Philippines airports pilot UltraPass biometrics, Taiwan chooses SITA kiosks

America’s UltraPass and the Philippine Department of Transportation (DOTr) have signed a memorandum of understanding to pilot privacy-first digital identity verification across airports in the Philippines.

The signing ceremony between Secretary of Transportation Jaime J. Bautista and UltraPass CEO Eric Starr was witnessed by U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Maria Lago as well as senior U.S. and Philippine government officials. The partnership is part of a US Smart Cities trade mission led by Lago.

“The biometric system provides not only convenient passenger processing but also enhances security protocols,” said Bautista. “Embedded biometric data in passports will allow passengers to breeze through check-in, security, and boarding gates,” he continued.

Beginning with pilot programs at select airports, biometric verification will be integrated with the country’s national identity system. The system will be piloted in Iloilo International Airport in the first quarter of 2025 before being tested in other airports such as Tacloban, Laoag, and Bicol International Airport in the second quarter.

The rollout will be in two phases, with the first phase reserved for Filipino passengers using the national ID, while phase two will be for foreign passengers using e-passports.

The partnership between UltraPass and DOTr emerged from the first-ever Presidential Trade & Investment Mission to the Southeast Asian nation earlier this year, which was led by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. Now, Lago is leading a delegation of some twelve American companies – from sectors such as cybersecurity, biometrics, artificial intelligence, engineering, amongst others – in the Philippines for the trade mission.

SITA check-in kiosks for Taipei Taoyuan International Airport

Taiwan’s busiest airport, Taipei Taoyuan International Airport, could be getting more efficient as it will install SITA’s check-in kiosks.

Running through 2033, SITA will provide new check-in and baggage handling processes that should reduce wait times and improve overall airport efficiency. Among its obligations, SITA is to provide its CUTE (Common Use Terminal Equipment) and CUSS (Common Use Self-Service) systems as well as a full hardware refresh of 80 check-in kiosks to support all international flights in Terminals 1 and 2.

SITA’s biometric gear has been recently integrated with its CUTE and CUSS systems for One ID deployments at six Thai airports.

In other Taiwan-related news, Malaysians visiting Taiwan will now be able to use its airport e-Gates for faster immigration clearance. They join citizens from the U.S., South Korea, Australia, Italy, Germany and Singapore who can use the autogates.

The Taiwanese embassy in Malaysia said in a statement: “From now on, Malaysian travellers who meet the eligibility criteria can use Taiwan’s e-Gate for entry and exit.” It continued that those eligible need to hold an electronic-chip passport valid for at least six months, be at least 12 years old, be at least 140 centimeters, and have no criminal record in Taiwan.

Malaysians will need to register once at the registration counter in the arrivals hall before they can use Taiwan’s e-Gates, and the registration should take a minute to complete as the inspection process takes just 10 seconds, according to the embassy statement.

Taiwanese citizens visiting Malaysia meanwhile need only fill in the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) online within three days before arrival to make use of Malaysia’s autogate without any additional registration, as long as they have the requisite electronic-chip passport valid for more than six months.

Article Topics

airports  |  biometrics  |  digital travel  |  identity verification  |  passenger processing  |  Philippines  |  SITA  |  Thailand  |  UltraPass