11,700+ Biometric Solutions at Airport Borders Drives Wider Automation in Airports

Introduction

With 11,791 biometric border control solutions deployed in airports globally, nations around the world continue to show an appetite in enhancing their border clearance processes through the deployment of automated and biometric technologies. Increasingly, regulations are being put into place that mandate the capture the biographic, biometric, and entry/exit data of travellers; highlighted by the recent introduction of the European Union’s EU Entry-Exit System (EU-EES), the full-scale launch of the United States’ Biometric Entry-Exit Programme, expansion in Canada and numerous other initiatives across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East. The latest update to our Smart Airports Tracker highlights this changing dynamic and its knock-on effect on wider adoption in some airports with insight at an individual airport-level for eGates, kiosks, pods and totems.

Such investment is necessary due to passengers demanding a faster and more seamless border crossing experience, increasingly sophisticated threats challenging national security, and international traveller volumes forecasted to reach 19.5 billion by 2042; a notable two-fold increase compared with 2024 levels, per a joint study from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and Airports Council International (ACI). In order to comply with these operational mandates, the installation of hardware solutions that capture and leverage traveller biometrics, record entry/exit data and enable self-service clearance are essential. The chart below highlights the number of tracked solutions deployed at the ‘Border Control’ touchpoint, split by region:

Figure One: Number of Tracked Solutions Deployed at the ‘Border Control’ Touchpoints by Region

As the figures highlight, Europe leads the tracked installed base by a wide margin, with over 3,200 more tracked solutions than the second largest region (Asia-Pacific). Alongside this, we can observe the increase in the adoption of hardware solutions at the border control checkpoint from 1H23 – 1H25, with a total of 1,823 new tracked solutions being captured in that 24-month timeframe. This boost in adoption can be attributed to large scale initiatives around the world that require the installation of biometric hardware, most notably Europe’s Entry-Exit system and the USA’s Biometric Entry-Exit. In contrast, regions like Africa and Central and South America have seen far less investment into automated solutions both historically and in the present day at border control checkpoints in airports, with both regions being noted as laggards in the adoption of automated and self-service hardware solutions in Valour Consultancy’s upcoming report entitled ‘Smart Borders 2026 – The Future Evolution of Land, Sea and Air Borders’ due to a perceived lack of priority, readiness, finance and/or political willingness to further enhance their borders in alignment with more advanced nations.

Investment at Borders Drives Wider Automation in Airports

Within the self-service landscape in airports, one of the most commonly deployed solutions for enhancing security and streamlining passenger throughput is the eGate, an automated and selectively biometrically enabled barrier that allows travellers to pass through pre-security, boarding and border control (most commonly) via self-service clearance. When analysing the number of tracked eGates deployed by region (across all touchpoints), we can observe an interesting trend.

Figure Two: Number of Tracked eGates Deployed by Region:

As the data suggests in Figure One, the nations that lead the pack in terms of total deployed solutions at the border control checkpoint (Europe and Asia-Pacific) also have deployed the most eGates across every touchpoint (pre-security, boarding, customs and lounge). While these two nations dominate the tracker in terms of tracked deployments, there is currently noise and a focus on further automation in the North American market with the introduction of CLEAR pre-security eGates being deployed across its network of airports. If these smaller scale deployments prove successful, expect to see further eGate adoption across other airport checkpoints given the influx of air travel that is expected within the region across the next five years due to the FIFA 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics Games.

ABC eGates were first deployed by border agencies to deliver operational gains and increased security, alongside streamlining the clearance process. After successful deployments at the border control checkpoint, airports realised the gains that could be acquired across the passenger journey, further encouraging them to invest in this self-service infrastructure to speed up other commonly bottlenecked checkpoints. We expect investment and installation into eGate infrastructure to rise steadily across the world, especially across smaller tiered airports as they begin to realise the benefits of automation and self-service processing.

Valour’s Airports and Borders team will continue to accurately identify and record installations of eGates and supporting infrastructure that promises to streamline the clearance process for travellers globally. The Smart Airports Tracker is a detailed dataset that tracks and records the installation of hardware solutions across the world’s airports. Solutions that are tracked include eGates, kiosks, pods and totems, bag-drop units and identity management platforms. Currently, the Smart Airports Tracker tracks installations in 3,848 individual airports classified across four tiers (Tier 1 – Tier 4) based on annual passenger volumes. As of the December 2025 release, the tracker has recorded 2,195 unique contracts around the world with high levels of granularity, while identifying and recording another 138 contracts since the June 2025 release. Our clients leverage the tracker in a multitude of ways, with the highly granular nature of the service providing them with a detailed view of the current state of the market; allowing them to conduct high-level competitive analysis and identify potential sales and development opportunities. If you are interested in learning more about the service and how it can level up your operations, or if you would like to schedule a demo with the team, please click here.

About Us

Valour Consultancy is a UK-based provider of market intelligence and consultancy services founded in 2012. Our offering includes syndicated reports, custom projects, surveys, end-user analysis, and consultancy projects.

Valour Consultancy’s Airports + Borders team focuses on identifying and analysing the developments within airports in the modern world. It offers syndicated research reports across multiple topics including:

Please press on the associated link if you are interested in finding out more regarding the scope of a report or if you are interested in participating in the research phase; there are a multitude of benefits to doing so.

Shubh Karbhari, Market Research Analyst

Introduction

Investment at Borders Drives Wider Automation in Airports

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11,700+ Biometric Solutions at Airport Borders Drives Wider Automation in Airports

Introduction

Investment at Borders Drives Wider Automation in Airports

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“The new report on aircraft seating and in-seat power systems provides a very comprehensive market and industry landscape information – the first of its kind containing that level of detail.”

“The Future of Aircraft Seating and In-Seat Power report came at a pivotal time for us as we look to the future of our in-flight offering. It has helped shape our internal strategies and highlighted areas we need to dig into more deeply. Valour has become a trusted resource and partner.”

“The Future of Aircraft Seating and In-Seat Power report came at a pivotal time for us as we look to the future of our in-flight offering. It has helped shape our internal strategies and highlighted areas we need to dig into more deeply. Valour has become a trusted resource and partner.”

“Valour’s maritime connectivity report provides the most comprehensive, detailed understanding of the market, with clear independent insights into the market trends and inhibitors. We use this report as the bible for our business strategy and marketing on what is happening in the industry.”

“Valour Consultancy’s report on The Future of Body Worn Cameras and Systems is well written, detailed and an excellent insight into the key markets. The analysis of the global law enforcement market was extensive and provided us with valuable industry information of this evolving market.”

“In a global market as dynamic as in-flight connectivity, Valour has established itself as a reliable source of market intelligence and insightful analysis. The team is responsive to requests and clearly engaged in improving an already impressive product.”

“The team around Valour Consultancy equips us with the value-added intelligence needed to make well-informed business decisions in a very dynamic market. The passion and knowledge of the team make it a real pleasure to work with them.”

“Astronics is using Valour Consultancy’s 2016 in-flight connectivity report extensively. We’ve found it highly useful in our long-range planning and it has aided in our market research.”

“The Valour Consultancy report on in-flight connectivity provides very detailed insights on the market and it constitutes a very useful tool for the marketing and strategy team at SITAONAIR. The Valour Consultancy team is also very friendly and we enjoy our working relationship with them.”

“Valour Consultancy has provided an incredibly thorough perspective on the in-flight connectivity space, offering insight into drivers of the current and future state of the quickly growing category.”