Emirates has invested AED 85m (US$23m) to install more than 200 biometric-enabled cameras across Terminal 3 at Dubai International, enabling more customers to pass through check-in, immigration, boarding gates and lounges and board the aircraft by facial recognition.
Eliminating the need to take out a passport and boarding pass at various points in the airport, the new biometrics initiative is a collaboration between the airline and the General Directorate of Identity and Foreigners Affairs Dubai (GDRFAD), that reduces processing time for all registered customers. The cameras are designed to recognize the biometric profile of a customer from 1m away.
Any Emirates customer can sign up for the biometrics program on the Emirates app, at the self-service kiosks at the airport or at check-in desks. Once registered, they can use biometric facial recognition to check‑in at kiosks whenever they fly from Dubai. Customers will also soon be able to use biometrics at Connections when transferring to another Emirates flight.
If a person has visited Dubai before, or is a resident of Dubai, and has a biometric record with the GDRFAD, Emirates can match their facial image against their GDRFAD profile once the person registers. If the person does not yet have a GDRFAD profile, Emirates can create a temporary biometric profile to register consent for Emirates Biometrics. Once the person enters Dubai, the temporary profile will be converted to a GDRFAD profile and Emirates will use that next time they fly to and from Dubai.
Read our exclusive interview with Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports