Collins Aerospace has completed the installation of new biometric screening technology at Tokyo’s Haneda International airport, which it says will “streamline passenger processing through reduced physical interactions and bottlenecks at multiple passenger touchpoints”.
The project has seen the addition of 98 self-service check-in kiosks, 30 biometric enrollment kiosks, 104 biometric devices for self-bag drop, 17 biometric automated security gates, and 42 biometric automated self-boarding gates.
“Our ‘Face Express’ system will allow passengers to efficiently proceed through procedures at the airport utilizing facial recognition, eliminating the hassle of showing their passport and boarding pass,” said Shoichi Ohashi, Tokyo International Air Terminal Corporation’s senior manager for the Facility Department.
“We worked closely with Collins Aerospace to achieve this and enhance passenger convenience at Tokyo Haneda airport.”
The use of biometrics has been growing steadily at airports in recent years, but Covid-19 has given the technology a new focus, enabling a reduction in human interaction at check-in and immigration.
Last year Emirates launched an integrated ‘biometric path’ at Dubai International, enabling customers to experience a contactless travel journey through the airport, while fellow Gulf carrier Etihad recently partnered with information technology company SITA to trial the use of facial biometrics for cabin crew check-in.
Earlier this year Iberia also began a biometric facial recognition trial at Madrid airport, including the use of “tablet-type mobile equipment”, which the carrier says will enable a limited number of units to cover a large number of flights to different destinations.
