Lufthansa's information technology service division said it had won a contract to provide UK airline bmi with a new IT system for handling passengers.

The so-called FACE system will initially be used for check-in for bmi passengers and will later include other processes such as reservations, inventory, ticketing and boarding, Lufthansa Systems said in a statement on Tuesday.

Bmi is the first member of the Star Alliance to pick the FACE system and the second customer after Garuda Indonesia. Bmi already uses other Lufthansa Systems technology for reservations, ticketing and check-in.

The award of the contract comes as parent company Lufthansa is expected shortly to pick a Lufthansa Systems rival, Amadeus, to provide IT systems for handling its passengers. Lufthansa expects the Amadeus system to also be adopted by as many fellow Star Alliance members as possible.

Lufthansa Systems did not reveal details of how much the bmi contract was worth.