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For Continental Airlines passengers, an e-mail-enabled cell phone is now as good as a paper boarding pass in a growing number of cities.

Continental said Friday it would expand its "paperless" boarding system at airports in Newark, N.J., and Boston over the next two weeks, following up on the introduction of the service this week at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport. The carrier started the pilot program in December in Houston, where it is based.

Air Canada also offers a paperless boarding pass for its customers.

Boarding passes that Continental e-mails to passengers’ cell phones and other handheld devices will display an encrypted bar code along with passenger and flight information. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials will use hand-held scanners to validate the passes.

Eligibility for the service is restricted to passengers flying alone and to domestic destinations guaranteed cash advance. Customers have the option of signing up for the e-passes when checking in.

The TSA and Continental - the first U.S. carrier to test the system - said the technology increases the ability to detect fraudulent boarding passes, but also reduces paper consumption and improves customer service.

Continental spokeswoman Mary Clark said she had no details on the costs of the program or how much it would save the airline. She said other airports would be added to the program this year, but would not say which ones or when.

Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL, Fortune 500) shares dipped 42 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $17.13 in afternoon trading. 

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