Australian airline Qantas has released a new Windows Phone app onto the Marketplace, which uses live tiles to alert users when it's time to leave for the airport, along with their check-in, boarding and departure times. Alongside this, users are able to store boarding passes for domestic flights within the app, making it easier to remember everything in the rush to pack. The live tile is very similar to the one we saw demonstrated for British Airways at the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango launch, which was released at the end of May last year.

Both this and the British Airways app are developed by Microsoft, which seems to use apps like these, as well as Spotify, as a way to showcase the features of its mobile platform, with the apps developed in-house often outshining the efforts of third-party developers. The addition of more apps related to travel could also improve business interest in Windows Phone. The Qantas app is currently only available in Australia, but can be downloaded from the Marketplace for free now.

Update: Microsoft Australia has let us know that the app was actually built by Built to Roam, with UX and design by Automatic Studio. This contradicts the press release (posted by TechIn5 at the source link below), which described the app as being developed in collaboration with Microsoft. We've asked for clarification, and will update if we hear anything else.