Austrian Airlines and Vienna Airport have introduced facial recognition at security access and boarding.
The biometric system, called Star Alliance Biometrics, can be used by Miles & More members and enables passengers to travel trough the airport without showing a boarding pass.
Contactless biometric devices with high definition cameras are now in use at Terminal 3. Passengers can keep their FFP2-mask on, which is mandatory inside the terminal.
The facial recognition system can also be used by Miles & More members on Lufthansa and SWISS flights.
The service is already in use at Frankfurt and Munich airports.
Austrian Airlines CCO Michael Trestl:
“The optimization of travel processes is a top priority for us. With biometric technology, we can offer our frequent flyers more travel comfort and a contactless passenger journey. Once registered, the free service can now be used for Austrian, Lufthansa and SWISS flights at our Vienna hub in addition to Munich and Frankfurt airports.”
Julian Jäger, Joint CEO and COO of Vienna International Airport AG:
“Despite the crisis, we keep our quality offensive going and invest in innovative and digital solutions. Miles & More members can take off almost contactless in Vienna, thanks to the biometric technology. We are delighted to be one of three German-speaking airports offering this advanced service.”
How it works
Miles & More members can enrol in Star Alliance Biometrics via the Miles & More app.
Passengers take a selfie, verify their identity by scanning their passport, and opt-in to the airlines and airports where they want to use the service.
The one-time registration must be complete 24 hours before departure.
Members only need to enrol once and can then use their biometric data multiple times at touchpoints of any participating airport whenever they travel with a Star Alliance member airline who has implemented Star Alliance Biometrics.
Data privacy and security
Personal data, such as photo and other identification details, are encrypted and safely stored within the platform. Storage of personal data is kept to a minimum – for example, no passenger names are stored.
Star Alliance encrypts and stores the passenger profiles and data in a Microsoft Azure Cloud
hosted in Europe. The data is subject to and protected by EU privacy laws. Airlines and airports will
not have access to passenger biometric profile data.
Supplier
The Star Alliance Biometrics service is built on NEC Corporation’s NEC I:Delight biometric and identity management platform software.
N.B. Image credit: Austrian Airlines
