Idemia face biometrics deployed at LAX for international flights

Passengers at Tom Bradley International Terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) can now use face biometrics from Idemia on automated gates from Easier for secure and seamless flight boarding, according to a company announcement.

Biometric matches are conducted in the cloud be U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under the process, which U.S. citizens can opt out of.

Easier has deployed 52 of its SkyLane gates in Bradley West Gates and 24 in the existing area of the terminal, according to Aviation Pros. The agreement with Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is expected to reach a total of 128 deployed gates, as well as possible future expansion to other terminals.

“With IDEMIA’s advanced facial recognition technology, which was ranked #1 in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) latest Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT), airports will be equipped to deliver the best-in-class passenger experience utilizing our accurate and responsible system,” says Lisa Sullivan, VP of Travel and Transport for Idemia North America.

“We are delighted to support LAWA, U.S. Customs and more than 50 airlines in achieving their goal of helping passengers travel safely,” explains Ludovic Libeski, Managing Director of Easier. “Faced with an unprecedented health crisis, EASIER teams and our partner IDEMIA mobilized to ensure a large-scale deployment of solutions at the largest Origin & Destination airport in the United States and to improve the passenger experience.”

CBP’s biometric Simplified Arrival program was launched for all international passengers arriving at LAX last year.

United and SITA discuss SFO curb-to-gate deployment at FTE APEX

Future Travel Experience held a Biometric Summit as part of its FTE APEX 2021 virtual event, exploring the successes and challenges with airport biometrics. In a video discussion, Betsy Landoll of United Airlines spoke about the complete biometric traveler journey set up by the airline for its passengers at San Francisco International Airport, which United claims is the first of its kind in the country. The system is built on SITA’s Smart Path technology.

SITA Head of Technology Strategy for the Americas Sherry Stein explained how this works, and the importance of bringing biometrics to the domestic American air travel market, which represents 80 percent of U.S. flights.

Landoll and Stein recounted enthusiastic reactions from some early participants in the curb-to-gate biometrics trial. Stein also spoke about how the disclosure and consent process was formulated, and granting passengers the ability to withdraw consent if they become uncomfortable partway through the enrollment.

Priorities for next steps include biometrics enrollment from home, and tie-ins with health credentials and declarations.

CBP warns of airport passenger volume increases

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is warning travelers in the Chicago area that passenger volumes are expected to raise from 4,500 a day in summer 2020 to 18,000 a day in 2021. While CBP will take proactive measures to deal with this increase, international travelers are being advised to download the CBP Mobile Passport Control App so they can skip longer line-ups in the airport.

CBP Simplified Arrival has been launched at Denver International Airport, meanwhile, with biometric comparison to the passport of all international arrivals, and in some cases removing the requirement for them to be fingerprinted.

Article Topics

airports  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  border management  |  CBP  |  Easier  |  IDEMIA  |  Idemia Public Security  |  identity verification  |  passenger processing  |  Simplified Arrival  |  SITA  |  travel and tourism