Beginning this year, passengers traveling through Frankfurt Airport (Fraport) can breeze through the various steps in the journey – from check-in to boarding – simply by scanning their faces at biometric touchpoints across the airport. This solution will be rolled out and available to all interested airlines at the airport.
The implementation will see additional biometric touchpoints installed by spring 2023. From enrolment at a kiosk or counter, to pre-security automated gates and self-boarding gates, passengers can use biometric technology to seamlessly pass through each stage of the journey by simply scanning their face.
The project breaks new ground in the development of digital travel by providing a true common-use biometric platform at all Fraport terminals, open to all airlines operating at the airport. It combines day of travel enrolment, Star Alliance Biometrics, and additional biometric hubs under the umbrella of the SITA Smart Path platform.
For Lufthansa passengers specifically, thanks to the integration of SITA Smart Path with Star Alliance Biometrics, the technology makes use of their biometric identities if enrolled on Star Alliance's platform, enabling seamless identification of these passengers without additional process steps across multiple participating airports and airlines.
This implementation plays a key part in paving the way for the rollout of biometrics across Star Alliance's global network, as it endeavours to have more of its 26 member carriers using biometric technology progressively. Key learnings from the Fraport project will be considered for further implementations across the network.
The NEC I:Delight digital identity management platform, which is fully integrated with SITA Smart Path, ranked No.1 several times as the world's most accurate face recognition technology in vendor tests conducted by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It allows passengers who have opted to use the service to be identified quickly and accurately, even on the move. Passengers who do not wish to use the solution can check in using a traditional check-in counter.
