Finnair is the latest airline to introduce biometric boarding at Los Angeles Airport.
The airline started using facial recognition for boarding on April 9th. It means that passengers can board the aircraft without the need to show their boarding pass or passport.
When passengers approach the boarding gate their facial biometrics are taken by a high-resolution camera integrated in the eGate
The image is securely sent to the U.S. CBP TVS (Traveler Verification Service), which does a matching process with the stored biometrics. These were initially captured during the immigration process.
The system reconciles the passenger and his flight, recognizes the passenger as eligible to enter that flight and opens the eGate door.
The passenger may then board the aircraft.
Finnair says passenger feedback is very positive and the airline plans to start biometric tests at its home in Helsinki Airport. Those are planned with the airport operator Finavia and Vision-Box.
The biometric self-boarding solution has been running since 2017 in the scope of the US Biometric Exit trial program, and following a partnership between Vision-Box, Los Angeles World Airports Authority (LAWA) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
British Airways started using the biometric boarding system at LAX in late 2017. Lufthansa started using biometric boarding at LAX in early 2018.
Vision-Box Traveler flow orchestration platform
The solution comes from Portuguese company Vision-Box and is based on their Traveler flow orchestration platform. The self-boarding eGates were designed to offer an ergonomic passage, a friendly experience and high speed in passenger throughput. The eGates also offer a self-service method to change seat.
N.B. Image credit: John H. from Pixabay
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Los Angeles World Airports (LAX)
