Air New Zealand installs biometric bag drop at Auckland airport

Air New Zealand announced that it has introduced biometrics-enabled self-service bag drop for customers departing from Auckland International Airport.

The biometric self-service bag drop complements the airline’s existing online check-in option and the self-service kiosks in the terminal, enabling travelers to assume complete control of their check-in experience.

The bag drop uses facial recognition technology similar to that used by SmartGate passport control facilities.

Travelers scan their passports and boarding passes and have their identities verified by a camera using facial recognition software.

As soon as the passport photo of the traveler is matched with the camera’s image, the traveler is prompted to place the bags on the scale to be weighed before being sent through to the airline’s baggage handling system.

“We can now streamline the check-in process for our customers at Auckland International Airport and provide a more seamless airport journey,” said John Whittaker, group general manager of airports at Air New Zealand. “It will reduce the time it takes for our customers to check in and free up our airport team to interact with customers and support them through the self-service process should they require assistance.”

The biometric bag drop service follows last month’s introduction of Airband, a wristband for children travelling unaccompanied that alerts guardians via text message of the child’s whereabouts throughout their journey.

Air New Zealand has installed five new biometric self-service bag drops at Auckland International Airport with a further eight planned for early 2016.

Article Topics

airports  |  biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  identity verification  |  New Zealand  |  security