Idemia’s Australian airport biometrics upgrade contract extended by 10 years

Idemia Public Security has won a 10-year extension of a contract to upgrade systems for processing international arrivals at 8 airports in the country.

The deal with Australia’s Department of Home Affairs follows the successful delivery of its Gen3 biometric border control kiosks at airports in Darwin, Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Coolangatta, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, the company says in the announcement. Idemia Public Security has been working with Australian Home Affairs for 18 years already.

The relationship went through a period of turbulence when Vision-Box was selected for a trial of airport biometrics in 2017. That technology was found to be not “fit-for-purpose,” however, leading to an AU$30 million (approximately US$19 million at current exchange rates) extension deal for Idemia in 2019. Idemia’s previous contract for support and maintenance of the biometric SmartGates expired in July of this year, after rising in value to AU$42.7 million ($27.1 million) in 2022.

The end-to-end border control solution provided by Idemia PS is made up of biometric kiosks and SmartGates. Travelers performing self-service authentication with a 1:1 match against their passport using a kiosk, and then present themselves at the gate for subsequent further verification.

Idemia completed the installation of 109 Gen Kiosks at the 8 airports in late-2021, and moved on to upgrading the gates in 2023.

The company notes the use of face biometrics delivers smoother experiences and shorter wait times for travelers.

“With this expansion of our partnership, Idemia has the opportunity to facilitate easy technology refreshes for Australia and ensure it has our most up-to-date border control technologies to best serve their residents, as well as travelers across the globe.”

Norway creeps toward ABC tender

Meanwhile in Norway, the Police Shared Services has advanced to a request for information (RFI) ahead of a tender to procure biometric automated border control gates described in its prior information notice in October. The contract is for an initial installment of 21 electronic gates at Oslo Airport Gardermoen for 50 million Norwegian kroner (approximately US$4.6 million), with a possible expansion to other locations.

Idemia is well-positioned for that contract, too, having previously supplied its MorphoFace technology to the airport.

A deadline for requesting additional information has been set for January 9, 2025. The contract notice is now estimated to be published on February 17, 2025.

Article Topics

ABC gates  |  airport biometrics  |  Australia  |  biometrics  |  border security  |  contactless biometrics  |  face biometrics  |  IDEMIA  |  Idemia Public Security  |  Norway  |  RFI  |  tender