After replacing TAM on the 4th rank two weeks ago AA also left Virgin America behind them and are now ranked 3rd.

With additional ~6.000 followers AirAsia replaced Continental on 9th place, but still ~18.000 followers behind the most successful Asian Twitter airline, Philippine Airline. Philippine Airlines again impressed with an enormous growth. With more than 10.000 followers they are aiming to replace Delta on rank 7 during the next weeks.

Volaris from Mexico left Air France behind them and are now ranked 18th only ~800 followers behind Lufthansa.

Rank	Airline	Followers	Difference to last ranking	# Last ranking	Country	Continent
1	JetBlue Airways	1624722	2631	1	USA	North America
2	Southwest Airlines	1121825	3977	2	USA	North America
3	American Airlines	207484	6619	4	USA	North America
4	Virgin America	207069	4429	3	USA	North America
5	TAM	204133	3758	5	Brazil	South America
6	United Airlines	196708	3564	6	USA	North America
7	Delta Airlines	183757	5096	7	USA	North America
8	Philippine Airlines	167794	10992	8	Philippines	Asia
9	Air Asia	149195	6230	10	Malaysia	Asia
10	Continental Airlines	146452	3006	9	USA	North America
11	KLM	129330	4056	11	Netherlands	Europe
12	US Airways	128155	3057	12	USA	North America
13	British Airways	123299	4264	13	UK	Europe
14	WestJet Airlines	71101	2659	14	USA	North America
15	Malaysia Airlines	58798	2268	15	Malaysia	Asia
16	GOL Linhas Aereas	57270	2747	16	Brazil	South America
17	Lufthansa	54359	1364	17	Germany	Europe
18	Volaris	53518	1430	19	Mexico	North America
19	Air France	51454	-937	18	France	Europe
20	Turkish Airlines	49069	49069	20	Turkey	Europe

• If you think your airline should be on this list contact us: info@aviationexperts.aero.
• If you want to improve your airline’s Twitter ranking have a look on our Social Media Services here

As always we do not take any responsibility of the correctness of the data. If an airline has more than one Twitter account we only count the followers of the one with the most followers.

18. May 2011

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KLM, Air France and AA this week’s winner. Philippine Airlines continues enormous growth. Turkish Airlines hits Top 20 on 20th place.

Dutch carrier KLM and American Airlines are along the winners of this week’s Airline Twitter Top 20. As expected KLM replaced US Airways on the 11th place and is now aiming for the Top 10. KLM showed an amazing and continuing increase of followers during the last weeks and it is worth mentioning that with ~11.000 tweets KLM is one the most active airlines on Twitter.

AA replaced TAM on the 4th place and has now around 500 followers more than TAM. From our point of view this “battle” is not over and we are looking forward if TAM is able to recapture the 4th place in the next weeks.

With almost 6.000 more followers Air France replaced Volaris on 18th place and is aiming for Lufthansa, currently placed 17th. If Air France will be able to keep up that pace they can leave Lufthansa and also GOL behind them shortly.

Last but not least Philippine Airlines impressed us once again this week. With more than 9.000 new followers they showed the biggest growth rates and are more and more aiming for 7th place.

Rank	Airline	Followers	Difference to last week	Last week	Country	Continent
1	JetBlue Airways	1622091	2341	1	USA	North America
2	Southwest Airlines	1117848	3900	2	USA	North America
3	Virgin America	202640	3878	3	USA	North America
4	American Airlines	200865	4935	5	USA	North America
5	TAM	200375	3430	4	Brazil	South America
6	United Airlines	193144	3739	6	USA	North America
7	Delta Airlines	178661	5265	7	USA	North America
8	Philippine Airlines	156802	9014	8	Philippines	Asia
9	Continental Airlines	143446	3131	9	USA	North America
10	Air Asia	142965	3763	10	Malaysia	Asia
11	KLM	125274	3277	12	Netherlands	Europe
12	US Airways	125098	2583	11	USA	North America
13	British Airways	119035	3240	13	UK	Europe
14	WestJet Airlines	68442	2424	14	USA	North America
15	Malaysia Airlines	56530	1755	15	Malaysia	Asia
16	GOL Linhas Aereas	54523	2175	16	Brazil	South America
17	Lufthansa	52995	1095	17	Germany	Europe
18	Air France	52391	5881	19	France	Europe
19	Volaris	52088	617	18	Mexico	North America
20	Turkish Airlines	44880	-	-	Turkey	Europe

• If you think your airline should be on this list contact us: info@aviationexperts.aero.
• If you want to improve your airline’s Twitter ranking have a look on our Social Media Services here
• Want to watch Airline/Twitter Ranking Prezi – click here

As always we do not take any responsibility of the correctness of the data. If an airline has more than one Twitter account we only count the followers of the one with the most followers.

