Boarding passes and checking in at the airport will be scrapped after a huge change is set to sweep across UK airports. Passengers will be issued with a digital journey pass containing all relevant information for their trip. If you’re taking a flight, you will be able to upload your passport to your phone and pass through airports using only your face for verification. This change could happen within two to three years.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the UN body responsible for policy, is creating a new digital travel credential which allows information to be stored on devices and used for travel. This means there will be no need to check in for flights online or at the airport.
Instead, airlines will be alerted to a passenger’s intention to fly when they arrive at the airport and their face is scanned, reports The Times.
If you have luggage this will be at a bag drop but for those traveling with hand-luggage, this will be scanned at the pre-security gates.
“These changes are the biggest in 50 years,” said Valérie Viale, director of product management at Amadeus, the world’s largest travel technology company.
“Many airline systems haven’t changed for more than 50 years because everything has to be consistent across the industry and interoperable.
“The last upgrade of great scale was the adoption of e-ticketing in the early 2000s. The industry has now decided it’s time to upgrade to modern systems that are more like what Amazon would use.”
Facial recognition features will need to be put into airports to allow the plans to become possible.
New technology which could be used for these plans will mean passengers will have their biometric passport details stored on their device as part of their “journey pass”.
British Airways, Air France-KLM, Finnair and Saudia Airlines are understood to be examining the technology for their passengers.
This concept and new technology could make the airport process much quicker, easier and smoother for passengers.
