Biometric bonus for Emirates

The race to become the first airline from outside the US to receive approval from the country’s Customs Border Protection (CBP) for biometric boarding has been won by Emirates.

Passengers flying from Dubai to any of the airline’s 12 destinations in the US will soon be able to choose facial recognition technology at the departure gates, reducing the time taken for identity checks to 2sec or less.

Emirates says no pre-registration is required, and passengers can also choose not to use the technology. The airline does not store any of the biometric records as all the data is managed securely by CBP.

The technology was piloted at the departure gates of Emirates' flights from Dubai to New York and Los Angeles in the July and August peaks.

Results were said to be encouraging, with some flights achieving 100% biometric boarding and zero manual checks. The airline says it now expects to make biometric boarding available for all its US destinations by the end of this year once the equipment is in place.

Emirates launched the world's first airport biometric path in October last year to offer customers what is described as “a smooth and seamless journey” at Dubai International.

www.emirates.com

www.cbp.gov

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