Heathrow’s dormakaba biometric boarding installation to reach 400 gates by year-end

Biometric integration for the facial recognition boarding process at Heathrow is provided by dormakaba, a case study for IFSEC Global reveals.

The biometric HSB-M03 Self Boarding Gates and PaxCheck Self Boarding Solution are provided by dormakaba, along with project management services.

So far, the gates have been deployed to Terminals 2A, 2B and 5A, with Terminals 3, 4, 5B and 5C expected to be finished by the end of the year.

The final project will include more than 400 gates installed throughout the airport, according to dormakaba UK Contracting Business Sales and Operations Director Andy Carter.

The airport’s biometrics provider is Atkins, IFSEC Global writes, and the dormakaba gates perform facial recognition for passengers departing on domestic flights to verify travellers who have entered the airport through the main entrance or those who arrived on flights and went through a UK Border Force check.

Integrating the gates with Heathrow’s biometric data and the management server was a complex challenge, carried out through collaboration between dormakaba engineers and London Heathrow Airport’s project team, and suppliers of third-party products and systems, according to the case study.

“Engineers and the dedicated project team worked closely with us and other suppliers to ensure a high-quality delivery, to schedule,” explains Heathrow Passenger Automation Programme Lead Simon Wilcox. “The gates have been excellent reliability wise, and the positive feedback from passengers has been outstanding. dormakaba’s support team also respond incredibly quickly to any queries that ourselves or the third-party IT providers may have, which made the process of implementing the biometric integration much smoother, and the bespoke self-boarding solution allows us to update airport and airline branding and mode of operation in real-time.”

Heathrow is also using biometrics from Yoti for its curb-to-gate seamless passenger service.

TSA Preclearance to expand to more foreign airports

Meanwhile in the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are expanding their Preclearance programs for international travellers to new airports for the first time since 2016.

Foreign airports can now apply to operate Preclearance programs like TSA Precheck, which uses biometrics to verify the identity of trusted travellers, in collaboration between the local and U.S. government. Airports hosting U.S. air carrier operations and with a suitable facility for Preclearance processing that are prepared to share costs with the U.S. government can apply, and with a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and the host country, offer a streamlined approach to make airport processing faster and more convenient. Under the program, CBP personnel are stationed in the host airport to perform customs, immigration and agriculture checks, allowing travellers to bypass those processes at their destination or when transferring to a connecting flight.

“Preclearance offers airports opportunities for increased traveler volume, increased revenue and new flight routes,” says Clint Lamm, CBP director of Preclearance field operations, in the announcement. “Preclearance leverages innovative technology to expedite passenger processing while enhancing security.”

Preclearance programs are currently run out of 16 airports in 6 countries.

TSA is also currently working towards releasing a digital identity app for travellers.

Article Topics

airport biometrics  |  biometric data  |  biometrics  |  dormakaba  |  eGates  |  facial recognition  |  identity management  |  passenger processing  |  trusted traveller  |  TSA