SITA and Skyports Bring Biometric Screening to Vertiports

SITA is moving beyond traditional airports to provide identity services for other forms of air travel. In that regard, the company has signed a new partnership with Skyports to provide the vertiport specialist with end-to-end identity capabilities.

Skyports is planning to use SITA’s Smart Path solution to make it easier for people to book flights on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles. With Smart Path, travelers can use a mobile app to register their identities in advance of their trip. SITA’s facial recognition terminals can then verify those identities when the passengers arrive at the vertiport itself.

In practice, the system will function much like SITA’s deployments at airports. The only difference is that airport vehicles need a runway to take off, whereas vertiports are geared toward vehicles that take off vertically.

Skyports will first install SITA’s technology at its Cergy-Pontoise test facility in Paris, which is slated to open in September of this year. The system will then expand to other vertiports once the two partners have worked out the kinks and demonstrated the utility of SITA’s system in the passenger journey. Skyports is hoping that a simple and accessible passenger journey will encourage more consumers to view advanced air mobility (AAM) as an option when making travel arrangements.

SITA will work with Skyports to develop custom biometric solutions that meet the unique needs of the AAM industry. In addition to biometric onboarding, passengers will be able to use the SITA mobile app to view and book eVTOL flights through an automated scheduling tool.

“Advanced air mobility has presented an opportunity to reimagine the entire travel experience, from the vehicles we use and energy sources we rely on, right down to the way passengers book and check-in to flights,” said Skyports CEO Duncan Walker. “We are partnering with SITA to move into this next stage in the planning and development of the experience for end-users.”

“With Skyports, we have the potential to use existing airport technology to totally redesign the passenger journey,” added SITA Europe President Sergio Colella. “Together we will also work with existing airports to support advanced air mobility solutions in the future.”

SITA’s biometric and mobile screening technology has already been deployed at airports all over the world. The company has been a staunch proponent of digital transformation in the air travel industry as it looks to bounce back from COVID-19 disruptions.

Passenger Terminal Today

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June 16, 2022 – by Eric Weiss