Air France’s pioneering work in the field of biometric innovation rewarded at the FTE Awards!

Air France received the Bronze Award for the implementation of its biometric boarding pass at the airport during the Future Travel Experience (FTE) Global Awards in Las Vegas.

The partnership between Air France and Idemia has allowed to develop a totally innovative Biometric Boarding Pass solution, which greatly improves and simplifies the customer’s baggage drop-off and boarding process, in strict compliance with personal data protection laws and regulatory requirements (matching of passengers’ passports and boarding passes). The decision to combine the “customer journey” and “facilitation / security” procedures made this innovative solution possible.

This solution involves encoding the passenger’s biometric facial data in their Biometric Boarding Pass barcode, while fully complying with the principles of confidentiality. Two cameras, positioned at the automatic baggage drop-off area or integrated in the security-screening gate in partnership with Paris Airports, identify and authenticate the passenger. From this point, passengers no longer need to present their ID (national ID card or passport) and still benefit from a reinforced level of security. This process has been the subject of regular and intensive exchanges with the regulatory authority.

Several tests were carried out successfully this summer, firstly with Air France, Paris Airports, KLM and IATA staff as well as on 5 flights to Cape Town. As from this autumn, the biometric boarding pass will be rolled out on a much larger scale at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.

 “I wish to thank our teams for their audacity and ability to innovate to serve our customers. This award recognizes and rewards their efforts, of course, and also our global innovation strategy” stated Alain Hervé Bernard, COO and Accountable Manager of Air France.

Since 2011, the FTE Awards have been celebrating and rewarding air transport professionals’ best initiatives to improve the customer experience, both on the ground and in-flight.