By 2025, Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport could become the first airport in the world to waive paperwork for passengers.
This airport is famous for its high-tech infrastructure and was recently praised by billionaire Elon Musk with the words "America needs to catch up".
They are currently implementing the Smart Travel Project, which aims to install biometric sensors at every airport identification checkpoint, from check-in counters to immigration counters, duty-free counters, and airport lounges. airline and boarding gate.this
According to CNN Travel , Zayed International Airport of Abu Dhabi, UAE - which is known as "the technology airport from the future" - is implementing the Smart Travel Project when installing biometric sensors. study at the airport. This technology can quickly identify passengers' identities, instead of presenting passports, citizen identification cards or airline tickets as usual.
Previously, this facial recognition technology was tested in a small number of areas at Abu Dhabi airport. However, to date, the airport is expanding the scale of use of this technology significantly.
Andrew Murphy, Chief Information Officer at Abu Dhabi International Airport, said: “We will install this system at nine different control points, thereby creating the largest facial recognition network in the world. “.
Thanks to this technology, passengers can save a lot of time when going through the airport. Instead of having to wait in line to check in, passengers just need to go through automatic gates. This is especially useful for large airports like Abu Dhabi, which have a very large number of passengers.
According to an October 2023 survey by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), 75% of passengers said they would prefer to use biometric data over paper passports and boarding passes. Therefore, other airports around the world are also tending to reduce the use of paperwork and apply biometric technology.
Singapore's Changi International Airport is one of the pioneers in deploying this technology. Like Abu Dhabi, the airport has partnered with immigration authorities to develop a biometric authorization system that both residents and travelers can use.
In addition, Hong Kong International Airport (China), Narita and Haneda Airports in Tokyo (Japan) and Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi (India) have also deployed biometric devices at a certain number of points in transit.
European airports are also making significant progress. In the US, Customs and Border Protection has deployed biometric technology at 96 international airports, including 53 locations that also apply this technology at departures.
