Around 40% of airports say they’ve implemented biometrics at some service points already, with a further 50 % planning to roll it out in the near future, particularly at bag drop.

Investment in biometrics is being driven by a desire to ‘improve the passenger experience’ at 56% of airports, to ‘improve security’ for the same number and to comply with regulations for 38% of respondents. Airports also pointed to ‘cost reduction’, ‘attracting airline partners’ and ‘the ability to process more passengers’ as drivers for biometrics at the airport.

While biometrics are now being deployed at airports across the world, the US is perhaps leading the way today.

Here, the US Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) handles the matching of the passenger’s biometric image to its database of passenger images which simplifies the entire process for the industry. Under a federal mandate, CBP’s program has led to a significant number of international passengers now being verified with biometrics when they leave the country.

Amadeus is actively supporting the rollout across the US with deployments at tens of US airports including Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International and Sacramento International. In fact, the number of passengers processed using Amadeus Biometric Solutions in the US has increased more than three-fold over the past 12 months.