09. May 2011

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Philippine Airlines still with enormous growth rate / GOL leaving Lufthansa and Volaris behind / KLM short before replacing US Airways on 11th rank.

Although only a few changes this week, the ranking is getting more and more exciting. GOL jumped from rank 18 to rank 16 leaving Lufthansa and Volaris behind them. But a lot of more interesting things are going on on other places.

• Virgin, TAM and American (ranked 3-5) are getting closer to each other every week. American currently shows the biggest growth rates and it is likely that they will replace TAM during the next weeks.
• Philippines continues it enormous growth of the last weeks. With 7.000 new followers they are aiming for the 7th place. Even if Delta still has ~27.000 more followers – with the current growth rates Philippines could replace them in the next 8-10 weeks.
• Meanwhile KLM is hunting US Airways on the 11th rank. Since US Airways has only 518 followers more than KLM it will be interesting to see if KLM can keep up the pace and replace US in the next week(s).

Rank	Last week	A/L	Followers	# Tweets	Country	Continent
1	1	JetBlue Airways	1619750	6403	USA	North America
2	2	Southwest Airlines	1113948	6640	USA	North America
3	3	Virgin America	198762	2970	USA	North America
4	4	TAM	196945	14612	Brazil	South America
5	5	American Airlines	195930	4124	USA	North America
6	6	United Airlines	189405	2422	USA	North America
7	7	Delta Airlines	173396	3111	USA	North America
8	8	Philippine Airlines	147788	1010	Philippines	Asia
9	9	Continental Airlines	140315	2189	USA	North America
10	10	Air Asia	139202	4428	Malaysia	Asia
11	11	US Airways	122515	1616	USA	North America
12	12	KLM	121997	10910	Netherlands	Europe
13	13	British Airways	115795	2441	UK	Europe
14	14	WestJet Airlines	66018	3621	USA	North America
15	15	Malaysia Airlines	54775	2665	Malaysia	Asia
16	18	GOL Linhas Aereas	52348	3774	Brazil	South America
17	16	Lufthansa	51900	1507	Germany	Europe
18	17	Volaris	51471	3089	Mexico	North America
19	19	Air France	46510	725	France	Europe
20	20	Alaska Airlines	42718	2275	USA	North America

• If you think your airline should be on this list contact us: info@aviationexperts.de.
• If you want to improve your airline’s Twitter ranking have a look on our Social Media Services here
• Want to watch Airline/Twitter Ranking Prezi – click here

As always we do not take any responsibility of the correctness of the data. If an airline has more than one Twitter account we only count the followers of the one with the most followers.

02. May 2011

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Philippine Airlines continues its march on the road to success and replaces Continental Airlines.

As usual here’s our updated Airline Twitter Top 20 Ranking. Philippine Airlines continues its march on the road to success. After stealing the title “most successful Asian airline on Twitter” from Air Asia last week, Philippines got ahead of Continental Airlines and is now ranked 8. Compared to last week Philippines can count almost 7.000 additional followers – more than twice as much as most of the other airlines. Keeping the pace Philippines could aim for Delta Airlines, currently ranked 7 with more than 30.000 followers ahead of Philippines.

Besides Philippines it is getting more and more interesting to watch the battle between KLM and US Airways. KLM increases the pressure and is now only ~700 followers behind US Airways. Let’s see how this develops during the next weeks.

Finally, Lufthansa, Volaris and GOL are still very close together on the places 16-18. Worth to mention that LH and Volaris got only ~700 additional followers this week whereas GOL could manage almost 2.300 additional followers.

Rank	Last week	A/L	Followers	# Tweets	Country	Continent
1	1	JetBlue Airways	1618146	6331	USA	North America
2	2	Southwest Airlines	1110338	6609	USA	North America
3	3	Virgin America	195693	2930	USA	North America
4	4	TAM	193888	13925	Brazil	South America
5	5	American Airlines	191862	4056	USA	North America
6	6	United Airlines	186131	2414	USA	North America
7	7	Delta Airlines	170194	3065	USA	North America
8	9	Philippine Airlines	140716	958	Philippines	Asia
9	8	Continental Airlines	137631	2184	USA	North America
10	10	Air Asia	135898	4345	Malaysia	Asia
11	11	US Airways	120254	1611	USA	North America
12	12	KLM	119529	10632	Netherlands	Europe
13	13	British Airways	112966	2418	UK	Europe
14	14	WestJet Airlines	63819	3552	USA	North America
15	15	Malaysia Airlines	53296	2619	Malaysia	Asia
16	16	Lufthansa	51049	1494	Germany	Europe
17	17	Volaris	50796	3030	Mexico	North America
18	18	GOL Linhas Aereas	50342	3654	Brazil	South America
19	19	Air France	45034	702	France	Europe
20	20	Alaska Airlines	42515	2232	USA	North America

