Travelers continue to prioritize speed and convenience and are increasingly embracing biometrics and off-airport processes to deliver it, according to the latest results of a global passenger survey released Wednesday by the IATA, the International Air Transport Association.
Taken together, the trade association for world airlines sees the findings as evidence for the need of a more streamlined process for travelers to book airfare, maneuver through airports and travel more easily and securely.
“Passengers have made it clear: They want to spend less time booking and move through the airport faster,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president for operations, safety and security. “And they are increasingly willing to use biometric data to complete more pre-departure tasks off airport to achieve this.”
To reinforce that point, IATA announced Wednesday the first successful test of what it called a fully integrated digital identity travel experience.
The journey, on a British Airways flight between London’s Heathrow Airport to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, was intended to illustrate the potential of using biometrics with integrated digital travel documents.
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“Our vision for future travel is fully digital and secured with biometric identification. While the technology exists to do this at each stage of a journey, linking these steps together has proven challenging,” Careen said. “Today with our partners we showed that it is possible. This will open up a world of possibilities for simpler journeys in the future.”
The appetite appears to be there. The passenger survey, based on over 8,000 responses from more than 200 countries, showed three-quarters of passengers said they prefer using biometric data over traditional passports and boarding passes. And nearly 9 in 10 indicated they would share their immigration information to speed up the airport arrival process.
“Passengers want technology to work harder, so they spend less time ‘being processed,’ standing in queues,” Careen said. “And they are willing to use biometric data if it delivers this result. But we need cooperation across the value chain and with governments to make it happen with secure technology that is available today.”
IATA is promoting its One ID initiative to help make that a reality. The group’s “Digitization of Admissibility” standards would enable passengers to digitally obtain all necessary pre-travel authorizations directly from governments before their trip, thereby bypassing all on-airport document verifications for an expedited travel process.
Our vision for future travel is fully digital and secured with biometric identification.
Nick Careen - IATA
For now, most passengers can only dream of the experience enjoyed by the IATA test traveler headed to Rome. By sharing data stored on a smartphone’s digital wallet with a travel agent, that passenger got personalized offers from the airlines through the travel agent channel.
After choosing an offer, the passenger received an order generated as a verifiable credential, also stored on the digital wallet, negating the need for an e-ticket. By sharing a digital passport with the airline, the passenger received confirmation and a seat assignment via text message, without any manual data input.
Finally, because the traveler chose to share biometric data while traveling at an airport and airline where biometric gates were available, the passenger was cleared through security, into airport lounges and onto the airport with only a facial scan.
“This is about providing a convenient and seamless option for passengers,” Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said Wednesday at a press conference during the organization’s World Financial Symposium in Chicago. He predicted it might take a year or two to develop the standards necessary to implement such a program.
“This is where we can play a role … in getting a standard that’s acceptable to everybody,” he said.
SITA, Indicio and the government of Aruba began a similar test of a digital travel credential in April. The success of that pilot has now prompted Aruba to move to full implementation of the technology, and SITA and Indicio are working together to introduce it to governments and airport authorities in other countries.
Watch a video about IATA's plan for a fully integrated digital identity travel experience below:
IATA Proof of Concept - End to End Digital Identity
The Phocuswright Conference 2023
Learn more about digital identity solutions in a session at The Phocuswright Conference, November 13-16 in Fort Lauderdale, with representatives from SITA, Indicio and Aruba.