Electronics in forefront of airport border checks

This inclues e-visas, automated border control and bac recovery and tracking systems.

Michael Herrero, IATA area manager for the Gulf region, at the Futue of Borders conference in Dubai. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

DUBAI // Electronics will play a big part in the future of airport border checks, aviation experts said on Wednesday.

This future includes e-visas, automated border control, bag recovery and tracking systems, and home printing of bag tags.

With the number of passengers globally estimated to more than double in the next 15 years, reaching seven billion by 2034, the UAE must adapt to the growth, they said.

As the world’s busiest airport, Dubai International handled more than 70.5 million passengers last year and is expected to grow to 103 million by 2020.

Sultan Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy and Chairman of the General Civil Aviation Authority, said the country welcomed recommendations from international organisations to analyse border security risks using technology. At the Future of Borders conference in Dubai, he said the challenge of dealing with increasing passenger numbers lay in smart technology.

“Dealing with millions of travellers brings about many difficulties, such as increase of fraud and those who do not abide by the law. This requires an integrated system of cooperation to face these issues on borders.”

Michael Herrero, Gulf area manager of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said a recent survey found that passengers were still unhappy with airport procedures.

“We have to change the way we do things today,” he said. “We’d like to remove a lot of duplication in the airports, such as the number of checks that happen.”

He said the aim was to make the passenger experience hassle-free.

“We’re looking at auto check-in or no check-in, bag self-tagging and people being able to print their home bag-tag,” he said. “Testing is now happening in Europe and piloting with Qatar Airways and we hope to get approval soon.”

Other procedures include smart flight rebooking during disruptions, bag recovery and tracking, self-boarding, e-visas, automated border control and a one-stop security system.

“There hasn’t been enough progress in terms of a one-stop security system because it’s a question of pride,” Mr Herrero said. “Airports trust other airports, but they do double checks because they aren’t seen as [having] the same level of security. We want to push that forward and regional airports will benefit a lot from it.”