Back to Air Transport IT Review - Issue 2, September 2010
Achieving seamless travel with security
With passenger numbers back on a growth path and expected to result in over seven billion travellers annually transiting airports by 2020, it is no surprise that finding ways to speed-up airport border checks while keeping the skies safe is a hot topic.
Attendees of the tenth Air Transport IT Summit clearly agreed, as its Border Management Industry Insight session attracted over 70 delegates to hear a panel of experts discuss how tighter security and faster facilitation will go hand-in-hand.
Previously the two had often been viewed as separate sides of an equation with the industry spotlight on facilitation and governments on security. But that view has changed says Stephan Copart, Project Manager of IATA's Fast Travel programme.
"For example, the Fast Travel programme had been focused on facilitation and left aside the security aspect, but now it is seen as all part of the same process."
Passenger experience
To accommodate the change in thinking IATA has re-organized its work groups to ensure a more holistic view of the passenger's journey is taken.
"We have merged the Simplifying the Business programme with the Simplified Passenger Travel initiative to form a cross-industry Passenger Experience Group," explains Copart. "This allows us to address the big picture - to bring new stakeholders into the working group like governments to work with us on addressing the entire end-to-end passenger process."
So with security now part of the solution and not just part of the problem, can we expect the queues at airport checkpoints to disappear?
Not straight away according to Thomas Marten, SITA's Vice President of Business Development. "The weak link in the system is validation of identity. Officials need to be sure that the person who presents themselves at the airport is the person they say they are. Today it is done manually, either by the airline check-in agent or by the immigration official. Tomorrow - or today in some countries - it will be automated using biometrics."
Biometrics
Bobby Varma, Director of Business Development at iris recognition specialists Sarnoff Corporation agrees. She believes biometrics offer the silver bullet that will help solve the security versus facilitation puzzle.
"Securing airports by questioning every passenger is just not feasible. It would cost in the range of $62 billion to $150 billion - more than 10 times the current spend on airport security. We need technology to help process the low risk passengers so that questioning can be focused on the high risk."
It is a solution that has been talked about for many years, but Varma believes that the technology is now mature and robust enough to turn the words into action. "Using high accuracy verification technology, such as our 'Iris on the Move' system means we can do high throughput - 30 people per minute - with minimal obtrusiveness."
If that sort of level could be maintained in a live environment, automated border exit and entry systems would be a real possibility to expedite the vast majority of low risk travellers.
Advance risk assessment
But while biometric technology is crucial for verifying the identity of a passenger it will not be enough on its own, says Marten: "It is all about advance risk assessment. To determine that though governments need to capture data on the passenger and make a decision about them before they arrive - high risk, low risk, or somewhere in between."
In essence, a consolidation of data known on a passenger will determine the risk assessment, while the biometric data will make sure that assessment is applied to the right person.
It is the direction most countries are going in. But to be truly effective requires moving beyond national borders and working together at the international level, so that threats are thwarted, such as the Christmas Day 2009 attempt to blow up a US-bound flight.
Cooperation
Marten believes that is now widely accepted. "We are going to see a lot more cooperation between governments - we are already seeing this in the EU."
Inevitably, that will raise privacy considerations, but those are being addressed in some parts of the world says Marten:
"The European Parliament, which is probably the greatest defender of privacy in the world today, has adopted a framework for PNR [Passenger Name Record] data. That will lead to a legally safe way to collect and use it that balances privacy with security and facilitation aspects, as well as retaining the benefits of using this data."
And the benefits should not be underestimated. The South African government's deployment of SITA's Advanced Passenger Processing system, which verifies the right of a passenger to board an aircraft bound for South Africa, is estimated to save the government R1.8m per year from processing more travellers with fewer staff, while airlines save R54m per year on fines and repatriation costs from improperly documented passengers.
Importantly, passengers also benefit. Travellers who have becoming increasingly used to waltzing through airport check-in areas thanks to web, mobile phone and kiosk technology will find they can continue that experience using automated border gates.
As Marten says: "When passenger biographic solutions and biometrics converge you will never really have to deal with a human as you go through the airport - it will be self-service the whole way."
Eyeing the future
Bobby Varma,
Director of Business Development
Sarnoff
We have seen significant changes to airport security since 9/11. I think it is also fair to say that it has taken some time for technology to catch up to those changes. However, I feel we is now at a point where technology can significantly increase both the accuracy and the efficiency of airport security.
For example, Sarnoff has developed iris recognition technology that can capture images of passengers' eyes while they are in motion. They do not have to stop and position their head to have their iris recognized.
This is critical in an airport where any slight hold up in the processing of passengers can cause long queues and frustration, as well as delayed flights.
The technology works with people walking briskly, at 2.5 mph (4km/hr), whether they are wearing contact lens or eyeglasses. It is designed for high throughput applications where both security and facilitation are important. It also works well as an employee access system to facilitate movement in secure areas or for flight crews boarding aircraft.
As more biometric products are deployed in real-world applications, the technology and systems continue to advance. These systems will have the ability to capture multiple biometrics for simultaneous iris, facial and fingerprint recognition from one device, delivering increased security for air travel in a more efficient and cost-effective way.
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