SAMUT PRAKAN, Oct 29 (TNA) – The Airports of Thailand (AOT) is set to start facial recognition technology across its six airports, becoming one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to implement biometric boarding systems.
The new system allows passengers to proceed through security checkpoints and boarding gates using only facial scans, eliminating the need to present boarding passes or identification documents, AOT President Keerati Kitmanawat announced.
Domestic passengers can start using the system from November 1, while international travelers will have access from December 1. Each verification takes less than 10 seconds.
Passengers can register for the service either at airline check-in counters or self-check-in kiosks. The biometric data will initially be valid for 24 hours, with plans to extend the registration period to two years by mid-2025.
The implementation comes as AOT reported significant growth in passenger traffic. The company handled 119.29 million passengers across its six airports in fiscal year 2024 (October 2023-September 2024), up 19.22% year-on-year. International passengers increased by 34.82% to 72.67 million.
AOT forecasts total passenger volume to reach 129.97 million in fiscal year 2025, an 8.95% increase. The winter schedule for 2024/2025 shows allocated flights increasing by 22.1% to 370,239 flights, with passenger numbers expected to rise by 23%. -819 (TNA)
