Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

High-tech solutions from Thales optimise the air passenger experience from home to the airport

01/07/2021

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

With health restrictions and regulations in place around the world, high-tech solutions from Thales (Artificial Intelligence, biometrics, etc.) offer airports, airlines and border officials opportunities to increase operational efficiency, protect passengers' health and safety and improve the travel experience.

A temporary digital token is created for each passenger when they check in, from any location and well before they arrive at the airport, and is then used to authenticate the individual in less than a second, with or without a mask, at different points in the airport (check-in, bag drop-off, security, passport control and boarding).

The solution reduces passport control and boarding times by an average of 30%, easing congestion while improving airport security and enhancing the passenger experience.

As airports prepare for the busy summer period, they are facing a new set of challenges; dealing with the public health crisis and complying with new regulations on freedom of movement within the Schengen Area. Thales technologies enable airport operators, airlines and border officials to enhance the travel experience and increase security at four main points around the airport.

Secure check-in

Passengers can check in remotely from any location (home, hotel, etc.) using their airlines mobile app. The identity of each individual can then be instantly verified with face recognition software, using a combination of a selfie taken by the passenger, liveness detection and a document authenticity check. The face recognition solution checks approximately 40 points on the passengers face and issues an alert if there is any doubt about their identity.

Based on this identity verification and facial biometrics, a temporary digital token is then created for each passenger. The passengers face then identifies them at check-in, bag drop-off, security, passport control and the boarding gate, removing the need to show a ticket and ID card at each checkpoint. The system analyses the facial features of an individual in real time, even when they are wearing a surgical mask, and matches it to the corresponding digital identity in the system. No personal data or photos are stored; an encrypted code created during check-in is the only reference the system requires.

Passengers are identified at the boarding gate in less than a second

During boarding, passengers are instantly identified by face recognition, without needing to remove their masks or show their boarding passes. In some cases, ground staff may be required to ask a passenger to show their health pass, which can be stored in a digital ID wallet on their smartphone, to prove their vaccination status, PCR test results, etc. This mobile ID wallet protects the passengers personal data and certifies the authenticity, validity and integrity of the health data. Health passes can also be authenticated when passengers check in before arriving at the airport.

This biometric solution for boarding gates reduces boarding times by one-third. The system erases the temporary token once the aircraft has taken off.

Smart airport operations to optimise the flow of passengers

High-tech solutions from Thales also help to manage airport operations at numerous destinations. The Group provides airport operators with smart solutions and decision support tools that help them optimise and control passenger flows inside the terminal (from the entrance to the boarding and/or arrival gate). Using high-performance algorithms, these tools and solutions enable airport operators and other stakeholders to model flight arrivals and departures as well as other airport data and run simulations. Based on those simulations, they can anticipate possible travel disruptions (late or cancelled flights) and adjust resource availability on the ground to improve the passenger experience and reduce waiting times.

New border kiosks to simplify passport control for non-European nationals

Under the new requirements for member states of the Schengen Area, non-European nationals arriving in France will soon be able to use Thaless self-service border kiosks to pre-register their identity, including their biometric data (fingerprint and facial biometrics), in less than one minute.

Pre-registration offers time savings of 30% at passport control. The system software is optimised for ultra-rapid document authentication and fraud detection. Several ports of entry (airports, ports, train stations) are due to be equipped with Thales' border kiosks between now and May 2022.

For several decades, Thales has been helping to manage and secure sensitive infrastructure like stations, sports arenas and other major cultural venues. With its expertise in new technologies such as AI, deep learning and biometrics, boosted by the acquisition of Gemalto in 2019, Thales is in a position to provide airports and their ecosystems with new ways to increase operational efficiency, better protect the health and safety of passengers and enhance the travel experience. Thales technologies offer secure solutions that simplify the passenger experience while guaranteeing that personal data is protected and managed with complete transparency.

