In alignment with clear mandates, governing bodies leverage biometric technologies to streamline entry and exit processes. With strategic technological investment and deliberate safeguards, these systems can evolve to meet the needs of today*s growing traveler volumes. Interviews and trial results indicate that passenger satisfaction with biometric technology is high. However, daily airline operations can impact boarding times and biometric confirmation rates. Without airline partnership and support, costs and staffing requirements can skyrocket.
Identification
Identifying travellers is the basic requirement for all border control operations and involves verifying that the person on the other side of the border or passenger terminal gate is who they claim to be. Identification technologies use a one-to-one match of captured biometrics (face, finger, eye, etc.) with a reference stored locally or remotely. Authentication goes further than simple identification by comparing the unique identifying characteristics of an individual to those stored in a database. For example, facial recognition compares a live capture of the individual’s face to templates previously captured from photos and video. This allows a high level of certainty that the person presenting to the border control is who they say they are (Mayhew, 2012). While biometrics can help increase efficiency and accuracy at air borders, there are other ways for airports and airlines to make travel smoother for their passengers. These include leveraging the power of mobile and self-service to provide an end-to-end biometrically enabled journey from coach to gate, deploying multimodal self-service touchpoints and introducing automated boarding gates that can process large volumes of travelers in much the same way as manual counters.
Ultimately, the success of any biometric program in air travel will depend on the level of cooperation from stakeholders. CBP’s entry-exit pilot found that in 2017, airline cooperation to bypass the biometric matching process resulted in only 75 percent of passengers being correctly identified (DHS, 2018). As a result, airlines have started to opt back to the standard scanning of boarding passes to reduce boarding times. To prevent this from becoming an unbreakable habit, the implementation of robust enforcement mechanisms is required, along with a clear plan to fund the staffing and equipment necessary to ensure the biometrics program can operate effectively in a variety of operating scenarios.
Security
In addition to improving operational efficiency, biometrics can enhance travel security. In the case of facial recognition, for example, it is touchless, reducing the risk of disease transmission from contact with travellers. In the context of global pandemics, such as the coronavirus, this is especially important (IATA 2020). Biometric technologies can also enable process simplification by reducing the number of steps required and the associated human intervention. The ability of biometrics to provide accurate identity confirmation can be enhanced by combining multiple modalities, such as facial and iris. This can increase the accuracy of verification and improve scalability to address increasing passenger numbers.
However, a key consideration in biometric implementation is to ensure that a system is designed to prevent circumvention by hackers and other criminals. This requires that the systems be robust and able to verify the identity of a traveler against a database that contains a large number of images. It is also necessary to safeguard the image capture process by ensuring that a raw image is not transmitted, but rather the template that represents the captured biometric data in a series of binary digits such as 1’s and 0’s. The need for robust systems is heightened when airlines bypass the biometric entry-exit program and instead scan boarding passes at the gate. This occurred during the CBP biometric entry-exit pilot at Dublin Airport in 2017. Bypassing the biometric process undermines the value of the technology and leads to slower processing times, which can cause delays for bona fide passengers attempting to board on time.
Convenience
Travellers can verify themselves before they reach the airport, removing the need to proffer documents at border control. This can speed up the process and enable travellers to skip a queue, reducing wait times. It also enables the elimination of manual processes, freeing up staff for more important and valuable work. Face biometric comparison systems have a high level of accuracy and are safe to use. The matching algorithms search a database of facial templates for a match with the capture image, eliminating the need to compare and store multiple images. This technology complies with privacy laws, as images are not stored in the system but rather transferred as “templates” which are a series of encrypted binary numbers. In addition, interviewees confirm that a number of features ensure that the system keeps privacy intact and is safe for passenger use (such as vision filtering).
However, there are some challenges with using biometrics to verify traveller identity in a passenger flow context. Firstly, the system is reliant on wireless networks and frequent disruptions can cause delays in data exchange with airlines. In addition, there is a risk that airlines might bypass the biometric entry-exit program at the airport and resort to standard scanning for boarding, thereby defeating its larger aim of verifying traveler identities with higher accuracy. As a result, CBP needs to develop back-up procedures and enforcement mechanisms to prevent this from occurring.
Privacy
In contrast to passwords and badges, biometrics can’t be lost, stolen or compromised. In addition, unlike paper travel documents and ID cards, fingerprints and iris scans are impossible to forge or fake. These advantages make biometrics a powerful tool for increasing security, usability and inclusivity in air travel.A biometric entry-exit system is also a more efficient solution than traditional methods. By automating the process and removing bottlenecks, it can increase operational efficiency, improve user experience and allow CBP officers to focus on more critical tasks (Kosmerlj et al., 2025). However, interviewees noted that the facial recognition technology used in the trial was prone to network availability issues and slowed down the exchange of data. Moreover, airlines often need to revert back to traditional scanning processes after flight boarding due to the high volume of passengers and limited resources. This can lead to delays and may erode the airline’s willingness to use the technology in future (CBP, 2018).
To overcome these issues, it is recommended that multimodality is integrated into the system. This can reduce the time required to match and confirm a passenger’s identity using various modalities such as facial recognition, iris or fingerprint recognition. The result will be faster processing times and a more effective border control system in a pandemic environment. In addition, stakeholders must be engaged and educated about the benefits of the new technology to help overcome any hesitancy to use it.