Miami International Airport (MIA) expects to offer biometric boarding via facial recognition on all international flights sometime next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once complete, the installation, which will cover all 130-plus gates at the airport, will be the largest implementation yet of biometric exit technology at a U.S. airport, according to MIA and technology partner SITA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“There should be a reduction in time and an increase in passenger sentiment as our industry continues to grow and we are moving more and more passengers throughout our aviation ecosystem,” said Maurice Jenkins, director of information systems at MIA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At biometric gates, departing international flyers aren’t required to show a boarding pass or passport. Instead, they have their photo taken by a biometric facial-recognition system. The photo is then matched to passport photos that the Department of Homeland Security keeps on file.\u00a0<\/p>\n
U.S. Customs and Border Protection began testing biometric boarding for international departures in 2019. A video released by MIA on Tuesday from trials there show the process taking only a couple seconds per passenger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
MIA has used facial-recognition technology since 2020 to automate document checks for arriving international passengers.<\/p>\n