Introduction
2026 will act as a stress test for airports and border control infrastructure; rising passenger volumes, biometric capture mandates, expanding pre-approved traveller programmes, and contactless journey ambitions are colliding with legacy systems that were never designed for high-frequency, digital and biometric processing.
With this, we see the industry’s response unfolding in a ‘three-speed’ timeline, some solutions, like the wider deployment of ETAs and self-service technologies are proven and widely-deployed, allowing airports to reduce stresses at commonly congested checkpoints and border control agencies to complete risk assessments in advance of arrival. Other solutions, including contactless corridors and airline-led digital identity are scaling steadily in the medium term, but still face challenges before large-scale deployment is realised. Looking further ahead, deeper structural shifts that will displace legacy efforts like DTCs, most notably Type 3, remain longer-term ambitions.
This article aims to highlight key industry trends and offer predictions on what we expect to unfold during 2026.
Meeting Mandates: Where Development is Happening Now
Currently, policy pressures and shifts in legislation are forcing border control agencies across Europe to alter how they process third country nationals (TCNs) at Schengen Area borders due to the implementation of the EU-EES. Subsequently, an influx of hardware solutions and back-end platforms have been installed across 29 total countries that are now required to capture the biographic and biometric data of TCNs at Immigration Kiosks upon first arrival. Alongside this, the EU’s ETIAS is set for launch in late 2026, although an official date has yet to be provided; it promises further development within Europe and how it processes VISA-exempt travellers at international borders.
While these regulatory changes promise increased traveller throughput and increased security, they are also adding tangible operational pressures across both airport and border infrastructure. As TCNs are now required to self-enrol biometric data at kiosks before either presenting themselves at ABC eGates or to an immigration booth; an additional layer has been added to the clearance process that has provided significant challenges and plagued border control checkpoints since its launch on the 12th of October. Multiple reports, including a co-authored press release from IATA, ACI Europe and A4E in February 2026 highlighted multiple issues with the system including persistent waiting times of up to two hours at border control checkpoints, with these queues potentially increasing to 4 hours or more in the peak summer travel season, chronic border control understaffing and unresolved technology issues regarding border automation.
Alongside this, with the introduction of the ETIAS pre-travel authorisation, it has the potential to further add to operational pressures that are being felt at Schengen borders. While the EU-EES adds steps at the physical border, the ETIAS adds steps prior to the border, although its nature is to reduce last-minute border decision by providing agencies with a more detailed picture of traveller history and background information, the overarching effect depends on the degree to which these systems are harmonised. Without interoperability and aligned flows of data, operational complexity at the border may increase, rather than its intended purpose of decreasing pressure.
With these operational challenges plaguing the efficient rollout of the EU-EES, we predict that 2026 will see a ‘second wave’ of hardware deployments beginning across involved countries to further relieve enrolment stresses and allow more travellers to leverage ABC eGates for fully self-service border clearance. Additionally, we predict that there will be an increased effort in leveraging pre-enrolment of traveller biometric and biographic information prior to arrival at the border checkpoint, be this through Frontex’s Travel to Europe app, which has seen very limited uptake to date, or at sites where the collection of this sensitive data is regulated and completed at scale, such as at Visa Application Centres.
Building Momentum: The Expansion of Contactless Travel
As immediate regulatory pressures drive deployments of automated processes and pre-travel authorisations, medium term focuses are centered around the development of digital identity across the end-to-end passenger journey to drive seamless experiences. In 2025, there were multiple deployments of contactless corridors around the world’s airports; Amadeus introduced its Seamless Corridors at Jakarta and Surabaya Airports in late 2025 in Indonesia, Travizory and its FaceLane in the Seychelles and St. Kitts and Nevis in June 2025 and Emaratech and Paravision’s Red Carpet Corridor in Dubai Airport in September 2025. By deploying contactless corridors, travellers can clear the border without breaking stride, presenting physical documentation or necessarily stopping and interacting with border control agents.
