Brisbane Airport in Australia has partnered with airline operator Air New Zealand to trial a new biometric boarding solution developed by air transport technology provider SITA.
The SITA Smart Path solution uses the latest biometric technology to link the passenger’s e-passport and boarding pass to a facial scan at check-in, which can then be used to pass through the automated boarding gate to access the aircraft. The self-service, single-token system is fully automated and eliminates the need to present the traveler’s boarding pass and passport at the final boarding gate.
Brisbane Airport is the first in Australia to trial SITA’s walkthrough Smart Path experience, which integrates with the airport’s existing common-use solutions. Air New Zealand passengers will be the first to trial the system, with plans to expand the service to more international airlines in the coming months.
Roel Hellemons, general manager strategic planning and development, Brisbane Airport Corporation, the airport operator, said, “This is a great opportunity for passengers to help shape the future of travel. We’re always striving to improve the airport experience at Brisbane Airport and this trial will allow us to test and refine new technology that we hope will make standard check-in and boarding processes more efficient and secure in the very near future.
“A key benefit of working with SITA is that its technology integrates with our existing common-use infrastructure – check-in kiosks and boarding gates – and can be used by any airline that operates on a common-use kiosk. As we progress, we hope to integrate with various government systems for immigration and border checks.”
Sumesh Patel, SITA president, Asia Pacific, said, “Australia has long been recognized as a leader in secure border management and passenger processing. Now Brisbane Airport is leading the way with SITA Smart Path. This is a single, secure, self-service process that simplifies passenger processing for everyone – airlines, airports and border authorities. It is early days at Brisbane Airport, but already the response from passengers has been positive.”