Boarding passes and traditional check-ins are set to be abolished as part of the most significant overhaul of the aviation industry in half a century.
Passengers will soon be able to upload passport details to their smartphones and pass seamlessly through airports using only facial recognition technology, under proposals by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The ICAO, a UN body that sets global aviation policy, is introducing a new "digital travel credential" that will allow travellers to store and verify their passport information on their mobile devices.
Checking in for flights—either online or at the airport—will become obsolete. Instead, passengers will download a "journey pass" when booking flights, which will update automatically if details change.
Airlines will be alerted that passengers intend to fly once their faces are scanned at the airport. Travellers with hold luggage will have their faces scanned at bag-drop points, while those with hand luggage only will be verified at pre-security gates before departure.
Valérie Viale, director of product management at Amadeus, the world's largest travel technology company, told The Times: "Many airline systems haven't changed for more than 50 years because everything has to be consistent across the industry and interoperable.
"The last upgrade of great scale was the adoption of e-ticketing in the early 2000s. The industry has now decided it's time to upgrade to modern systems that are more like what Amazon would use."
The move will require substantial upgrades to airport infrastructure, including facial-recognition systems and scanners capable of reading passport data directly from smartphones. The systems will only verify the information—matching faces to passports—and will not store personal data, reducing the risk of breaches.
Viale's reference to Amazon highlights how aviation leaders aim to adopt similar advanced digital technology, enabling passengers to store flight information and associated bookings such as car hire and hotels, alongside biometric passport details, all securely on their mobile phones.
British Airways, Air France-KLM, Finnair and Saudia Airlines are among the carriers currently exploring the new technology. British Airways said its "suite of digital experience tools" would allow it to "anticipate the needs of modern, digital travellers, providing them with exceptional experiences across their journey.”
