“The companies anticipate the participation of about 10,000 passengers, who will have the opportunity to enjoy expedited, automated airport screening via facial recognition and document reading technologies…”

Gatwick Airport is getting ready to launch what it calls an end-to-end biometrics program that will enable travelers to use self-service luggage deposits as well as automated eGates for boarding.

In collaboration with budget airline easyJet, the UK’s second largest airport will start things off with a three-month trial program. The companies anticipate the participation of about 10,000 passengers, who will have the opportunity to enjoy expedited, automated airport screening via facial recognition and document reading technologies designed to match data across their passports, boarding passes, and their actual faces when presented to self-service eGates. Gatwick Airport says the process will take less than 20 seconds.

While that all sounds promising, Gatwick Airport says the trial program will allow administrators to assess the system’s performance and related trends, and to subsequently adapt it for expanded implementation, with the airport’s management anticipated that it will be deployed across the entire airport.

This is, of course, reflective of a worldwide trend as airports around the world begin to embrace biometric passenger screening – a trend that is already very well underway in the UK. But with its aspiration to implement a nearly fully-automated biometric passenger processing system, Gatwick Airport is positioning itself at the trend’s vanguard.