Airports to Replace Boarding Passes with Facial Recognition

Check-in and Boarding Passes to Be Phased Out: Airports to Embrace Facial Recognition

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) plans to eliminate traditional check-in and boarding passes within the next three years. In the new system, passengers will complete all airport procedures using digital travel documents and facial recognition technology.

Upon purchasing their ticket, passengers will download a digital ID to their mobile devices, integrating it with their passport data to proceed through airport checkpoints using only facial recognition. This will eliminate the need for paper check-ins and boarding passes.

Valerie Viale of travel tech company Amadeus called the change “the biggest transformation in 50 years.” To address privacy concerns, the system is designed to automatically delete personal data within 15 seconds.