For years there has been talk of implementing facial recognition technology, so as to allow airport procedures to be streamlined in complete safety: now it is Milan Linate airport, first in Italy to introduce Faceboarding. From now on, passengers will be able to board much faster, without needing to have paper documents with them. Let’s find out how it works and what changes for travellers.
What is Faceboarding
The airport of Linate, which also won the title of best airport in Europe in 2023, is leading the way in the use of Faceboarding. This is a new biometric recognition technology to streamline security checks on the ground, thus making pre-boarding procedures much faster. The system is really very simple and intuitive: after having uploaded your documents to the appropriate app (this can also be done at the airport, as we will see later), passengers simply have to put their faces close to a camera present in the totems set up before the turnstiles.
There scanning of facial features, which takes place through special interfaces equipped with recognition systems, will allow you to pass security checks in a few moments, without the need to show your paper documents. “The service is available to all airlines that want to integrate their check-in and boarding systems with the Faceboarding system. This service optimizes the passenger experience at the airport by allowing those who have previously registered to reduce inspection times of their identity documents and increasing their security” – we read in a note from Sea, the company that manages Linate airport.
And as for the privacy? Travelers can also rest assured on this front: in line with the digitalisation measures promoted by the European Union, Faceboarding stores data on three separate servers, without keeping any photos and deleting the registration data after one year. It is therefore a system that guarantees maximum safety and the right amount of privacy for passengers, in a period in which a significant increase in flow is expected. “This year we expect passenger growth of between 8 and 10%” – he said Armando BruniniCEO of Sea.
Linate, what changes for passengers
But in a nutshell, how does Faceboarding work implemented at Linate airport and has been in operation since Tuesday 7 May 2024? First of all, passengers will have to register their documents on the airport app or directly on site, thanks to the specially set up kiosks. Once the documents are uploaded, the system will link each traveler’s face to their identity card or passport. So all that remains is bring your face closer to the appropriate totems and wait a few moments for the camera to scan the biometric traits.
All this leads to a notable streamlining of control and boarding procedures: once they have passed the scanners, in fact, passengers will no longer have to show any paper documents, reducing check-in times. The system has already been tested at Linate, on the route that connects the Milan airport to that of Rome Fiumicino, demonstrating its functioning. And now it is available for all travelers, to allow you to board with greater speed and without sacrificing safety.
