Miami International Airport introduced face recognition system for Lufthansa passengers, which was first tested on flight 461 to Munchen. Thus, the passengers do not need a passport and boarding pass. The test will be carried out using a camera equipped with facial recognition technology.
“Miami International Airport continues to introduce innovative solutions designed to speed up and simplify the process of passing all the formalities for our guests”, commented Mayor of Miami-Dade Country Carlos A. Giménez. “I look forward to when the airport fully switches to using the new biometric system. This will significantly improve the quality of passenger service”, added he.
The partnership between Miami Airport, Lufthansa, the US Border Guard Service, and SITA (international IT providers in the field of air transport) allows verification of the authenticity of the passengers’ identity at the gate with one photo and confirm permission to depart. According to the customs service, the recognition process takes less than 2 seconds, while the accuracy is 99%. Airport representatives expect other carriers to join the system by the end of the year.
“Every day, our employees serve about a million foreign passengers at the US border using various technologies to maintain the high level of security of international tourism”, said Chris Maston, head of the Miami Port Border Control Service. “The cooperation of Miami-Dade County with Lufthansa Airlines and SITA gave impetus to further improve the conditions for passengers at Miami Airport. Thus, we have made a step towards the introduction of a biometric entry and exit system, which will completely change the format of travel in the future”, added he.
“Lufthansa is proud to be the industry leader and trendsetter in the field of innovation and digital development, an important place among which is the biometric landing system”, said Bjork Becker, senior director of the Land and Digital Services division of the Lufthansa Group. “This technology makes passing passenger checks much easier and more efficient, speeding up the landing process and at the same time providing additional security. We are happy to be the first airline to launch this innovative system at Miami Airport”, added he.
The introduction of a progressive landing system followed another digital innovation of the airport: in February 2018, Section E of the Central Terminal became America’s first fully “biometric” arrivals area, identifying all passengers on international flights. The decision, which reduced the time spent checking partner travelers by 80%, brought the airport the award in the “Quality of Service and Comfort of Passengers” category at the International Airport Review 2018, where more than 80 nominees from all over the world were presented.
“We are proud that our cooperation with SITA and the US Border Guard Service allowed Lufthansa passengers to access this latest technology”, says the statement of Miami Airport. “The use of biometrics is one of many approaches that we use to modernize our infrastructure and ensure maximum comfort for passengers”, adds the statement.
