Sydney Airport to Trial Face Recognition Technology
Sydney airport, the largest in Australia, is going to adopt facial recognition technology very soon. The passengers can be passed through the international terminal without showing their passport, face recognition cameras will do the job for them. The technology is coming to this airport in May for trial basis initially.
Geoff Culbert, the chief executive of Sydney Airport said that,
“Your face will be your passport and boarding pass. There will be no fumbling for passports,”
He believes that biometric technology could bring a revolution in the airports to increase the passenger satisfaction by reducing the hassles of checking.
Qantas airline’s passengers will test this system this year. If the project is successful, then the airport will embrace the solution permanently and extend it to other airlines.
The system will work in six steps including check-in, bag drop, border processing, security screening, airport lounge and boarding gate after showing their passport only once for identity verification.
It is reported that facial recognition technology helps to reduce the average amount of time people spent to pass through Customs from about 4 minutes to 23 seconds.
Initially, passengers who want to be a part of the trial have to register with Australian Border Force. The requirements like photographs and other stuff have not been declared yet.
Mr. Culbert said that “It will make the travel process so much easier for customers,”
“You can check in for your flight at home on the couch using facial-recognition technology using your smartphone,” he also added.
The airport set a budget of $1.5 billion over the next four years to upgrade the terminals and airfield. It includes the expense of expanding terminal gates and resurfacing runways up to $420 million this year.
Mr. Culbert also has a focus on cleanliness, ambiance, and other stuff passengers are concerned about. He said that,
‘‘They are concerned about things like the quality of the bathrooms. They want more charging stations,” “They are also concerned about things in and around the airport. We have done a lot to improve the roads in and out.”
However, this isn’t the first face biometric adoption example in airports. U.S., China, Singapore have also adopted this technology recently.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
