Passengers Warm to Biometrics: But Demand Shorter Queues

By Milan Korcok

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), passengers worldwide seem quite willing to share their biometric data (face scans) with border authorities if it means faster travel processing and less time in lengthy queues.

Referring to a 2021 Global Passenger Survey which tallied responses from more than 13,500 respondents from 186 countries, Nick Careen, IATA’s Vice President of Operations, Safety and Security reported that 73 percent said they were willing to provide such biometric data to streamline their travel and airport check in processes. That is up 27 percent over 2019 when only about half of respondents showed any enthusiasm for the biometric screening process.

Mr. Careen noted in his statement that” Before traffic ramps up, we have a window of opportunity to ensure a smooth return to travel post-pandemic and deliver long-term efficiency improvements for passengers, airlines, airports and governments.”

Survey findings also showed that 88 percent of respondents were prepared to share immigration information prior to departure if that meant speedier border clearance, and about 86 percent who have used the process before were satisfied with their experience.

Nonetheless, 56 percent of respondents were concerned about data breaches and 52 percent wanted to know who their data is being shared with.

Altogether, more than half of passengers insist that pre boarding queueing must improve.

The IATA report also emphasized that processing time at airports is taking longer and that is problematic, noting that pre-COVID, the average passenger spent 1.5 hours in travel processes (check-in, security, border control, customs, and baggage claim). But those times “have ballooned to 3 hours during peak time with travel volumes at only about 30% of pre-COVID-19 levels. The greatest increases are at check-in and border control (emigration and immigration) where travel health credentials are being checked mainly as paper documents.”

Milan Korcok is a national award wining medical writer who has been covering international medical and travel health issues for leading professionals journal in the United States, Canada, and the UK for many years. He works and resides in Florida.