• If you think your airline should be on this list contact us: info@aviationexperts.de.
• If you want to improve your airline’s Twitter ranking have a look on our Social Media Services here
• Want to watch Airline/Twitter Ranking Prezi – click here

As always we do not take any responsibility of the correctness of the data. If an airline has more than one Twitter account we only count the followers of the one with the most followers.

25.04.2011

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Philippines Airlines replaces Air Asia as most successful Asian Twitter airline. JetBlue still unchallenged number one.

After publishing our Airline Twitter Ranking some days ago, we’ve now decided to provide a bi-weekly Top 20 Airline Twitter ranking.

Of course, not surprisingly JetBlue is still unchallenged number 1 although showing the slowest increase in terms of follower numbers this week. But this is not a real tragedy since JetBlue have more than 500.000 follower more than Southwest, ranked second.

More interesting are the places 3 to 5 and 8 to 10. Air Asia last week’s number 9 has lost the title of the most successful Asian Airline on Twitter to Philippine Airlines. Philippines had a massive increase of almost 5% and are now around 1000 followers ahead of Air Asia.

Another very exciting challenge is happening on places 15 – 18. Malaysian, Lufthansa, Volaris  and GOL are very close together and we’re very sure that there’ll be some changes in the ranking in the near future.

• If you think your airline should be on this list contact us: info@aviationexperts.de.
• If you want to improve your airline’s Twitter ranking have a look on our Social Media Services here
• Want to watch Airline/Twitter Ranking Prezi – click here

Rank	Last week	A/L	Followers	# of Tweets	Country	Continent
1	1	JetBlue Airways	1616706	6216	USA	North America
2	2	Southwest Airlines	1107405	6554	USA	North America
3	3	Virgin America	192487	2879	USA	North America
4	4	TAM	190779	13186	Brazil	South America
5	5	American Airlines	187828	3997	USA	North America
6	6	United Airlines	183202	2404	USA	North America
7	7	Delta Airlines	166769	3044	USA	North America
8	8	Continental Airlines	135157	2175	USA	North America
9	10	Philippine Airlines	134060	938	Philippines	Asia
10	9	Air Asia	132890	4253	Malaysia	Asia
11	11	US Airways	118166	1605	USA	North America
12	12	KLM	117231	10338	Netherlands	Europe
13	13	British Airways	110394	2403	UK	Europe
14	14	WestJet Airlines	61945	3513	USA	North America
15	15	Malaysia Airlines	51727	2605	Malaysia	Asia
16	16	Lufthansa	50251	1482	Germany	Europe
17	17	Volaris	50039	2994	Mexico	North America
18	18	GOL Linhas Aereas	48079	3507	Brazil	South America
19	19	Air France	43874	691	France	Europe
20	20	Alaska Airlines	42256	2183	USA	North America

As always we do not take any responsibility of the correctness of the data. If an airline has more than one Twitter account we only count the followers of the one with the most followers.

This week: Check-In/Boarding

Lufthansa passengers at Frankfurt or Swiss passengers at Zurich are already able to make their complete check-in by themselves. After checking in at the kiosk, they can print out the baggage tag and give up their baggage by their own hand. Instead of standing at the counter queue, the check-in-process is finished after 30 seconds. According to Swiss airlines, already 70% of their passengers are using this service. The target group is especially frequent flyers and business customers, who have little time in general.

Lufthansa customers don’t even have to go to the kiosk to get their boarding pass. If they wish, “Miles-and-More” participants with a smartphone will automatically be checked in 23 hours before their departure. The boarding pass with the requested seat from the booking is sent directly to the smartphone.

What is now starting at the check-in, will soon be possible for boarding. Passengers can make their entry into the aircraft on so-called “e-gates” by using a boarding machine.

That these ideas are not a far-out vision, is shown by the SITA “Airport IT Trends” in 2011. In the included survey 81% of the airports expect at least constant or increasing IT budgets. More than half of the airports will increase the number of kiosks substantially and provide more equipment for a complete and fast self-check-in as well as boarding in future.

What are your experiences? Do you already check-in by yourself? What’s your opinion?