SITA has won in Aviation Technology Achievement at the Air Transport World’s 2018 Annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards, in recognition of its work on a biometric boarding pilot project at the Boston Logan International Airport.
The project was undertaken in collaboration with the US Customs and Border Protection agency and airline JetBlue, and was completed last year. It saw participating passengers’ travel documents replaced with biometrics, thanks to the use of automated facial recognition technology. SITA proclaimed the project a success at the end of last summer, asserting that the biometric technology offered a match rate of nearly 100 percent, and that travelers demonstrated a strong interest in the program.
With the winners now announced, the awards themselves will be presented at a ceremony in Dublin at the end of March.
SITA’s award win comes as governments and stakeholders in the travel industry continue to show a rising interest in biometric travel and security solutions. The CBP has expanded its use of biometric security screening to numerous airports over the past year, while the recent World Economic Forum saw the launch of the biometric Known Traveler Digital Identity program and the head of the World Travel & Tourism Council called biometric border screening “the single biggest opportunity” for the travel and tourism sector this year.
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February 15, 2018 – by Alex Perala
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