Rome’s Fiumicino airport has started a trial of facial recognition for departing passengers.
Italy’s largest airport is the first in the country to test using biometrics at departures.The aim is to speed up the check-in, security and boarding processes by using facial recognition at each step.
Passenger facial biometrics are captured at check-in and used at security and boarding. Passengers only need to have their picture taken and details captured once. That data is then checked against live pictures taken at security and boarding.
It also means that passengers do not have to repeatedly show their documents or boarding pass.
The airport says that passengers will be given the opportunity to volunteer for the biometric security checks.
The six-month trial involves passengers flying from Fiumicino to Amsterdam with KLM.
Fiumicino is the largest airport in Italy with throughput of approximately 43 million passengers in 2018.
How it works
A multimedia device captures the passenger facial biometrics and acquires the information contained in the passport and boarding pass.
The captured biometrics are then used and compared with live pictures taken of the passenger at security and boarding. It is similar to the how e-gates for automated border control already work.
No photo will be saved. The passenger information is deleted once they have boarded.
Supplier
The trial system is in partnership with Vision-box and uses their Seamless Flow solution.
Miguel Leitmann, CEO | Vision-Box:
“Vision-Box is extremely proud to accompany Aeroporti di Roma Fiumicino in their Digital Transformation program in the world of Seamless Travel, offering a premium passenger-centric experience to participating travelers. Together we aim at establishing the practical foundations of IATA One-ID for Italy by leveraging our market knowledge and worldwide real-life expertise in simplifying the lives of passengers by using biometrics in a responsible and scalable manner.”
N.B. Image credit: Fiumicino Airport
