Heathrow goes bio

A full-scale roll-out of new biometric services is being planned by Heathrow from next summer. The new technology will be a first for the airport, with officials saying it will streamline the passenger journey “from check-in to take-off”. Similar moves are in hand at Hong Kong.

The £50m Heathrow project, which uses facial recognition at check-in, bag drops, security lanes and boarding gates, is part of a wider programme to streamline passenger journeys.

When complete, it will result in Heathrow having the world’s largest deployment of biometric products with the long-term aim of passengers being able to walk through the airport without breaking their stride.

Heathrow has already begun using facial recognition in some areas, principally on entry to the UK at the UK border with biometric e-gates but this will be the first time Heathrow will use the technology at every stage of a departing passenger’s journey.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has officially launched its e-Security Gates to verify the documents of departing passengers before they enter the restricted area.

Four gates have been installed at the South Departure Hall at Terminal 1, with 40 more due to be operational airport-wide by the first quarter of 2019 to achieve near-zero queuing time for passengers.

www.heathrow.com

www.hongkongairport.com

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