FaceBoarding Takes Off in Italy

While you can’t toss your passport in the trash just yet, facial recognition technology is making strides towards making physical identity documents a thing of the past. Take Milan Linate and Catania airports in Italy, for example. They’re currently testing out FaceBoarding, a facial recognition system that lets travellers breeze through security without flashing their passport, ID, or boarding pass.

Here’s how FaceBoarding works: after checking in (either online or at the counter), travellers head to the FaceBoarding kiosk. There, they scan their identity document, boarding pass, and face. Once that's done, they can zip through dedicated security lines without having to dig out their passport or boarding pass again.

Well, almost. If you’re not flying with ITA or SAS—the two airlines currently on board with FaceBoarding—you’ll still need to show your documents before boarding the plane. Bummer, I know.

FaceBoarding Takes Off in Italy

Travellers can register for FaceBoarding for just one flight or for the whole trial period, which runs until December 2025. Registration happens at the FaceBoarding kiosk, but don’t worry, if you prefer the old-school way of traveling, you can still do that. There’s no requirement to use FaceBoarding.

To make things even easier, an app is coming in June 2024. This will let travelers register from the comfort of their own homes. Talk about convenience!

FaceBoarding aims to cut down on airport lines and speed up the whole airport experience. Plus, biometric-based identification can boost security by reducing passport fraud. Airports and international train stations already use biometric data to shorten immigration lines. By snapping a photo of your face and matching it with the one on your passport, your identity is quickly and safely confirmed without the need for a border agent’s manual check.

So, while facial recognition technology like FaceBoarding is making airport security checks smoother, you’ll still need to have your passport or ID handy. For now, anyway. Don’t leave home without them, or you might not get very far!

Why not try out this cool new feature on your next trip to Italy!

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