The future of seamless travel: An expert view

 Franck Maurin
Product and Solutions Director for Passenger Facilitation and Border Control
IDEMIA

“There has been widespread use of remote services and contactless technologies at airports to ensure the safety of travellers and staff. These initiatives not only limit interaction, but also optimise resources and streamline the passenger journey.

“Through the use of remote services, travellers can start their journey from the comfort of their home. For example, they can securely complete their biometric check-in with a selfie. The app’s cutting‑edge software contains presentation attack detection. There is also an increasing interest in contactless biometric technologies, as they will play a key role in mitigating hygiene concerns and regaining the confidence of travellers. The touchless devices can also identify travellers on the move, enabling greater efficiency and a better user experience while respecting their privacy.

“An example of this is Lyon‑Saint Exupéry Airport. VINCI Airports has launched MONA the first travel assistant that uses facial recognition technology to trial a biometric journey, from home to the plane. Once at the airport, travellers use the facial recognition technology to go through the various check points from luggage drop to boarding (with the exception of border control) simply by showing their face.

“Further to this, passports are about to be digitalised, so that they can be stored in a smartphone – this is called Digital Travel Credentials (DTC). Travellers will be able to use their own DTC easily and securely via their smartphone to identify themselves, either from home for the check‑in, or in the airport for border crossing. Think about a secure border control process as smooth as boarding!”

Borry Vrieling
Founder and Managing Director
Eezeetags b.v. 

“Over the last month at my office, we have felt the growing optimism in the airline industry to reopen. Travel agencies are reporting very sound booking rates for summer 2021 and seat schedules are following. Although the speed in which regional international air travel will recover is directly related to vaccination rates, one thing is for sure: once travel restrictions are lifted, we will take off to catch a change of scenery, adventure and vitamin D.

“When reconnecting, the physical distancing will stay, not only because it is rule of thumb, but far more because it has become part of our system. Like watching a movie in which the scene is a busy market, sports event or concert, has almost become a scary picture.

“The logistics at an airport of handling thousands and thousands of people within a certain timeframe is normally already a challenge. Adding health screening, PCR testing and vaccination passports whilst maintaining the physical distance between passengers will add a whole new challenge.

“Fast turnaround times have become the core business of many airlines to maximise the utilisation of their fleets and are as dependant on smooth airport operations as they are on air slot times. There is no need to take off if 50 per cent of your passengers are still waiting at bag drop or the next bus to take them to the aircraft due to long queues or limited capacity.

“The industry is, with the rising optimism, starting to realise these new challenges, and therefore at the eezeetags® office in the Netherlands, e-mail, phone and virtual meetings are, after months of complete silence, again a daily energy. We are now advising customers on the operational benefits that a low hanging fruit product like eezeetags® can be easy, fast and clean – empowering passengers to a non‑staff-assisted, truly self-service travel experience.”