Travel Industry Catches Up with Digital Onboarding – and Here’s Why

Airports, Borders, Identity

Introduction  I see identity verification and selfie facial recognition as essential building blocks for air travel and border control. The adoption we see now is critical for the future capabilities of airlines, airports and border agencies, saving them time and money. Investment into remote enrolment capabilities and opportunities have graduated from smaller scale pilots to full-scale programmes and frameworks, and with this, a new era of passenger processing is upon us.  Travellers are now…

CLEAR’s Business Model Evolution and the Strategic Shift to Pre-Security eGates

Airports, Borders

CLEAR’s transition from a kiosk-centric identity platform to an eGate-enabled aviation security solution marks a significant strategic pivot – and also a new direction for the TSA and US aviation security – and creates a launchpad for ASSA ABLOY and HID Global as its develops its airport business unit.  Historically built on lane-based, staff-assisted biometric verification, CLEAR’s move into automated pre-security eGates – using what looks very much like Assa Abloy…

From Boarding Pass to Digital Passport: Why Your Phone Is Becoming Your New Travel Wallet

Airports, Borders

There’s a moment every frequent traveller knows well: that tiny flash of panic when you pat your pockets and wonder, “Where’s my passport?”  Now imagine that moment disappearing – not because you’ve become more organised (we can dream), but because your passport lives safely in your phone, alongside your boarding pass, your hotel keys, and the loyalty card you forgot you even had.  This is…

EU-EES: Inside the €915 Million Border Overhaul — What Comes Next for Europe’s Entry/Exit System?

Airports, Industry News

Introduction   In Part I, we examined what the EU Entry/Exit System (EU-EES) is, how it differs to legacy border control processes and the challenges that caused its delayed launch. In this follow-up, we move beyond this to explore the unexpected opportunities the system creates for both vendors and government agencies, the impact of remote enrolment,…