Philippe Keryer, Executive Vice President, Strategy, Research and Technology, Thales

Documents

PR_High-tech solutions from Thales optimise the air passenger experience from home to the airport

CP_Thales met les Hautes Technologies au service d'un parcours passager optimis de la maison l'a roport

Contact

Vanessa Viala - Digital Identity & Security Press Officer

+33 6 07 34 00 34 vanessa.viala@thalesgroup.com
LINK: https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/group/journalist/press-release/high-tec...
See more stories from thales

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

16/07/2026

Complete spectrum of innovation from British exhibitors a...

33 leading exhibitors are taking part in the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Pavilions and linked locations across IBC2026 (Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September)...

16/07/2026

Hitomi Broadcast to showcase HDR colour verification and...

Hitomi Broadcast will introduce Spectra, a new HDR colour verification solution measured in picture, not using VPID, at IBC2026 (Hall 10, Stand A40). Expanding ...

16/07/2026

SMPTE Kicks Off 110th Anniversary Campaign

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/07/2026

Cox Media Group Taps Waymark for AI Ad Creation Tools

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/07/2026

Parks: Cable Broadband Sub Losses Slow Down

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/07/2026

CatchLight, Sony Launch Initiative to Help Local Newsrooms

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/07/2026

XR Launches XR ONE Ad Ops Platform

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

16/07/2026

Zixi and Comcast Technology Solutions Partner to Provide...

Zixi, a leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) today announced a strategic new integration to deliver ...

16/07/2026

Blackmagic Design Cameras Capture Immersive Flight for New Cirrus App

Blackmagic Design Cameras Capture Immersive Flight for New Cirrus App Brie Clayton July 15, 2026 0 Comments Leader in Personal Aviation taps URSA Cin...

16/07/2026

XenData Announces LTO Archive Appliances with both File and S3 Object Storage Interfaces

XenData Announces LTO Archive Appliances with both File and S3 Object Storage In...

16/07/2026

FIFA World Cup semi-finals deliver whopper audiences as RT Player surpasses 21 million streams across the tournament to date

Together the semi-finals had a combined reach of 1.98 million unique individuals...

15/07/2026

Inside DAZNs Multi-Market World Cup Effort With CTO Sandeep Tiku

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a big deal for DAZN, which has distribution rights in three markets: Italy, Spain, and Japan. Each requires a different editorial app...

15/07/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Qumulo's Chris Horn on Powering Global Media Workflows Across Edge, Core, and Cloud

As sports-media organizations manage rapidly growing content libraries and incre...

15/07/2026

FIFA World Cup 2026: Inside the HBS Non-Live London Production Hub

HBS director of digital Johannes Franken talks SVG Europe through the operation built to serve FIFA World Cup 2026 rights holders remotely from Stratford, east ...

15/07/2026

IBC2026 to Spotlight AI, Live Sports Production, Creator Economy, and Trust in Media

IBC has unveiled the conference program for IBC2026, with this year's event ...

15/07/2026

Vanessa Paradis Tour Adopts Sennheiser Spectera Wireless Ecosystem for 2026 Production

Software-defined wideband RF platform supports 96-kHz monitoring, streamlined fr...

15/07/2026

Telos Alliance Integrates AudioShake Source Separation Into Minnetonka AudioTools Server

New AI-powered module enables broadcasters and content owners to extract dialogu...

15/07/2026

AIMS Schedules Second IPMX Product Certification Event for August

Weeklong gathering at EBU headquarters will test new IPMX capabilities and expand certified product ecosystem...

15/07/2026

Force Tech Appoints Bryan Adams as Vice President of Integration

Force Tech has announced the appointment of Bryan Adams, CTS, as Vice President of Integration. Adams will oversee AV and broadcast integration project delivery...

15/07/2026

USA Sports and Bundesliga Announce Exclusive Multi-Year U.S. Media Rights Agreement

USA Sports has announced an exclusive English-language agreement with the Bundes...

15/07/2026

Inside ITV Sport's Stunning FIFA World Cup Studio in New York City With Paul McNamara

ITV Sport's FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage has been produced from one of the m...

15/07/2026

CatchLight, Sony Launch Equipment Initiative for Local Visual Journalists

Program will provide professional camera kits, training, and technical support to participating local newsrooms...

15/07/2026

CornerstoneSF Installs FOR-A HVS-Q12 Switcher in New UHD Production Facility

San Francisco church becomes first U.S. deployment of the 2 M/E production switcher...

