Travelers flying from France can now prove their identity at the airport with a digital ID card on their phone, after the government activated the France Identite app for boarding and checked-baggage drop-off at all French airports.
Passengers can present the digital identity card held in the France Identite application in place of a physical document when boarding and when dropping off checked bags, the public administration confirmed. The capability works at every French airport regardless of the flight’s destination, though it does not extend to foreign airports and cannot be used for the identity checks conducted at border crossings, where a physical passport or card is still required. Travelers still need a valid boarding pass, and a ticket when checking bags.
Using the credential is a matter of opening the app and displaying the digital identity card, which appears full-screen with the holder’s photo and name for an airline employee to inspect. It is a visual document check rather than a biometric gate: staff read the on-screen card as they would a physical one, not a face scan against a database. The government advised travelers to update the app before reaching the airport, since a last-minute update can lengthen the process.
France Identite is open to residents aged 18 or over who hold the newer bank-card-format national electronic identity card and run a recent smartphone operating system. The government notes that citizens can renew an older ID card free of charge to obtain the electronic version that the app requires, a prerequisite that ties the digital rollout to the pace of the physical card refresh.
The activation delivers on a plan the country signaled months ago, when the France Identite app was approved for boarding at domestic airports starting this summer. It also extends a steadily widening ecosystem around the credential, which recently saw Namirial’s wallet join the France Identite ecosystem as the app adds use cases beyond identity display.
Sources: Service-Public.gouv.fr
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
