Switzerland cautiously moves towards airport biometrics, Abu Dhabi dives in

Airport biometrics are at various stages of advance around the world, from determining legality and setting up regulation to implementing passport-free travel with facial recognition. Switzerland is an example of the former, and Abu Dhabi the latter, while one of the players providing biometric software and systems for the aviation industry assesses the current state of the art.

Switzerland’s Federal Council says biometrics use should be built into a revision of the country’s Aviation Act (LFG) to set up implementation of the technology for checks on both passengers and airport staff.

SWI writes that facial recognition could be used to replace physical tickets and electronic boarding passes in the future. Biometrics could also be used for baggage drops, check-ins and flight boarding.

The document states, as translated from German by Google:

“For security checks at airports, airport operators and airlines may, for the purpose of verifying identity: a) compare the facial image of passengers with previously collected biometric data; b) compare the facial image and fingerprints of their own staff with previously collected biometric data. 2 The express consent of the person concerned is required for checks pursuant to paragraph 1. They may revoke this consent at any time; in this case, the biometric data collected will be destroyed.”

The latter clause means that employees would have to be offered an alternative method of access control.

The Federal Council made the proposal among more than 20 others for aviation law.

The European Data Protection Board issued an opinion on the use of passengers’ biometrics in airports in May, ruling that facial recognition programs in air travel only comply with GDPR if the biometric data is user-controlled.

Abu Dhabi launching biometric ‘Smart Travel’ program

A biometric “Smart Travel” project that Abu Dhabi Airports calls the first of its kind is coming to Zayed International Airport through a partnership with the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs, and Port Security (ICP).

The system includes biometrics for automated traveller registration, self-service bag drops, and identity verification at e-gates and boarding gates without showing a passport.

The project is being carried out with local AI integrator Next 50.

Idemia is partnered with ICP as the biometrics provider for the project, which is rolling out in three phases, starting with the launch of the new terminal of Zayed International last November. That rollout was for flights operated by Etihad Airways, but the next phase adds five more airlines. Future steps include implementation for Etihad Airways’ lounge and duty-free stores.

ICP General Director Saeed Saif Al Khaili says the biometric Smart Travel project cuts passenger processing times from 25 seconds to only 7.

‘Are we there yet?’

The system is supposed to remove most of the friction from the travellers’ experience, but “a truly biometric corridor that allows for frictionless travel is still not past the proof-of-concept stage anywhere in the world,” says Veridos Director of Solutions and Product Management Michael Brandau in a G+D blog post.

The post explores the roll of biometrics in frictionless travel, and the software and hardware that make airport journeys easier, from biometric kiosks to digital travel authorizations completed at home. The latter enables digital travel credentials (DTCs), which are generating excitement and lofty claims with early-stage successes.

Facial recognition, which G+D’s post notes “has been something of a game-changer,” is meeting with pushback in the U.S., but in a way reminiscent of other technologies now taken for granted in airports worldwide.

Goode Intelligence forecasts “Biometric Enabled Seamless Travel (BEST)” to expand dramatically this decade from the millions of people already using the technology today, supported by projects like DTCs and IATA’s One ID which support global interoperability with standards. DTCs for passport-free travel, however, are still five to ten years away.

Article Topics

airports  |  biometrics  |  contactless biometrics  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  Giesecke & Devrient (G+D)  |  IDEMIA  |  passenger processing  |  Switzerland  |  UAE  |  Veridos