Airports in US, India, Taiwan launching biometrics for contactless passenger processing

New airport biometric systems are being implemented as passengers return to air travel, with several announcements have come from airports around the world, including one of Clear’s touchless biometric pods. Amadeus sees the cloud enabling biometric services for passengers beyond the airport, meanwhile, and IATA has signed up another airline for a trial of its Travel Pass.

Airports in Baltimore and Sacramento deploy contactless biometrics

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) face biometrics have reached Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) with the implementation of the agency’s Simplified Arrival.

CBP officers processed roughly 730,000 international travelers at BWI in 2019.

Sacramento International Airport is the fourth in California to implement touchless biometric ‘pods’ from Clear as part of a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) program to speed up the process for trusted travellers, for those willing to pay Clear’s $15 monthly membership fee.

The Clear pods scan the fingerprints or iris biometrics of Delta or United passengers and then pass immediately to TSA’s X-ray area. The company pays a fee to the airport for to operate in the space.

Rollouts in India, Taiwan

Kolkata airport has begun installation of hardware to support its implementation of Digi Yatra facial recognition for contactless processes at various points in the airport journey, The Times of India reports.

Delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed the implementation deadline back from April to July, but airport director Kaushik Bhattacharjee says it is on track to be completed on time.

The biometric check-ins, security checks and boarding will be available to IndiaGo and Vistara passengers.

Taipei Songshan Airport in Taiwan will run a trial of face biometrics at boarding gates and control areas for departing passengers for the next six months as it seeks to upgrade its efficiency, Taiwan News reports.

Passengers are not required to carry boarding passes, and their biometric data is deleted an hour after departure, according to the report.

Amadeus highlights cloud platform potential

Amadeus Flow is the culmination of the company’s 10 years of investment in airport IT, SVP of Strategy and Marketing for Airport IT Iyad Hindiyeh writes in an opinion piece for Passenger Terminal Today.

In addition to integrating biometric identity with airline systems Amadeus Flow can enable new off-airport check-ins and premium passenger services through an integrated cloud solution, Hindiyeh suggests.

ANA to trial IATA Travel Pass

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is the latest airline to announce a trial of the IATA Travel Pass mobile application to enable passengers to comply with travel requirements, Japan Today writes.

British Airways and Singapore Airlines are among other carriers that are working with the biometric Travel Pass, which is developed in partnership with Evernym, which in turn uses iProov biometrics.

AA plans to expand biometric processes for international flights to domestic passengers

American Airlines is hoping to bring its contactless biometric passenger processes to domestic flights, according to an ABC News report from Dallas Fort Worth.

The report highlights other touchless systems being deployed throughout the industry, such as for in-flight payments, and shows face biometric scans being performed with Thales terminals. American has also been trailing biometric bag drops at DFW.

American Airlines VP of Customer Experience Julie Rath says the company plans to be operating at 80 percent of 2019 capacity by May.

Article Topics

airports  |  Amadeus  |  biometric exit  |  biometrics  |  CBP  |  CLEAR  |  contactless biometrics  |  credentials  |  Digi Yatra  |  facial recognition  |  International Air Transport Association  |  Simplified Arrival