15/07/2026

Steve Bornstein Joins Advisory Board of Scott Cokers New Global MMA Promotion

Former ESPN and NFL Network executive to advise startup league on media, distribution, technology, and fan engagement...

15/07/2026

Space City Home Network Executive Producer John Valek on Leaning Into Innovation, Access, and Opportunity

The Houston-based RSN is the live-game home of the Astros and Rockets...

15/07/2026

Freqport unveil the Dual FreqInOut FO1-2RK

Launched alongside new FreqSoft installer Designed to bridge the gap between hardware and software, Freqport's FreqInOut FO1 unit provides a simple way ...

15/07/2026

Expressive E's Summer Offers

Save up to 55% on software until 23 July 2026 Expressive E have just launched their Summer Offer sale, with discounts of up to 55% now applied across their ...

15/07/2026

Peel Stems 2 from zplane

Real-time stem-separation tool updated zplane have recently released a new and improved version of their real-time stem-separation plug-in which they say ma...

15/07/2026

Baby Audio SubCulture

A new benchmark in bass enhancement Described as a new benchmark in bass enhancement , Baby Audio's latest release has been designed to augment the lo...

15/07/2026

DMC Production Reimagines Live OB with Calrec

DMC Production's AR 1 and AR 2 units reverse the conventional OB workflow, keeping all production-critical processing at the venue while operators work remo...

15/07/2026

FCC to Vote on Replacing National Broadcast Ownership Cap

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/07/2026

ATSC Updates Industry Audio Loudness Guidance

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/07/2026

GigaCloud and Cubbit partner to deliver sovereign and res...

GigaCloud, a leading Ukrainian cloud service provider, and Cubbit, the first geo-distributed cloud storage enabler, today announced a new Business Alliance Part...

15/07/2026

SMPTE Launches 110th Anniversary Campaign to Advance Its...

SMPTE, the global society for media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has announced the launch of the SMPTE 110th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising...

15/07/2026

STUDIO TECHNOLOGIES UNVEILS MODEL 762 STEREO LEVEL CONTRO...

Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, unveils the new StudioComm Model 762 Stereo Level Control, ...

15/07/2026

COW Jobs: Producer, Virtual Events - Hybrid, Full Time, Salaried

COW Jobs: Producer, Virtual Events - Hybrid, Full Time, Salaried Brie Clayton July 15, 2026 0 Comments Producer, Virtual Events (Hybrid | Full-time | ...

15/07/2026

SIMBA powers new streaming delivery network with Broadpea...

Brazilian media organization builds nationwide CDN with Broadpeak's high-performance software for low-latency streaming and new content distribution service...

15/07/2026

DHD Introduces Discovery Utility for Network-Connected Au...

DHD announces a new utility designed to increase the efficiency of its audio mixing systems during initial installation and subsequent configuration. Anyone w...

15/07/2026

BCNEXXT Brings Next-Generation Vipe to IBC2026 Breaking t...

BCNEXXT Brings Next-Generation Vipe to IBC2026, Breaking the 1:1 Channel-to-Server Ratio New innovations liberate broadcasters from legacy playout infrastructur...

15/07/2026

S&P Analysis: Three Quarters of Americans Watch Live Sports

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/07/2026

Scripps Sports, Ion Score Women's Volleyball Rights

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/07/2026

NVIDIA Introduces New Jetson Thor Computers to Advance Mainstream Robotics and Edge AI

General-purpose robots and autonomous machines are moving from research labs to ...

15/07/2026

Screeners and press pack now available: Gomorrah: The Origins premieres on Sky and NOW on 28 July

Wednesday 15 July 2026 Screeners and press pack now available: Gomorrah: The Or...

15/07/2026

Audiences to get behind-the-scenes access to Trinity College Dublin's Old Library in new RT series

Trinity's Treasures features Ruth Negga, Eleanor McEvoy, and David Norris, a...

15/07/2026

Building Ireland explores the River Shannon region from Leitrim to Limerick in a new series

Join geographer Dr Susan Hegarty, Engineer Tim Joyce and Architect Orla Murphy a...