Athens Airport Begins Trial of SITA’s Smart Path

Athens Airport has become the first airport in Europe to adopt SITA’s Smart Path biometric identity verification platform. The new system is now in a trial phase for people flying with Aegean Airlines.

To use the service, travelers must first scan their passport and have their photo taken when they check in at the airport. The Smart Path system then allows them to pass through security checkpoints and board their planes with only a facial recognition scan.

“[Smart Path] has reduced the time taken to check in and verify passenger identity at security to only a few seconds,” said Alexandros Ziomas, the Acting Director of the IT&T Business Unit at Athens International Airport. “It will solve a key challenge for us by ensuring a steady flow of passengers to the security area.”

The Smart Path solution is built on top of the airport’s existing gates and kiosks, so it will be easy to expand the scope of the platform assuming the trial goes well.   

“Most airports around the world already have self-service infrastructure in place,” said SITA Europe President Sergio Colella. “Installing Smart Path is cost-effective and easy to implement and the passenger experience is tremendously positive.”

First introduced in 2016, SITA’s Smart Path has already been deployed in Brisbane, Orlando, and other airports around the world. The company plans to expand to more locations throughout 2019 as biometric airport screening becomes more popular.

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March 28, 2019 – by Eric Weiss