Abu Dhabi airport trials touchless boarding with facial recognition

Abu Dhabi Airports is gearing up to launch advanced biometric technology, which uses a passenger’s facial features as their passport to offer a seamless travel experience.

The technology uses smart cameras to capture an image of the passenger’s face and confirms whether they are cleared to travel.

The same information is then used prior to boarding, avoiding the need to present documents again.

The initiative will be implemented gradually, and its first phase is currently being tested at the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility in Abu Dhabi International Airport, the only US immigration preclearance service in the region that allows passengers to clear US immigration while they are still in Abu Dhabi.

Etihad will be the first airline to implement this technology, and the move comes ahead of Etihad increasing flights to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York from four to 11 flights a week from November 15, 2022.

"The project will commence at Abu Dhabi International Airport and then transferred to the new Midfield Terminal in the future as we continue to be committed to enhancing the airport services and experience," said Eng. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, Managing Director & CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports.

"The advanced technology provides a smooth passenger customer journey, by leveraging biometric data records, which will enable travellers at Abu Dhabi International Airport to check in, clear immigration, access lounges and board their flights using only biometric data, without the need to present passports or boarding passes," explained Major General Suhail Saeed Al Khaili, Director General of the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security.

"This innovation is an important next step in Etihad’s self-service journey. It means Etihad’s US flights become even more streamlined, on top of the benefit of arriving as a US domestic passenger without the need for further delays," added Mohammad Al Bulooki, Group Chief Operations Officer, Etihad Aviation Group.

The system, wholly financed by Abu Dhabi Airports and delivered by NEXT50, an Abu Dhabi tech-based company, will be tested on Etihad Airways flights to the US, and is phase one of a major roll-out that will be introduced throughout the entire airport for all airlines in the coming months.

The introduction of this advanced technology was announced at the Abu Dhabi Air Expo 2022, which is taking place at Al Bateen Executive Airport from November 1 to 3.

Abu Dhabi Airports is trialling advanced biometric technology to create a seamless, touchless traveller verification system, further enhancing the passenger journey @AUH and highlighting the emirate’s transition to a future-focused innovation economy. pic.twitter.com/2JnAu2w1MK

— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@ADMediaOffice) November 2, 2022