LAWA demonstrates self-service biometric boarding solution by Vision-Box
Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), British Airways, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Vision-Box officials were on hand in the Tom Bradley International Terminal this afternoon to observe passengers boarding BA Flight 280 to London Heathrow International Airport with a rather unique credential – their own faces.
In addition to the Boeing 777, British Airways is scheduled to use facial-recognition technology developed by Vision-Box and supported by CBP to board an Airbus A-380, also bound for London Heathrow, later in the evening.
Following testing of the equipment late last year, LAWA and British Airways are continuing a pilot program to demonstrate the capabilities of the technology by using it for two nightly departures to London.
“Biometric boarding, where a passenger’s face is their boarding pass, merges two of our highest priorities – improving the guest experience and enhancing security and safety for all those who travel through or work at LAX,” Justin Erbacci, LAWA Chief Innovation and Technology Officer Justin Erbacci. “LAX is proud to be the first location in the United States to pilot this unique, paperless, biometric boarding process. These biometric boarding gates are one more way in which LAX is leading the pack, embracing and implementing innovative technology that will help create the world-class airport that Los Angeles deserves.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a congressional mandate to implement a biometric exit system at its ports of entry and has been working with LAWA’s Information Management and Technology Group on the testing of this equipment at LAX. Each passenger’s photo is captured by the e-Gate system and then sent to CBP for matching to the digital photo captured during the initial immigration process.
British Airways was the first to test this “one-step,” contactless process that relies on the facial recognition capabilities of the system alone, rather than coupled with a boarding pass.
The Vision-Box e-Gates, have been installed at Gates 152, 154 and 156 in the Tom Bradley International Terminal, and additional airlines are making plans to test the technology as well.
“We are very proud to have come up with an industry-changing solution that all stakeholders can rely on. In the end, it’s about collaboratively raising security and efficiency standards, while eliminating choke points from the airport journey, offering frictionless interactions and the best experience for passengers until they’re comfortably seated on the aircraft. That is a Seamless Passenger Journey.” from Miguel Leitmann, CEO of Vision-Box.
Date: 19/01/2018
