Emirates receives CBP approval for biometric boarding in USA

Emirates has received approval for biometric boarding from the US Customs Border Protection (CBP).

The green light means that customers flying from Dubai to any of Emirates’ 12 destinations in the US will soon be able to choose facial recognition technology at the departure gates, reducing the time taken for identity checks to two seconds or less. No pre-registration is required.

The technology was piloted at the departure gates of Emirates’ flights from Dubai to New York and Los Angeles through the peak periods in July and August. The airline says that the results were encouraging, with some flights achieving 100% biometric boarding and zero manual checks.

Emirates expects to make biometric boarding available for all its US destinations by year-end once the equipment is in place. Emirates Group Security Divisional Senior Vice President Dr. Abdulla Al Hashimi said: “Safety and security will always remain our number one priority, as Emirates continues to explore and invest in innovative solutions for hassle-free travel that help our customers fly better. Our ultimate aim is to help our passengers travel paperless, without the need for passports and IDs. Biometric boarding is one more step in streamlining processes at our hub using digital technology, saving our customers time and giving them peace of mind. We are talking with authorities of several countries to make security using facial recognition technology more acceptable and accessible.”

Emirates currently flies to 12 US cities: New York, Newark, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

In October last year, Emirates launched the world’s first biometric path to offer customers a smooth and seamless journey at Dubai International airport.