Boarding passes could become a thing of the past in air travel shake-up
By Stuff.co.nz|
Boarding passes and checking in for flights could be scrapped in favour of facial recognition and a "journey pass" stored on passengers' phones.
These ideas are the latest shake-up to the aviation sector as part of international organisation plans to digitise air transport.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations body responsible for crafting airline policy, plans to dramatically shake up existing rules for airports and airlines through the introduction of a "digital travel credential".
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The ICAO is a specialised agency of the UN that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.
The "digital travel credential" would allow passengers to store passport information on their devices to be used for travel.
On Friday, The Times reported in the UK that this type of digital passport technology was "two to three years" away from becoming reality for British airline passengers. However, industry experts disagreed that such a significant change was imminent.
So what would change for me?
Currently, those flying must check in, which can be done online or at the airport on arrival. They are then issued with a boarding pass with a barcode.
This is scanned by a passenger at various points throughout the airport, including at the gate before boarding.
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The changes would mean boarding passes would no longer be issued and passengers wouldn't check in for flights either. At least not in the way it's done now.
Instead, flyers will download a "journey pass" to their phone when they book a flight. The pass will be automatically updated if any changes are made to the booking.
Passengers will also be able to upload their passports to their phone and travel through airports using their face for verification. Instead of manually checking in, which would let airlines know who intends to board their flights, airlines will instead be alerted when passengers arrive at the airport and their face is scanned.
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The new technology appears to be there
Valérie Viale, the director of product management at Amadeus, a travel technology company, told the Times that the changes were "the biggest in 50 years". She said: "The last upgrade of great scale was the adoption of e-ticketing in the early 2000s. The industry has now decided it's time to upgrade to modern systems that are more like what Amazon would use."
Infrastructure upgrades at airports, including facial recognition technology and the ability to read a passport from a mobile device, would be needed for the plans to be carried out successfully.
"Many airline systems haven't changed for more than 50 years because everything has to be consistent across the industry and interoperable," Viale said.
The new technology could spark privacy concerns but Amadeus said it had developed a system where passengers' details were wiped within 15 seconds of each contact with a "touchpoint" – such as the pre-security gates.
How delays and connecting flights are handled could also change. Under the technology being developed, passengers who miss connecting flights due to delays out of their control could automatically be sent a notification on their phones with details of their new onward flight. Their journey pass would automatically update and they would be allowed to board the new flight.
This article originally appeared on Stuff and has been republished with permission.
