At Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, travelers may no longer have to show their boarding passes when boarding a plane as early as next year.
ADVERTISINGTravelers to Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi will soon be able Facial recognition to register for flights.
Abu Dhabi Airport is developing a “Smart Travel” project that will introduce artificial intelligence (AI) for biometric authentication at all airport security checkpoints by 2025.
The project will use the databases of the United Arab Emirates’ Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security to “automatically authenticate travelers,” the local government said in a July statement.
This eliminates the need for prior registration, which passengers normally have to complete upon arrival at the airport.
Etihad Airways already has biometric systems that use facial recognition before boarding and assist with self-service baggage claim and traveler check-in.
This means that passengers no longer need their boarding pass to board one of Etihad’s aircraft. The technology is currently being used at check-in and gates on five other airlines.
These new technologies mean that about seven seconds from 25 at regular kiosks to go through the entire process of ticket and travel document verification.
The project will “improve airline performance by eliminating the need for expensive infrastructure expansions and effectively detecting fraud and forgery of identification documents,” Abu Dhabi Airport said in a statement.
Biometric progress at EU airports
The Italian authorities began testing a similar software called FaceBoarding which uses facial recognition at two airports: Milan Linate and Catania.
Travelers use airport kiosks to show their documents and scan their face, allowing them to reuse FaceBoarding at other checkpoints, speeding up security screening and boarding.
SEA, the company that manages the new Italian system, explains on the Milan Linate airport website that the data of those who choose to faceboard will be processed only “for the purpose of participating in the project”.
“Facial images are not stored, but only used to create a biometric template required to pass through security checks and ultimately boarding at the gate,” the website continues.
Individual airlines such as ITA Airways and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) have also committed to using the system for their customers.
The EU is also preparing to introduce its Entry/Exit System (EES)an automatic registration system for travellers from the UK and non-EU countries.
This system requires travellers without long-term visas to scan their face and passport at self-service kiosks when crossing EU borders.
A traveller’s name, biometric data and entry/exit date are recorded and stored for up to three years after each trip.
The system will be introduced on November 10, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson previously told Euronews.
