[Swissair hands Nokia 7110 WAP Phones to over 250 selected customers who will trial a new WAP-Based passenger check-in system.]

LONDON -- "Swissair said on Thursday it would become the world's first airline to let passengers check in from Web-enabled mobile phones, in a scheme piloted with International Business Machines Corp .

"Between 250 and 300 of the Swiss carrier's best customers will be given Nokia 7110 handsets, which can connect to the Internet using Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), to trial the scheme, company officials said.

"After the trial they will be invited to decide whether to pay for and keep the sets, which through Internet technology will also offer real-time information on schedule changes.

"The number of mobile phone subscribers globally is forecast to hit the one billion mark in 2002 or 2003, with some analysts expecting as many as half of these to be Internet-enabled.

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