UN aviation body wants to abolish boarding passes and check-in – facial recognition and digital passports should become standard worldwide
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN aviation body, plans to abolish traditional boarding passes and check-in procedures at a time of the biggest upheaval in global air travel in 50 years. In future, passengers will be able to download a digital “travel map” to their smartphone when booking a flight. This will contain all the relevant information and will be automatically updated when changes occur.
Instead of checking in online or at the counter, the system will in future use a facial scan to determine whether a passenger is present – whether at the baggage drop-off point or when entering the security checkpoint. This will also make the previously common boarding pass with a barcode redundant.
With this reform, ICAO aims to link passengers’ digital identities directly to their biometric passport data, so that in the future they can be guided through the airport using only facial recognition – without having to show their passport or mobile phone. The system should only verify the information, not store it, in order to minimise data protection risks.
Amadeus, one of the leading travel software providers, compares the planned change to Amazon’s app system: personalised, automated, dynamic. In the future, airlines could, for example, automatically allocate new connecting flights and deliver them digitally if passengers on a plane are at risk of missing a connection.
Other offers such as lounge access, cabin upgrades or airport navigation could also be offered via push notifications. British Airways, Air France-KLM, Finnair and Saudia are already considering using the new technology.
Many airports are also upgrading their security infrastructure: new CT scanners mean there’s no need to unpack liquids or laptops, while new electronic gates at the UK border will operate solely using facial recognition – without any passport checks.
Dubai already allows facial recognition for citizens of 50 countries, and the US is using it for returnees. Also in the UK, more than 270 electronic gates at airports and train stations are to be replaced with new biometric systems, according to The Times. According to the ICAO, the new travel procedures could become a reality worldwide within two to three years.
Source:
https://uncutnews.ch/un-luftfahrtbehoerde-gesichtserkennung-soll-weltweit-standard-werden/
https://archive.is/Hy0XR
Image: Pixabay.com
