Yahoo News British Airways introduces boarding without passports as it installs facial recognition at Heathrow
British Airways is introducing technology that will allow passengers to go through boarding gates at Heathrow using facial recognition.
Biometric devices in Terminal 5 will capture a traveller’s features along with the boarding pass, and then a facial scan at the gate verifies the person’s identity, allowing them to get on the plane without showing documents, BA said in a letter to staff.
The system is designed to speed up boarding and reduce errors, it said. Three gates are now using the equipment, with another 33 planned in the coming months.
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The system will be used initially only for domestic routes, before being extended to international flights.
BA already operates self-service luggage check-in desks at both Heathrow and Gatwick as part of moves to improve the passenger experience.
Troy Warfield, director of customer experience at BA, said the new self-boarding gates and self-serve bag drop points were ways to invest in what customers "value most".
The Telegraph reported this week that British passengers flying home from some countries in the Middle East and North Africa will no longer be able to take laptops, tablets and other electronic devices on board in their hand luggage.
Instead, anyone flying from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia will have to put electronic devices in their hold luggage, despite concerns they could be stolen or damaged.
British Airways is one of the airlines affected.
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