Imagine swanning through the airport from entry to boarding without having to interact with check-in staff or showing your passport and boarding pass … Well, imagine no more! All of that will very soon be a thing of the past at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport.
Revolutionising the airport experience from something that is often-times painful to something that is easy-breezy, Abu Dhabi Airports has been working closely with The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) and Next 50, an AI-driven transportation solution provider, to roll out this three-phased Biometric Smart Travel Project.
The Project kicked off as part of the launch of the new terminal at Zayed International Airport back in November 2023, when Abu Dhabi Airports and Etihad Airways implemented a series of biometric systems at various touchpoints that eliminated the need for travel documents and interaction with staff. These included automated traveller registration service, self-service baggage delivery, as well as facial recognition verification at e-gates and boarding gates.
Now, in phase two, Abu Dhabi Airports started rolling out the biometric systems for five more airlines at check-in and all boarding gates. New e-gates are also being installed in designated transit areas to register travellers’ biometric data and facilitate facial recognition. The system will soon be installed at the Etihad Airways lounge and duty-free retail outlets as well.
According to Saeed Saif Al Khaili, general director at the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs, and Port Security, “The project reduces the time to serve travellers from 25 seconds to just seven seconds, integrating ticket and travel document verification into a single process and alleviating the burden on human resources by relying on smart gates for identity verification.”
“By 2025, we aim to expand these systems across all security and operations touchpoints and other airlines,” said Andrew Murphy, chief information officer at Zayed International Airport.
The project aims to not only enhance the travel experience at Zayed International Airport, eliminating the need for expensive infrastructure, but also ensure high levels of security and safety, and effectively detecting fraud and forgery in identification documents.
