Emirates airline has launched an integrated biometric path at Dubai International Airport (DXB). The contactless airport experience is now open to all Emirates passengers travelling from and through Dubai.

The biometric path will give passengers a seamless travel journey from check-in to boarding gates, thus improving customer flow through the airport with less document checks and less of queuing. Utilising the latest biometric technology – a mix of facial and iris recognition - passengers can now check in for their flight, complete immigration formalities, enter the lounge, and board their flights, simply by strolling through the airport.

The various touchpoints in the biometric path allow for a hygienic contactless travel journey, reducing human interaction and putting emphasis on health and safety.

Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer, said: “Now, it is more vital than before to make use of technology and implement products, and introduce processes that focuses not only on fast tracking customers, but, more importantly, on health and safety during their travel journey. The contactless biometric path is the latest in a series of initiatives we have introduced to make sure that travelling on Emirates is a seamless journey.”

At all strategic points

The biometric touchpoints are installed at select First, Business and Economy Class check-in desks in Terminal 3 at DXB; immigration gates including a “smart tunnel”; Emirates’ lounge entrance in concourse B, as well select boarding gates. Areas where biometric equipment are installed will be clearly marked and additional units will be installed at each touchpoint.

The Smart Tunnel, a project by the General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA) in collaboration with Emirates, is a world-first for passport control, where passengers simply walk through a tunnel and are “cleared” by immigration authorities without human intervention or the need for a physical passport stamp.

Emirates is also the first airline outside America to receive approval for biometric boarding from the US Customs Border Protection (CBP). Customers flying from Dubai to Emirates’ destinations in the US will be able to choose facial recognition technology at the departure gates.