[LINK] Sydney Airport launches face-scan check-in trials

[Stephen Loosley]

Australia is a step closer to replacing passport check-ins with face scans.

The plan, which was announced early last year, is being trialed by Qantas on passengers for flights into the Sydney Airport this week.

The move is an attempt to replace the “inconvenience” of relying on more traditional paper passports.

“We’ve worked with Qantas from the outset and are delighted to be partnering with them as we trial this technology,” Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said in a statement provided to the press.

“In the future, there will be no more juggling passports and bags at check-in and digging through pockets or smartphones to show your boarding pass,” he added.

“Your face will be your passport and your boarding pass at every step of the process.”

It’s still very early stages in a process that isn’t exactly being rolled out overnight. After all, implementing such technology for Sydney’s 43 million annual passengers is pretty large undertaking, even without myriad security and privacy concerns to contend with.

To start with, the technology will be utilized for international flights, to help automate check-in, boarding, lounge access and bag drop. Moving forward, the airport also hopes to implement it for mobile check-in and customs processing.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/05/sydney-airport-launches-face-scan-check-in-trials/