As we continue to roll out updates to our new smart airports tracker service, we’re providing readers with top-level insights into how the market for self-service, automation and biometric equipment across the various passenger touchpoints is developing. Last month, we focussed on self-bag drop in what turned out to be a hugely popular article and so, in the same vein, this piece takes a deeper look at the market for automated border control (ABC) eGates.
A Mature Touchpoint
While ABC eGate adoption started in the early 2000s, it wasn’t until biometric ePassports became more commonplace in the years either side of 2010 that adoption gathered pace. Between 2010-2015, the number of countries introducing ABC eGates continued to rise in line with the issuance of sufficiently high volumes of ePassports. 2015-20 saw these countries start to expand their ABC eGate footprints, introducing them at tier 2 and 3 airports, while several new countries began their rollout; all with the aim of facilitating quicker processing of passengers, reducing personnel requirements and minimising queues as passenger volumes continued to grow. In addition to incoming border control, a growing number of countries started to introduce them at outbound immigration checkpoints too.
At the end of 2023, Valour Consultancy estimates that there were 5,650 ABC eGates in use in airports throughout the world. 57% of these are located in tier 1 airports, which process in excess of 30 million passengers annually. Tier 2 (15-30 million passengers) and tier 3 (5-15 million passengers) each account for about 16% of the total, with the remainder found in tier 4 airports (<5 million passengers).
While initial tenders tend to encompass volumes in the 10–25-unit range, key airport hubs – particularly in those regions more receptive to automation – can see much more expansive rollouts. Changi Airport in Singapore is a case in point. We estimate there are >230 inbound and outbound ABC eGates in operation across the airport’s various terminals. This compares to an average of 61 for all tier 1 airports. However, Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), is not content to stop there. In May 2023, IDEMIA was awarded the contract to rollout the next-generation contactless Automated Border Control System (ABCS). The deal will see a staggering 800 ABC eGates from Dormakaba and Gunnebo replace manual counters at checkpoints with installations beginning in Q1 2024. While this number includes land and sea border crossing points, there will be a big increase in the number deployed not just at Changi but also, at its smaller “sister” airport, Seletar. What’s more, the ABC eGate count at Changi will grow further once the humungous Terminal 5 project completes at the end of the decade.
Figure 1: Global ABC eGate Installed Base and Average Deployment Size by Airport Tier (2023)
Source: Valour Consultancy
Growth Opportunities Remain
Though Singapore is an example of a country where large numbers of new ABC eGates are being added to an already sizeable installed base, there are several countries where the rollout of this technology has only just begun. And in the first few months of 2024, we have observed several interesting examples:
- In February, Nigeria’s Ministry of Interior initiated a nationwide project to deliver 40 ABC eGates in five of the country’s airports by the end of the first quarter.
- Further boosting the continent’s contribution to the global count is South Africa. Here 24 new ABC eGates from EASIER are being installed at King Shaka and OR Tambo International Airports, adding to the ten Gunnebo units installed at Cape Town International Airport in 2019 (NB: the initial project phases outlined in this document are running at least a year behind schedule).
- Mexico is bucking the overarching North American trend (though we count it as part of Latin America in our statistics!) to eschew ABC eGates in favour of the kiosk / manual counter approach. 12 Gunnebo eGates were installed Mexico City International Airport in 2022, while a total of 37 Vision-Box units into Cancun and Los Cabos airports throughout 2022/2023. Reports are that this programme is extending to airports in Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara in 2024.
- In April 2024, The General Directorate of Passports launched the inaugural phase of eGates at Terminals 3 and 4 of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- In Asia-Pacific, the largest region in the ABC eGate market, there is plenty of installation activity going on this year beyond that already outlined in Singapore:
- At Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Thailand, 96 new eGates will be installed in the summer, 16 of them replacing units installed back in 2012. The country’s other tier 1 airport, Don Mueang, will see eight new eGates deployed.
- In Indonesia, Bali Airport is in the process of installing 90 ABC eGates from Vision-Box. The work began at the back end of 2023 and is due to complete later this year. 78 of the Portuguese company’s eGates were introduced in Jakarta Airport last year. These deployments are expected to pave the way for the technology’s expansion into other major Indonesian airports such as Kualanamu, Juanda, Sepinggan and Hang Nadim as part of a nationwide mission by the Directorate General of Immigration to level up services across the board.
- Europe is the second largest region for ABC eGates with the soon to launch EU Entry/Exit System (EES) significantly bolstering numbers. The number of countries adopting new border control equipment in recent years would make for a blog in its own right but it is worth highlighting two very notable examples where major replenishment is imminent:
- Spain, home to the largest collection of ABC eGates in the world to date, with about 600 units installed, recently finalised the tender process for the installation of some 500 eGates. The deal will see many existing eGates replaced, as well as extend their use into some previously unequipped airports. Magnetic Autocontrol is believed to have won the lion’s share of the total contracted volume.
- And here in the United Kingdom, where 253 ABC eGates are installed in 13 airports throughout England, Scotland and Wales, a similar tender process is close to being finalised. Two vendors, who we shall not name, are in the final stages of battling it out for the right to install and maintain approximately 300 ABC eGates located at various border crossing points (not just in airports).
Tracked Deployments
In our tracker, we have documented 4,733 units installed in 219 airports across 79 countries throughout the world. This in addition to the biometric modality(ies) being employed, when they were installed and by whom. The majority of the installed base not yet accounted for in the tracker can be found in Chinese airports where there are close to a thousand units in operation.
Evidently, there is plenty of room for the ABC eGate market to continue its rapid growth. As such, the market is very hotly contested. Vision-Box, recently acquired by Amadeus, leads the way with a 29% share of tracked deployments. Magnetic Autocontrol is the second largest player with a 21% share with EASIER rising up the rankings in recent years to occupy third place and an 12% share of tracked deployments. Newer players are seeking to make a dent too and put larger players like Gunnebo and Dormakaba on notice. Digicon, for example, recently secured a major vote of confidence when it was selected, along with IDEMIA, to update the border control system in the arrivals section of eight major Australian airports. And is another name to watch as it expands beyond its Italian home market.
Figure 2: Share of Tracked ABC eGate Installed Base by OEM
Source: Valour Consultancy
About Us
Valour Consultancy’s Airports + Borders group current market intelligence services include:
- The Seamless Passenger Journey in Smart Airports report looks at the on-going adoption of automated and self-service touchpoints for check in, bag drop, pre-security, immigration and boarding gates, enabled by biometrics, and the vendor ecosystem supporting this.
- Smart Borders: The Future Evolution of Land, Sea and Air Borders is a new report examining the evolution towards electronic border control systems, which automatically capture, record and match travellers’ biometrics as they cross through land, sea and air borders, and the potential for risk-based assessments and pre-clearance in future border control programmes.
- Smart Airports Tracker is a new service, based upon several years quantifying and researching the market, that records the latest and historical installations of self-service check in kiosks, self-bag drops, pre-security eGates, immigration kiosks and ABC eGates, self-boarding eGates, and biometric solutions, including pods and totems and identity management platforms.
