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To suggest boarding a flight without showing your passport, ID or ticket even once airport.
By 2025, this could be the case at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport.
The airport is known for its hi-tech infrastructure and has recently been praised by entrepreneurs Elon Musk with the words ‘The US must catch up’.
Biometrics is the biological measure that identifies us as individuals. The sensors allow the passenger’s identity and travel status to be verified through facial or iris recognition at any point where a document is required for access.
The novelty
In Abu Dhabi, the technology is already being used in certain parts of the airport, particularly on flights operated by partner airline Etihad. Yet the ambition to expand across the entire passenger flow is a breakthrough.
“We are expanding to nine touchpoints and this would be a world first,” said Andrew Murphy, Chief Information Officer at Abu Dhabi Airport.
“It is designed without prior registration. Passengers are automatically recognized and authenticated as they move through the airport, which significantly speeds up the entire process.”
Murphy explains that anyone arriving in the United Arab Emirates for the first time, whether residents or tourists, will have their biometric data collected at immigration by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP).
The airport’s system uses this database to verify passengers as they pass through checkpoints.
“The real uniqueness is that this particular biometric solution here partners with ICP to use that data to make this passenger experience seamless. And therefore anyone can use it,” he explains.
Murphy says the goal is to ease passenger flow, making transit much faster. The initial implementation has proven this so far.
“People report going from the curb to the shopping area or to the gate in less than 15 minutes and when you consider this is a huge facility, […] To be able to handle 45 million passengers and to be able to travel through an airport of that size in minutes is truly groundbreaking,” he claims.
Possibility to opt-out
In October 2023 questionnaire According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), 75 percent of passengers claimed they prefer using biometrics over paper passports and boarding passes.
For the remaining 25 percent of people, who may be uncomfortable with the technology or prefer human interaction, Murphy says going through a more traditional passenger verification will remain an option.
Giving passengers the choice of whether or not to go through facial recognition is supported by international policymakers, especially those who are not used to traveling through an airport.
“If someone only travels once every two or three years, which is the case for a lot of people, then he or she may prefer human interaction to guide them,” says Louise Cole, head of customer experience and facilitation at IATA.
“I think the human touch comes down to personal choice, and it gives customers a choice that mirrors what we have in other environments,” she adds.
Additionally, showing paperwork to an employee is still a requirement if you are traveling with young children, although the age limit may vary from airport to airport.
“We keep the system reserved for people aged 12 and older, because we encounter this with younger children […] their facial features change quite quickly,” Murphy explains.
It can also be a matter of compliance with global guidelines and policies.
“There are other aspects of international travel involving children where it may not be appropriate to use biometrics,” says Cole. “You need to make sure the child is traveling with the right caregiver,” she says.
Global competition
Other airports around the world are also relying less on paper and more on biometrics.
In IATA’s October 2023 report, 46 percent of respondents said they had used the technology at an airport before.
However, no airport is officially considered passport-free.
“I know there are a lot of intentions to enable that completely contactless biometric experience,” says Cole, “but one of the reasons the industry is so behind is because it’s hard to imagine any other consumer process that you go through where you have to stop and prove something over and over.”
Yet there are some examples of progress worldwide.
Singapore’s Changi Airport is one of the leaders in implementing the technology. Like Abu Dhabi, it has also worked with its government’s immigration authority to develop a biometric endorsement that is accessible to both residents and tourists. The system will be implemented gradually from now on this month.
Hong Kong International Airport, Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda and Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International have also launched biometric terminals at some point during the transit.
The dedication of airports in the Middle East and Asia Pacific makes them leaders, according to Cole.
“These regions are setting the standard for biometric integration in air travel,” she says.
European airports are also making significant progress.
Last year, IATA partnered with British Airways to test the first fully integrated international flight with digital identity.
A test passenger took off from Heathrow and landed in Rome Fiumicino. A test passenger flew only with his digital identity, known as W3C Verifiable Credential. Their passport, visa and e-ticket were stored in a digital wallet, all verified by biometric recognition.
In the US, Customs and Border Protection has implemented biometrics in the arrival zones of all its 96 international airports, with fifty-three locations also having the technology at departure.
One world, one paperless solution
For Cole, it is critical that all trials and technologies are aligned for efficiency and safety.
She explains: “The benefits of a great customer experience at one airport can be lost if the next airport the passenger goes to has a completely different way of approaching it.”
The key, still according to Cole, is standardization and international cooperation.
“If you can use one digital identity at multiple airports and with multiple airlines, you generally get a better customer experience. [while] where the privacy components remain central and the data is processed.”
As airports like Abu Dhabi expand their use of biometric technology, they could set the benchmark for other transit zones, paving the way for document-free travel.
Editor’s note: This CNN Travel series is or was sponsored by the country it highlights. CNN retains full editorial control over the subject matter, reporting and frequency of articles and videos within the sponsorship, in accordance with our policy.
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