International passengers arriving in New Zealand can look forward to a reduced wait at customs when 29 new SmartGates are rolled out over the next two years.
New Zealand led the way in automated border control kiosks (ABC) with Smartgate but the original concept meant a two-step system where passengers went to a kiosk to scan their passport to see if they were eligible to use the eGates and then went to the actual ABC e-gate to be processed.
The new SmartGates use a one-step process and will be quicker and easier for passengers to use.
The new technology modernises SmartGate by incorporating the passport scanner into the gate, eliminating the kiosk and ticket system currently used.
Customs Minister Nicky Wagner:
“The new SmartGates use a faster, more efficient, integrated process that incorporates the passport scanner into the gate, eliminating the kiosk and ticket. Passengers scan their passport and step up to the biometric scanner, which is an improvement on the current two-step process.
Nine new SmartGates will be installed this year and the remaining 20 installed over the next two years in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch adding to the 22 existing machines.
By the end of 2015, all Australia and New Zealand passports will be e-passports and the machines can also process US, UK and Canada e-passports with plans to add more countries in the long term.
Last year, 10.4 million air passengers crossed New Zealand’s border and 96.4 percent were processed within 45 minutes, well above the global International Civil Aviation Organization standard of 90 per cent.
Morpho
Morpho have been supplying New Zealand with Smartgate since 2009.
Morpho launched the SmartGate Plus trial at Auckland in in June 2013.
SmartGate Plus brings additional convenience as it speeds up passenger processing with a one-step process, eliminating the kiosk and ticket part of the current system. It uses e-gates that have a smaller footprint to meet the space constraints of airports whilst also having Morpho’s latest workflow and biometric matching software. In addition to this, is the solution’s ability to add other biometric capabilities such as fingerprint and iris recognition at a future stage.
