According to officials, the use of passports for travel will soon become obsolete as biometrics and facial recognition technology become increasingly prevalent in global travel. Passengers utilizing Terminal 3 of Dubai Airports will be able to travel without passports later this year, as Emirates airline plans to facilitate passenger check-in through their own identity into boarding the aircraft. Major General Obaid Muhair bin Suroor, Deputy Director General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), announced that a new system will be implemented in November, whereby passengers will use their biometrics to clear all procedures. Dubai Airports has been working on this project for several years, utilizing the latest biometric technology to facilitate a touchless travel journey for passengers. During the Global Conference for Shaping Future Policies of Ports, officials stated that travelers' faces and fingerprints will serve as their identity, making travel smoother, seamless, and faster at airports. However, they also called for data sharing between airports to expedite the flow of passengers. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, opened the conference at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, on Tuesday.
Adel Al Redha said technology is the solution to the
challenges the aviation sector faces.
“The number of
check-in counters will not increase as airport infrastructure is limited. The
only way to address this issue is to walk through seamless operations. Seamless
operations come with reliable technology. But we are not there yet. In the
future, we should be relying on 90 per cent automaton and 10 per cent on human
interaction,” he said, adding that the airline has moved from 5-10 per cent of
passengers directly making reservations to more than 50 per cent.
