Queuing at check-in at the airport and boarding the plane can sometimes be very boring. However, one airport in Germany wants to speed up the passenger process significantly. Frankfurt Airport will start offering biometric check-in services to all travelers in the next few months
Some airlines already offer facial recognition systems for passengers, such as Lufthansa and its affiliated Star Alliance routes (including United, Air China, and Air India).
Frankfurt Airport offers facial recognition check-in for all passengers. This service is expected to cut queue times by becoming the first airport in Europe to open biometric check-in to all passengers.
How biometric check-in works
Compared to queuing at a desk to check ID and documents, a face becomes a boarding pass. Passengers can pre-register securely via mobile device via the Star Alliance biometrics app or directly at the check-in kiosk with a biometric-equipped passport. The entire registration process only takes a few seconds.
Passengers’ faces will then be scanne as they pass through checkpoints, without having to show their documents. The system, dubb “Smart Path,” has been use by more than 12,000 travelers at airport check-in and departure gates.
Star Alliance passengers holding Miles & More cards can have their biometric data stored permanently
while other passengers will register using their identity documents only for the flights booked. All personal information will be delete three hours after the flight departure time, said Sita, the company providing the technology.
“We know from research that when biometrics are introduce, more than 75 percent of passengers will be happy to use them,” said Sita CEO David Lavorel.
Conventional check-in methods will also remain available, the airport confirmed. Biometric technology is also implement at several other major German airports including Hamburg and Munich, but only for Lufthansa and Star Alliance passengers.
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