Back to Air Transport IT Review - Issue 2, September 2009

Placing a spotlight on security processing

Industry Insight: Using IT for safer and more convenient travel

Technology is significantly improving the flow of passengers through airports. But bottlenecks remain. The spotlight is now falling on security processing, where there are opportunities to use new technologies and automation to streamline the entire journey to and from the aircraft.

Finding the balance between security and facilitation has become a hot topic of discussion within the air transport industry.

"According to passenger surveys, the Security checkpoint is one of the main causes of frustration," says Guenther Matschnigg, Senior Vice President of Safety, Operations and Infrastructure at IATA, and he believes the issue is becoming more pressing as passenger numbers recover and grow, while airport space remains limited.

Governments need to show consistency in approach, by managing complex and continually evolving requirements so that the burden on both airlines and passengers is reduced.

Needle in a haystack

"The vast majority of passengers or cargo that we see - they are not a security risk," says Alan Craig from the UK Border Agency. But there needs to be a way of "blowing away the hay" to find the 'needle in the haystack'.

Technology clearly holds some of the answers.

"Automated clearance systems ... are a key element of the vision to expedite clearance of low risk passengers" explains Craig. "By using biometric technology and documentation that fixes identity, together with giving improved information at the primary line, this can help not only enhance the security of the control, but also ensure that border officials can work more efficiently."

SITA security experts agree. "It's biometrics ... together with risk analysis." So says Tom Marten, VP of Government and Security Solution, about future border management.

Sean Farrell, SITA's Director Biometrics & Government Security expands. "Biometrics focuses on the passengers you do know, while risk analysis - data mining APIS and PNR data, for example - focuses on the people you don't know."

Biometrics potential

But biometrics will not just be for border management. As e-passports and e-visas becoming increasingly common there is the potential to use biometrics at other contact points along the passenger's journey, such as at the gates as part of an automated boarding system.

"There are today over 60 countries issuing e-passports" says Farrell. "This is an enabler for the industry in terms of being able to roll out more and more secure self-service processes around biometrics. Eventually it will become a single seamless process." he continues.

While the industry is strong on vision, there are still some difficult challenges ahead. Some are technology related issues, such as whether airport IT infrastructure can support the data load from real-time biometric systems.

Storage of biometric data in airline reservation systems and integration with CUTE and CUSS technologies will also have to be addressed if biometrics is to move beyond small scale trials.

Global standards - gaps

Another problem is global standards and uniformity.

"There is a huge gap in terms of technology for security screening. There is no globally recognised standard right now and certification for equipment," says Matschnigg.

"We can optimise the use of technology, and introduce a process of continuous improvement by setting standards and having certification. International standards enable governments to trust each others technology, recognise each others' measures and also allow better competitiveness in the technology market."

IATA estimates this could cut costs for baggage and passenger screening by 5%, or US$90m per year.

A single mechanism for transmitting data to governments also needs resolving if the process is to minimise airline costs. "We need to have consistency with data exchange standards, be they for Advanced Passenger Information, Passenger Name Records, cargo or crew information" Matschnigg continues. "And we need to find ways that the information can be used not only for law enforcement purposes, but also to facilitate the passenger's journey."

End-to-end journey

Although there is a consensus that technology can play a significant role in border management, a common message is that it needs to be approached from a holistic standpoint. "In order to get the most out of technology, and ensure a cost efficient solution we need to consider the whole journey from end-to-end," says Matschnigg.

It's a message endorsed by Craig. "There is no point the border being super-efficient if you are going to have to wait for your baggage".

Biometric trials

Passenger arrivals and departures through the UK is forecast to rise to 300 million by 2015. The UK government is turning to biometric technologies to help process low risk passengers through border controls. Two trials are currently operating.

Iris Recognition Immigration Service (IRIS)

IRIS has been running for four years and is currently available in 10 terminals across 4 airports. As the name suggests, it uses an eye print to verify the passenger's identity. It is one of the few automated entry systems that accepts third country nationals in its membership.

Enrolment to use the IRIS system is free and done in advance, taking around 5-10 minutes to complete. Once accepted as a member of the IRIS programme, passengers can then pass through automated immigration control barriers by looking into an eye recognition camera. The procedure takes approximately 20 seconds. No smart card or token is needed.

So far, there are over 310,000 people enrolled to use the system with over 2 million crossings taken place.

Facial recognition gates

A second trial being conducted by the UK Border Agency uses new biometric passports as a token for automated border crossing. Entry gates use scanning equipment to compare the face of the passenger to the one stored on their e-passport.

The trial, currently taking place at Manchester and Stansted airports, is aimed at holders of EU biometric passports. To date, the UK alone has issued over 17 million such passports.

One of the purposes for the trial is to establish whether there are clear benefits for both passengers and for staff, as well as get experience of working with the technology.

Early results have not been publicized but according to Alan Craig of the UK Border Agency the trials are proving extremely popular. "Over 420,000 travellers have used the gates" he says, "because it has been so successful ... we are going to be trialing additional gates at another 8 terminals across the UK later this year".