Global airport biometrics push lifts SITA 2024 revenue to $1.6B

Airport and border biometrics continue to expand around the world, driving 8.3 percent growth in SITA’s revenue in 2024 to $1.6 billion. The company also credits its strategic acquisitions and product innovations with boosting its top line.

The air transport system reached an estimated $37 billion in total global IT spending in calendar 2024, according to the announcement.

SITA’s 2024 Air Transport IT Insights report shows that biometric self-service is a priority area for investment among airlines, airports and governments, with over half of airports planning to implement biometric check-ins and bag drop by 2026, and nearly 3 in 4 planning to manage ID with biometrics.

The SITA Group Impact Report 2024 highlights the company’s work with India’s biometric aviation identity management platform, Digi Yatra, which won a 2024 SITA Council Award. Digi Yatra is the first-ever cloud-based deployment of SITA Smart Path across multiple airports, according to the report. Digi Yatra biometrics positively impacted the journey of up to 80 percent of Indian passengers at domestic departure during the year, and as many as 250 million people could use the system within the next seven years.

SITA now counts 44 airports in India as customers through the Digi Yatra program.

Five thousand biometric touchpoints provided by SITA Smart Path are deployed at 45 locations around the world, mostly airports, and 470 airports are “SITA Smart Path-ready.” Among them, John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Canada is the 6th airport in the country to work with SITA, and is planning to deploy contactless biometrics in the future. SITA also sees biometrics growth ahead in Latin America, citing growing demand in Brazil and its deployment at Lima’s International Airport with IB.

SITA also highlighted its acquisition of Materna IPS as one of its highlights last year. The company also highlighted its collaborations with Idemia Public Security, NEC and Indicio. SITA Digital Travel ID for Airlines was also launched last year.

“Our customers tell us they need flexibility, speed, and visibility – all while needing to do more with less,” says SITA CEO David Lavorel. “Transforming travel and transport means having the right travel tech to streamline journeys and operations while also reducing carbon emissions. That’s why we’re investing in AI, data, apps, cloud, and digital identities, and co-innovating with customers to build smarter, more sustainable journeys from end to end.”

Article Topics

airport biometrics  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  digital travel  |  financial results  |  SITA