Alongside this, the development and implementation of digital identity in airline apps for pre-enrolment activity is an activity that also has short-term interest but will probably be integrated at scale in the medium-long term. Through allowing pre-enrolment in airline applications, passengers are able to register biometric data and pass through airport checkpoints seamlessly. A notable example of this is Air Canada’s Digital Identification System which allows passengers to create a digital profile through capturing a picture of their passport and face alongside scanning the ePassport. An example of another airline that we believe could implement digital identity in its app is Ryanair, this transition is likely as recent moves highlight their willingness and appetite for digitally led services; with them transitioning to 100% digital boarding passes in November 2025. Alongside them, with the efforts in the U.S and pivot towards seamless and biometric processing, we believe more U.S airlines will be inclined to move towards such implementations, following early moves from United, Delta, American and Alaska. This is in part related to the launch and expansion of the TSA’s Touchless ID programme; allowing TSA PreCheck participants flying with select airlines the ability to pass through security checkpoints without presenting a physical ID or boarding pass.
We expect that, in 2026, we will continue to see smaller-scale deployments of contactless corridors, particularly in smaller, tourist-driven island nations as their appetite for streamlining the border clearance process for travellers is often prioritised. This is likely to be mirrored in regions like the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, which both have shown a willingness to shift towards passportless and contactless border crossing experiences. With contactless corridors having major short-term interest, but a long-term outlook at large-scale deployment within the ecosystem, a middle ground could be realised through ‘passportless eGates’. With real-world deployments of these ABC eGates in Singapore’s Changi Airport heightening both the arrivals and departures experience for international travellers, and Manchester Airport successfully piloting the solution over a three-week period at the end of 2025, we predict that larger nations will begin to run pilots to test the feasibility ; providing a solid middle-ground between legacy, agent led processing and entirely frictionless seamless and walk-through experiences. Australia is one such country where a trial is expected to begin this year. Looking further ahead, we predict that a combined approach to clearance will be leveraged at international borders, with a combination of contactless corridors, passportless ABC eGates and Manual Border Counters for different tiers of travellers, defined by their unique risk profiles, with lower-risk travellers being able to leverage self-service clearance while higher-risk travellers will be required to speak with a border agent.
Alongside this, we expect to see further uptake in pre-enrolment activities to allow for biometric processing throughout the passenger journey through airline applications in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, but adoption in Europe may develop at a slower pace. With GDPR regulations having strict guidance surrounding the use and storage of biometrics, currently requiring passenger consent at every touchpoint, thereby limiting the benefits and ROI realised from biometrically enabled technologies, we believe that airports and airlines operating in Europe will move with more caution. It is worth noting that Star Alliance Biometrics, an early example of a service launched, was discontinued at the end of 2025 citing technological and regulatory developments as the reason. However, real-world deployments continue to exist, with IN Groupe’s Fly’IN pre-enrolment solution live at Marseille Airport in France.
Beyond Integration: Reshaping Legacy Processes
While current-day deployments focus on the integration of biometric technologies and systems alongside expanding the possibilities surrounding contactless processing, the long-term outlook on the industry will shift towards shared identity architecture surrounding the issuing, verifying and acceptance of digital identity credentials. One of the biggest shifts in the industry will undoubtedly be the introduction and wide deployment of DTCs for more seamless border crossings. To date, DTC issuance has been limited to pilots and smaller-scale deployments; with SITA and Indicio partnering to launch their DTC in Aruba, IN Groupe’s Fly’IN DTC in Marseille Airport, and Amadeus and Entrust’s Curacao Express Pass. Alongside these deployments, the piloting of DTCs in 2023 on select flights between the UK and Finland and Montreal and Amsterdam in 2024 served as an example of how DTCs can speed up legacy border processes
While the currently deployed DTC solutions fall under the ‘; meaning the digital credential is derived from the physical passport, we predict that in 2026, the industry will begin ramping up pilot programmes for ‘Type 2’ DTCs, which are issued directly by the government that issues the passport. This is directly in alignment with the EU’S ODYSSEY pilot that was held from 2023-2025, which tested the feasibility of passport authorities and their ability to generate, store and deliver a DTC to a traveller’s mobile wallet alongside Finland’s Type 2 DTC pilot with the Netherlands.
Conclusion
Ultimately, 2026 promises to stress test the airports and borders industry’s ability to balance and maintain both short-term operational pressures with long-term structural ambitions. While we don’t foresee a complete shift towards contactless processing, with the growing implementation of ETAs and the increasing activity around DTCs we do expect to see more pilots and smaller-scale deployments of next-generation solutions. Valour Consultancy’s upcoming report on The Digitisation of Travel Authorisations, Credentials and Visas will explore this topic in more detail.
