Nearly half (44%) of passengers have passed through automated passport controls in 2018, up from the 21% in 2017, a SITA 2019 Passenger IT Insights report found.
The proportion of airline passengers who used automated technology for passport checks last year has more than doubled compared to 2017, according to a new report, and were more satisfied when doing so.
Nearly half (44%) of passengers have passed through automated passport controls in 2018, up from the 21% in 2017, a SITA 2019 Passenger IT Insights report found.
Passengers were also incrementally more satisfied when using self-scanning gates to verify their ID, compared to using agent-assisted controls, with user ratings improving by 3.85% to 8.36 out of 10.
Automated boarding gates are also speeding up the process. Passengers reported a 2.2% increase in satisfaction when they were able to scan their own documents to board.
“Across the board we have found that passengers are keen to use the biometric self-service process, when given a choice, over 90% of travellers typically opt in,” said Matthys Serfontein, SITA president, Air Travel Solutions. “Actions speak louder than words and it's becoming very clear that people like using biometrics for easy travel.”
Passengers are also becoming more open to using technology in more ways when verifying their identity. SITA reports that 59% are ‘very willing’ to use their mobiles for ID verification along the journey, with a further 33% open to the idea.
While the use of mobile devices for ID verification has yet to see widespread use, nine out of 10 passengers have “potentially welcomed this service”.
SITA’s report draws from its survey of passengers from 20 countries across the Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa.