The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is trialling biometrics at checkpoint screening.

The agency said it is conducting a proof of concept demonstration to evaluate the operational and security impact of using biometrics to verify passengers’ identities using their fingerprints.

The biometric technology enables a passenger’s fingerprints to serve as both a boarding pass and identity document.

For one month starting next week, the TSA will assess the technology at one TSA Pre lane at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and one at Denver International.

Passengers using the service first register their fingerprints with TSA Pre. The biometric technology then matches passenger fingerprints with those they provided when they enrolled in TSA Pre.

Once the technology finds a fingerprint match, it is able to obtain the passenger’s boarding pass information through Secure Flight.

Participation is voluntary and, all participating passengers will also be subject to standard ID and boarding pass checks. This is to check how the biometric technology works compared to the current approach.

TSA will analyse the data collected during the trial period to examine the potential for implementation at other U.S. airports in the future.

This is the latest in a sudden burst of biometric trials with airlines and airport around the world.