Biometrics to eliminate document duplication at congested airports?

Airlines believe biometrics will be a step change in improving passenger processing at the region’s airports.

by ASSOCIATE EDITOR AND CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, TOM BALLANTYNE  

July 1st 2019

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If ever there was evidence airport and air traffic capacity is lagging far behind the demands of airlines for slots and airspace it was in Europe last year. Read More » The continent’s air traffic management shortcomings were revealed by International Air Transport Association (IATA) director general and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, at an industry conference last month.

“In 2018, aircraft flying in Europe experienced 19.1 million minutes of en-route delays. That’s 36 years of wasted time that unnecessarily added 5.6% to our European carbon footprint. The prime causes are inadequate capacity and staff rostering,” he said.

“These are fixable and that makes poor performance all the more disappointing. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated example. There are air traffic bottlenecks in China, the U.S., the Gulf and elsewhere.”

Europe’s problems, and there are forecasts it will be as bad this year, don’t only impact local airlines. They hit the hundreds of airlines flying to and from Europe from across the globe, including the Asia-Pacific. The delays cost carriers millions of dollars a year in fuel costs. Delays in the Asia-Pacific are just as frequent, IATA said.

Billions of dollars are being spent on infrastructure to improve air traffic flow, but in the meantime, airlines are turning to other solutions to unclog airways and airports. Measures include improved slot allocation and biometrics to quicken a passenger’s journey through an airport.

At the annual IATA AGM this year, delegates passed a motion to implement IATA’s One ID biometric identity initiative. One ID is a single biometic ID, taken from a fingerprint, an iris or by using facial recognition technology, that reduces the number of identity checks at airports.

“The reason for One ID is we are talking about two times growth [in air passenger demand] by 2035. We’re not going to be able to do what we do today in the same way,” explained IATA’s senior vice president airport, passenger and cargo capacity, Nick Careen. One ID is “crucial to growth”, he said.

IATA is taking a three pillar approach to the biometrics issue, based on “harmonization, standardization and interoperability”. As well as benefits for passengers, Careen pointed out there are bonuses for safety and security. Biometric checks represented a “step change” in taking a more risk-based approach to security. It would free up about 40% of terminal space because some airport zones would no longer be required to be quarantined.

IATA has received the backing of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). Its president, Gloria Guevera said “biometric technology is the future of travel. It’s very simple. The faster we act, the faster we reap the benefits of the growth that accompanies the adoption of biometrics – namely increased security, efficiencies and a better traveller journey”.

“We have missed the opportunity to have a single solution so it is crucial we move faster to define global standards for the use of technology in the traveller journey,” she said.

IATA’s Careen estimated it would take five to ten years before biometric IDs are fully adopted at all airports across the globe. “You’re going to see pockets of implementation,” he said. “There is not one airport on the planet handling 10 million passengers annually that does not have a plan to introduce some sort of biometrics into the passenger journey.”

Guevera said with passenger numbers doubling by 2035 it was clear there would not be a corresponding increase in infrastructure. “Companies that adopt biometrics early will have a competitive advantage in the market,” she said.

“It was recently reported that 71% of airlines and 77% of airports are researching or implementing biometric programs. We are calling for the aviation industry to overcome fragmentation.”  

IATA’s de Juniac said a single biometric token required “careful planning, broad consultation with users, examination of funding options and a keen focus on affordability.”