More airports across the world are going biometric, implementing contactless border crossings and new digital services.
Caribbean tourist destination Curaçao claims that it has introduced the world’s first fully operational biometric border crossing program called Curaçao Express Pass and it’s hoping to reduce traveler processing times by more than 50 percent.
The Curaçao International Airport will allow travelers to share their passport data with border authorities before their trip through the Airside Digital Identity App from Entrust. Entrust acquired Airside in April when it completed the purchase of selfie biometrics provider Onfido. Passengers can then pass through designated eGates powered by Seamless Journey Platform made by biometrics company Vision-Box.
The Berlin Brandenburg Airport company launched a new facial recognition service at the beginning of July called BER Biometrics. The contactless service allows travelers to move through the terminal without showing their boarding pass.
Passengers can register with selfie biometrics through the SmartDepart app created by AirSphere and use self-service kiosks to print baggage labels, the BER Runway security fast lane with an extended time slot and access to the BER Tegel Lounge. The German company has its PaxControl solution installed at five airports in Europe, mainly for automated boarding pass validation.
Marseille Provence Airport is also adding contactless services. Passenger self-service technology company Embross Airport Services announced a deal with the French airport to allow multiple airlines to use the same infrastructure, including self-service kiosks, self-service bag drops and boarding gates. Embross will be working with IN Groupe to deploy biometric technology.
Meanwhile, some contactless airport travel solutions are coming under scrutiny over data privacy. A white paper published in June by the think-tank Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy highlights concerns related to India’s biometric-based air passenger processing program Digi Yatra, surreptitious enrolments and alleged data breaches.
Article: Contactless biometrics for Curaçao, Berlin and Marseille airports