Over half (63%) of airports and nearly half (43%) of airlines are planning to invest in biometric ID management solutions in the next three years.
According to a report by aviation technology company, SITA, three out of five airports and two out of five airlines are investing in innovative biometric technology to improve speed and security as passenger numbers continue to rise at a staggering rate, with the number of annual fliers set to almost double to 7.8 billion by 2036.
Biometric technologies can include palm vain scanning, facial and voice recognition, fingerprint scanning and digital passports. The report reveals that an estimated 75% of smartphones will have fingerprint sensors by 2020, but only 57% of passengers say they would be happy to use biometrics for airport ID.
Last year Singapore’s Changi airport and Australia’s Brisbane airport trialed facial recognition ID management. In February 2018, Air Asia became the first airline in Asia to introduce boarding with biometric facial recognition technology.
Sean Farrell, Director of Strategy & Innovation at SITA, said in a press release: “Efficient identity management is essential for better security while at the same time improving the passenger experience. Biometrics is the technology that can deliver this. Moving to single token identity management where passengers can simply use their biometric, such as their face, at every checkpoint on their journey will speed passengers securely through the airport.”
Despite growing pockets of innovative ID management, the report emphasizes that we still have some way to go before there is a cohesive and global consensus across all stakeholders of how to resolve passenger identity issues.
