Friday, April 5, 2024
In 1930, air travel saw a mere 6,000 passengers, a number that skyrocketed to nearly 500,000 by 1934. By 2019, this figure exploded to 4 billion, with projections from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) anticipating 8 billion annual air travelers by 2040. Clearly, the demand for air travel is booming.
To accommodate this surge, the industry has initiated 425 major construction projects valued at approximately US$450 billion across existing global airports. Additionally, 225 new airport projects were launched in 2022, as reported by the Center for Aviation. However, physical infrastructure alone won’t suffice. Without cutting-edge digital solutions, airlines and airports will struggle to manage the influx of passengers, impacting the quality of travel experience.
SITA’s Biometrics White Paper, titled ‘Face the Future,’ underscores the immense strain on existing and upcoming airports, national borders, and airline resources due to the surge in air travel. Traditional paper-based and manual processes are simply inadequate to handle the load.
The solution lies in leveraging facial and fingerprint biometrics to streamline and enhance the air travel experience, ensuring both safety and efficiency. Through advanced technological solutions, SITA aims to address various industry challenges such as space constraints, staff shortages, and evolving passenger preferences.
The white paper delves into successful case studies like the Star Alliance Biometric initiative and the Indian government’s DigiYatra program, showcasing the efficacy of SITA’s end-to-end biometric passenger processing solution, Smart Path.
Stefan Schaffner, VP of Airports at SITA, explains: “SITA Smart Path biometrically enables every step of the passenger journey, from mobile enrollment to aircraft boarding and every point in between and beyond. With facial recognition across as many airport touch points as you need, it lets passengers manage their identity across their whole journey, in a unique and touchless way. The final result is a radically improved travel experience.”
The white paper discusses additional solutions leveraging advanced biometrics technology. These solutions encompass SITA Flex, a platform for passenger processing shared across multiple users, and SITA Border Management, which encompasses border control, risk intelligence, and travel authorization. Both solutions enjoy widespread recognition in the industry and are utilized by over 40 airports worldwide. Furthermore, the white paper delves into SITA’s Digital Travel Credentials (DTC) solution, eagerly awaited for its ability to provide verifiable digital identities shared prior to arrival, facilitating seamless border crossings with passenger consent.
As an active participant in both the IATA’s One ID initiative and the International Civil Aviation Organization’s DTC, SITA spearheads the implementation of border-grade DTCs and contributes to shaping stringent standards for biometric-based passenger identity management. Notably, SITA DTCs were instrumental in establishing Aruba’s Happy One Pass, enabling arriving passengers in the Caribbean nation to disembark at international arrivals and traverse the border seamlessly without halting or presenting travel documents.
The white paper underscores a vision of the future of air travel characterized by safety, ethical considerations, and full integration of biometrics. It underscores the importance of prioritizing privacy, flexibility, and adaptability.
With the release of the white paper, accompanied by its case studies and insights, the imminent transformation of travel is evident. The surge in global travel demand underscores the pivotal role of biometrics in shaping this evolution.
Monday, April 29, 2024
Monday, April 29, 2024
Monday, April 29, 2024
Monday, April 29, 2024
