The no-queue airport is coming... and here's how

16 May 2023

Ask any traveller what they like least about the airport experience and they are likely to say queues. After recent trials harnessing biometric technology involving Heathrow and New York JFK, the queue-less airport might not be too far away, as Edouard Baussier, global mobility and travel director of IDnow, explains

In a Heathrow trial travellers completed identity and security checks at home before leaving for the airport

Long queues at check-in desks, baggage drop-offs, security checkpoints and boarding gates are a common sight in airports around the world. Weary travellers stand in these queues and identify themselves with boarding passes and other physical documents – frequently, the same documents that they used to identify themselves when they booked their trip online.

An airport in which it is possible to bypass these queues or at least minimise waiting times is the dream for travellers and it is a dream that’s close to coming true at some world-leading airports including those at Dubai, London Heathrow and John F Kennedy Airport in New York. All three have recently engaged in trials of a seamless passenger experience by means of biometric onboarding.

Arrive at the airport ‘ready to fly’

Biometric onboarding allows travellers to verify their identity at home before they have even departed for the airport. Identity verification providers can capture a passenger’s biometrics via a smartphone app and cross-check them with an official identification document, such as a passport. The passenger’s biometric information can then be stored for a defined timeframe, during which they pass through the identification gates at the airport. In this scenario, there is no need for passengers to stop and show their boarding pass, passport or other form of ID at any point while they make their way through the airport.

Using facial, fingerprint or other biometric recognition as a way of verifying a traveller’s identity has several advantages. Principally, the features are universal, so everyone has them and can provide them should they so wish. They are also unique, with facial recognition in particular offering a degree of permanence once the passenger has reached adulthood.

Edouard Baussier: ‘This is a revolution all stakeholders can get behind’

Capturing, validating and storing biometric data is not without its challenges for the company which is making the airport experience a seamless one for passengers. Partnering with an identity-proofing solutions provider, especially one that is active in the highly-regulated financial services industry – where “Know-Your-Customer” processes are an everyday part of the fight against money laundering – can be an asset.

Still some work to be done

The perfect scenario for travellers came early to Heathrow Airport in November 2022, when a six-month trial of biometric identity-proofing began on flights to Malaga. Passengers scanned their face and relevant documents at home and were verified by smart cameras at the airport in under three seconds. Those who opted in to the trial were invited to use a fast-track lane and were also incentivised to sign-up for the scheme with the promise of priority boarding, eliminating another frustrating queue before take-off.

However, trials at other airports are highlighting operational challenges to frictionless travel. Heathrow’s home-based verification is a different approach to others’, which rely on kiosk-based solutions at the airport; while this has the advantage of offering nearby support staff in case of problems, on the downside it suffers from a low-recognition rate owing to how it appears as a regular kiosk-based check-in.

There is also the issue of older passports – which do not contain the chips needed for biometric services – being precluded from trials, as well as biometric onboarding only being available on certain routes. Calcutta International Airport implemented biometric security provided by the Indian government, but privacy and security concerns as well as personal preference were cited as potential reasons for slow passenger adoption of the technology.

Take-up will take-off

These results from the pilot projects and trials with remote verification will not see an end to its development. As more trials are conducted, the long-term benefits of biometric onboarding will be increasingly clear to every person involved at every stage of the transfer of passengers through an airport.

In this world, staff shortages at check-in desks and luggage drop-off points at airports will be alleviated and passengers will no longer need to queue for significant lengths of time at these points of their journey. Frequent flyers will also be able to use a wallet which stores and re-uses the necessary parts of their identity, negating manual input on each occasion they are due to take a flight.

There is great potential for leveraging biometric technology in the aviation industry, to which airlines are indisputably open as they see the results of their initial offerings. Commercial flight and the mobility and travel sector at large is undoubtedly facing a revolution that all stakeholders can get behind.