Amsterdam Schiphol aims to be a Leading Digital Airport by 2018. To this end, after testing new security scanners, a multilingual robot to guide passengers through connecting flights and, more recently, a control system that allows passengers to leave computers and liquids in their hand luggage, the Dutch hub is now tackling biometric boarding.
In collaboration with KLM, Amsterdam airport is offering travellers the chance to test access to aircraft using facial recognition on a voluntary basis. After checking in at a dedicated kiosk, they will have to scan their passport, boarding card and face. "All this data will be erased once boarding is complete", says the airport.
They will then be directed to a dedicated gate, where they will be able to pass through this aircraft access control without having to take their boarding card out of their pocket or search through their smartphone. This test period will last at least three months, during which Schiphol and KLM will evaluate the time saved and the reliability of the system, as well as the customer experience.
Dubai International Airport (DXB) is also using new technology to speed up aircraft boarding. As part of its DXB Plus programme, which aims to increase the airport's capacity to 118 million passengers by 2023, the airport is looking at ways of optimising the routing of passengers by bus from terminal 2 to aircraft in the open sea. This Intelligent Traffic System (ITS) will ensure better coordination of buses and, above all, higher occupancy rates. The new system ensures that the buses depart almost full, with an average of 60 passengers compared with 40 previously, a reduction of 20 % in the number of rotations. This is the first time that this technology has been implemented and used in this way," explains Bryan Thompson, Senior Vice President of Development at Dubai Airports. This system is very safe and provides a fully automated solution for coordinating the departure of buses, with a consequent reduction in waiting time for passengers".
