Kuala Lumpur airport integrates over 100 biometric kiosks, gates and counters and mobile app

One airport is beginning to replace ID document-checking processes with face biometrics, while on the other side of the world the deployment of new devices for ID document scanning is accelerating.

The first phase of the biometric ‘Single Token Journey’ planned by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) under its ‘Airports 4.0’ initiative is rolling out, The Edge Markets reports, with facial recognition replacing tickets and boarding passes for authentication.

The plan is for face biometrics to be used at all touchpoints throughout the airport, from check-in to flight boarding, to make the processes contactless while shortening the time necessary for each step to about five seconds, according to the report. The biometric technology is supplied by SITA.

The first phase includes the installation of 50 self check-in kiosks, 20 check-in counters and 56 e-gates at Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminals 1 and 2, all running facial recognition, during the first half of 2021. The network will also be integrated with the MYAirports app, which supports biometric enrollment from home.

An integration with the immigration system will also enable foreigners at KLIA to use the biometric gates at immigration as well.

Future implementations may include face biometric authentication for retail purchases and lounge access, according to MAHB CEO Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh.

Omaha airport latest to launch TSA ID authentication devices

Omaha, Nebraska’s Eppley Airfield is the latest airport to launch the U.S. Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA’s) credential authentication technology (CAT) devices to screen the biometric identity documents of passengers at security checkpoints, local outlet KOLN reports.

The CAT devices are supplied by Idemia and used to scan biometric passports and other traveler identification documents and can provide flight information in near real-time.

TSA Nebraska Federal Security Director Michael Fowler says the devices will improve detection of fraudulent ID documents and increase efficiency. Passengers will also no longer be required to hand boarding passes to security officers during TSA checks.

The agency announced the new CAT devices were in use at Appleton International Airport in Wisconsin last week, after deployments accelerated late last year with three New England airports getting the ID-checkers. There are now at least nine airports where TSA is using the devices.

Article Topics

airports  |  biometric identification  |  biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  contactless  |  document reader  |  facial recognition  |  IDEMIA  |  SITA  |  TSA