Those units located at the border officer’s control point will be equipped with Thales EES Border Control Clearance Software and Thales devices such as document readers with embedded document verification, fingerprint scanners and face pods with a facial capture system. Combined, these integrated systems will deliver a fast and secure identity enrolment and clearance process for non-EU citizens at borders.
The contract will be executed over the next eight months, with systems deployed at airports, ports and land crossings throughout Spain. Funded by the EU’s Internal Security Fund, the new system will facilitate the border clearance of travelers while increasing the security at the Schengen borders, following the European Union’s adoption in 2017 of a new directive for the deployment of a biometric Entry-Exit registration system (EES) for member states.
Speaking exclusively to Passenger Terminal Today at Passenger Terminal Expo, Francoise Bergasse, market manager, biometric border and travel solutions, Thales, said, “The regulation stipulates very specific, high quality requirements with regard to face and fingerprint capture, as well as document verification, which are far higher than those governing current passport photos. We have paid particular attention to lighting, while also ensuring that the units are compatible with passengers of all heights, whether short or tall. We also use two high-res cameras to speed the process – it only takes one minute for each passenger to enroll and be fully verified.”
Thales is currently trialling the system at Paris-Orly. Visitors to Passenger Terminal Expo can try it out for themselves on Booth Z1.3000.
