Vision-Box automated border control system deployed at Copenhagen Airport

Vision-Box, in collaboration with Danish partner Biometric Solutions, has developed and deployed an innovative automated border control (ABC) system at Copenhagen Airport that allows EU citizens aged 18 years and above, holding an electronic passport and departing to or arriving from outside the Schengen Area, to clear immigration in the same hall using a unique bank of self-service biometric eGates.

The vb i-match eGates are easy to use and the process takes just a few seconds: travelers authenticate their passport through a travel document reader and match the information contained on the chip with their live-captured facial biometrics just by looking at the camera.

According to a statement by the company, the new approach to passenger flow has considerably expanded the hall capacity and has improved the passenger experience by deploying a flexible, two-way flow ABC solution based on three departure, three arrival and three bidirectional eGates in a single bank. The first of its kind to process departing and arriving passengers as such, the new eGates allow for the Danish Police, in charge of passenger control and risk management at the airport, to dynamically operate touchpoints by switching the flow according to the predicted volume of passengers entering or exiting the Schengen area.

The software orchestration platform gives border guards reliable identification of travellers, an overview of every passenger’s process, the ability to immediately react to alert situations and the control of the whole security infrastructure.

Having recorded more than 26 million passengers in 2015, Copenhagen Airport is the largest aviation hub in Northern Europe. The adoption of this ABC solution is part of a modernization plan to improve security, improve effectiveness in flow management and increase capacity to 40 million passengers per year.

“For the very first time, an airport and a border authority together own total flexibility to adjust the throughput of entry and exit points at the border, according to the predicted passenger volume,” commented Jean-François Lennon, Vice-President for Global Business Development & Sales of Vision-Box. “Copenhagen Airport receives millions of passengers per year and has adopted a future-proof solution, perfectly aligned with their improvement strategies on operations, security and efficiency.”

“Biometric Solutions are proud to help Denmark welcome its visitors with a solution that is based on state-of-the-art, fast, very user friendly technology,” added Alex Ramskov Johannsen, CEO of Biometric Solutions. “Our focus is always to deliver a great experience to both the employees servicing the citizens and to citizens using our solutions. The eGates in Copenhagen Airport connect biometrics, security and convenience for citizens and airport staff in a way that makes it a showcase of the future of border control and, more generally, of intelligent ID control at any kind of gate.”

This project takes place under the four-year framework agreement struck in 2014 between the Denmark Government and the consortium Vision-Box / Biometric Solutions. Under this agreement, the consortium is delivering biometric solutions and related services to improve processes related to citizen’s electronic identity to, among others, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

Article Topics

airports  |  biometrics  |  border security  |  eGates  |  epassport  |  Vision-Box