Airport self-service solutions for a smoother traveler journey: Fly to Gate

For airports and airlines, providing passengers with a unique, enjoyable and memorable travel experience is a top priority.

To meet this challenge, we have created Fly to Gate, the end-to-end self-service experience for travellers leveraging Thales biometric technology and digital identity technologies. ​​​​

Effective self-service solutions that airports and airlines can implement at their own pace are a must considering the rise in the number of air travellers. Now let's see how we can make this happen.

Enhancing the airport experience

The constant growth in air traffic and the resulting flow of travellers through airports are driving demand for simpler and faster passenger processing at traveller checkpoints.

Airports and airlines need to propose innovative solutions to reduce waiting times, especially at the security check, border control, and baggage drop, which rank highest for generating negative emotions such as frustration and even fear.

Competition is tough, with world-class airports continually improving their infrastructure to make the passenger experience easier and more appealing, for tourists and business travellers alike. 

In this context, innovation is vital.

Self-service at every step of the journey

An increasing number of airports are already investing in automated border control, check-in, and bag-drop solutions that increase speed and efficiency while maintaining high levels of security. 

Travellers are comfortable with self-service

Self-service and automatic check-in will be a key differentiator in the overall passenger value proposition.

Convenience, speed and intuitive technologies are all high on their list of priorities.

The appetite for automated, self-service travel experiences is already evident in the success of electronic travel document checking systems, online check-in and electronic border gates. 

But there's more: Travellers like self-service.

One reason for this is that self-service solutions offer more personalized options for travellers, giving them greater control.

Moreover, time saved through automation benefits everyone involved:

• Airports,
• Airlines,
• Travellers.  

Self-service options can be introduced at every step of the passenger journey, from check-in to boarding, and they greatly enhance the overall airport experience.

Know your passenger

Security is gaining increased traction with the uptake of "Smart Borders" and "Smart Airports" programs to encourage facilitated border controls and security checks.

Moreover, new smart documents and biometric technologies are also opening up new opportunities in this field.

With more than 1,200 million electronic passports now in circulation mid-2019 and strong identity authentication allowed by biometrics such as face recognition, travellers are discovering new secure and seamless solutions for international travel.

These new alternatives are quickly adopted by bona fide travellers as frustrating queuing experience become a thing of the past.

Best practices and deployment guidelines are now being defined by IATA and ACI Smart Security programs, to combine strengthened security with greater operational efficiency and enhanced passenger experience.

And that's precisely what Fly to Gate is about.

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Introducing Fly to Gate

Fly to Gate makes travelling simple and more efficient by leveraging state-of-the-art technology required by the airport, airline, and immigration systems.

Fly to Gate supports multimodal biometric checking and robust document verification.

It integrates with immigration processes to ensure rigorous security and leverages facial recognition technology to offer outstanding operational efficiency for airports and airlines.

The solution is made of strong biometric and travel document verification enablers to allow the creation of a Trusted Digital Identity token ahead of the journey. This digital token contains trusted information and provides the traveller with a digital identity that he can use to be identified in seconds at all airport touchpoints, without having to hand out his documents. This is how Fly to gate streamlines operations for airports and airlines and improves security.

Single token simplicity

The move to self-service with the automation of some previously manned processes requires robust and reliable tools for document and identity management.

That's where the identity token steps in.

As mentioned above, Fly to Gate relies on the creation of an identity token that authenticates the passenger through the terminal in a seamless and fully self-serviced journey.

Strong verification of the traveller's data and identity is key to the creation of such a token.

Whether the passenger decides to check-in and verifies his/her ID online or at an airport kiosk, a token is created at check-in by matching their identity data from their electronic passport to the travel data on their boarding pass. This token is then used as a unique identifier, allowing the traveller to proceed through all airport touchpoints, and eliminating the need to present multiple documents several times along the way.

This token can be physical, in the form of a mobile or paper boarding pass for example, or biometric, in the form of the passenger's face.

Processing times slashed by 80%

Self-service solutions are now recognized as offering a significant contribution to both efficient airport operations and an enhanced passenger experience. Indeed, the time required for airport passenger processing can be decreased by up to 80% using self-service and automation.

This means travellers can now:

• Spend less time in queues
• Have more time to enjoy the retail, leisure, food and beverage services on offer at the airport.

Want to know more?​

Your passengers want a seamless travel experience. 

They want to move through mandatory checkpoints as quickly, easily and safely as possible while feeling confident that no compromises have been made on security.

Several airports have already streamlined and simplified traveller flow, and if you want to join them, it's time to talk to Thales.

Also discover our range of document readers and Thales Cogent biometric technology and how they can be applied to combine easier transit for legitimate travellers with a strong defence against attempts at illegal entry such as  IDENT, the Automated Biometric Identification System, at the heart of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) system for storage, matching and processing of biometric and associated biographic information.