Security at the FINGERTIPS

The use of biometric information such as fingerprints and facial images to identify travellers promises to increase security and efficiency at airports. Middle Eastern states are among the first to put the theory to the test, writes BRENDAN GALLAGHER
Time Aerospace thumbnail

 

Cairo International’s new Terminal 3, which entered service earlier this year, is as well equipped with electronic passenger handling and information systems as any airport facility in the world. Among the 14 separate capabilities is the first biometric immigration gate system to be implemented in Egypt and North Africa . But it’s just the latest in a string of such installations in the Middle East , which is leading adoption of the technology.

The prime contractor responsible for integrating the Sagem Sécurité-developed system into Cairo Terminal 3 is ARINC. “Middle Eastern states, with the UAE in the forefront, have been investing in biometrics for at least five years,” said Paul Hickox, regional director for the US-headquartered IT and communications provider. “The Europeans, for example, have been slower off the mark and are only now coming into the biometric age.”
This assessment is shared by SITA, ARINC’s Geneva-based rival in the race for airport systems integration business. “The Middle East probably has the most well established biometric systems, with the USA and the Far East following,” said Sean Farrell, director of SITA’s biometric centre of excellence in Boston , Massachusetts . “Europe is finally getting under way, prompted by this year’s mandate requiring the adoption of e-passports – that’s really going to drive deployment.”
In the meantime, the Gulf States are setting the pace, implementing solutions based on the recognition of fingerprints and facial images. In Cairo the Sagem fingerprint recognition system is currently under trial in preparation for operational introduction early next year. “Though we have been heavily involved in the US Visit voluntary programme for border control for the past four or five years, this is our first foray into biometrics in the Middle East ,” reported Hickox. “But we are talking to a number of other countries in the region and in Africa .”

Early-adopter states include Dubai , Abu Dhabi and Qatar . “In those countries the use of biometrics to improve the efficiency of border controls is an intrinsic part of the airport and how it operates,” said Hickox. “They quickly grasped the significance of the technology and have moved as fast as anybody.”

The biometric provision in the three states is used primarily for immigration control. Dubai , for example, issues biometric credentials to immigrant workers to track their arrivals and departures. After disembarking from the aircraft, the returning worker presents himself at the e-gate system, where the information on the biometric card is captured and then compared against fingerprints taken on the spot. If the two tally, verifying the traveller’s identity, he is free to pass through the gate.

With their concerns over security and immigration, governments continue to spearhead the adoption of biometrics in airports. Under the US Visit programme, for example, every non-US resident arriving in the country currently has to provide a full set of fingerprints and a facial image. The intention is to go further in the future, also capturing fingerprints on the way out so that the individual’s departure can be tallied with the original entry record.
But now the airlines are also waking up to the possible benefits for their passenger processing in the terminal. “The industry is looking to use biometrics to extend the passenger self-service capabilities that they are already adopting to save staff costs and better use airport space,” revealed SITA’s Farrell. “If they succeed, it will be a win-win for everybody. The feedback about today’s self-service systems is that passengers like being in control, while the airlines get to cut their labour costs.”
Farrell foresees the eventual advent of a largely paperless passage through the airport based on a biometric credential like an e-passport or a national residency card of the kind issued in Abu Dhabi and Dubai . “Typically, the passenger could use the credential to check in at a self-service kiosk, providing a fingerprint as verification to guard against document theft,” he said. “Then a fingerprint would suffice at each subsequent step, from bag drop, via security to actually boarding the aircraft.”

One variation on the theme could be the use of airline-sponsored biometric credentials. “The carriers might want to issue them to their frequent fliers,” Farrell explained. “That would allow them to provide a new range of fast-track differentiated services.”

Following several years of ad hoc biometrics work in Europe and the USA , SITA is close to bringing to market its own suite of software and hardware products under the BioThenticate label – and Middle Eastern airports could be among the first to put them into service.

Farrell said: “We recognised that biometrics was going to be critical to us as a provider of border management solutions and IT infrastructure for airports. After examining the potential impact of the technology across our portfolio we decided to develop a software platform that will allow us to integrate biometrics throughout our existing range of services.”

The BioThenticate software and associated hardware are designed to support end-to-end border management and airport processing applications. Functions include the initial “enrolment” of the traveller – with a desktop system in a dedicated room, at a check-in kiosk or with a handheld device – and subsequent verification with fingerprinting or facial recognition. “Our software will provide the glue to make all this work together,” enthused Farrell.
BioThenticate hardware will include e-gates for two different applications – immigration and aircraft boarding. “Boarding typically has lower security requirements,” explained Farrell. “So we will offer a one-door system, to be lightly supervised by airline staff, that will require the passenger to identify himself before opening to let him on to the aircraft.”

The immigration model will be more complex: “The traveller will identify himself with a biometric credential, such as an e-passport or national identity card, in order to pass through the first door. Then he will provide a fingerprint or facial image for verification. Only then will the second door open to let him into the country.”

How soon can travellers in the Middle East expect to come across SITA-supplied biometrics in action? “Governments and airports are looking to buy this kind of equipment and we are in contact with a number of them,” said Farrell. “We expect to be able to announce pilot programmes in the region from the first quarter of next year.”