Emirates Airline is set to launch its fully integrated ‘biometric path’ service at Dubai International Airport to more quickly process passengers using biometric technology such as facial and eye recognition.
The latest biometric passenger system, known as Smart Tunnel, has been deployed at Emirates Terminal 3 at Dubai International for a trial.
The implementation, which is said to be the world’s first, will enable the airline’s passengers to complete check-in for their flight, immigration formalities, enter the Emirates Lounge and board their flights simply by walking across the airport.
Travellers will have to walk through a tunnel where they will be ‘cleared’ by immigration authorities without human intervention or the need for a physical passport stamp.
All biometric data will be stored with General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), and passengers invited to participate in the trials will be asked for their consent.
Emirates executive vice-president and chief operations officer Adel Al Redha said: “These groundbreaking initiatives are a result of close collaboration with our stakeholders – particularly GDRFA who have been instrumental in the programme to bring the biometric path to fruition.
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By GlobalData“The recent launch of the Smart Tunnel trial by GDRFA is a great achievement and clearly demonstrates the unique and collaborative nature of innovation at Dubai airport. All systems will eventually be linked with each other resulting in better service to our customers and a happier journey whether arriving, departing or transiting in Dubai.
“This is very much in line with Emirates’ ‘Fly Better’ brand promise. We will soon invite customers to participate in the trials for our biometric path, and we look forward to their feedback.”
Besides select check-in counters, the equipment has been installed at the Emirates Lounge in Concourse B for premium passengers and at select boarding gates.
As soon as the internal trial is finished, Emirates will roll out trials for biometric processing at the other points at the airport such as check-in, lounge, and boarding gate.