“Camera on” has become the new motto at Hamburg Airport. After a successful introductory phase, the Star Alliance biometric face field recognition system is now officially launched. With the new service, participating passengers from Austrian, SWISS and Lufthansa will be able to pass through security and board contactless and quick. In future, a single glance will suffice, without a boarding pass or smartphone.
Participants of the loyalty program Miles & More need to register once for Star Alliance Biometrics at least 24 hours before their next Austrian, Lufthansa or SWISS flight. To do so, they need their valid passport and the latest version of the Lufthansa App or Miles & More App. As soon as they have registered, they can pass through the central security checkpoint and the boarding gates A17 and C16 at Hamburg Airport without contact.
“The new technology offers additional time savings and makes the checking process at central points of the airport even smoother, which is just what our passengers want.” said Mirjam Fröhlich, Head of Passenger and Baggage Management at Hamburg Airport.
The entrances at the gate and at the fast lanes of the central security checkpoint are clearly marked. Their face is automatically captured by the camera installed there and compared with your stored image. The travelers can keep their mouth-nose coverings, which they currently have to wear in the terminal for health protection. If there is a positive match, the entrances open automatically.
The Star Alliance Biometrics platform, on which the technology is based, was already successfully launched in November 2020 at the Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna hubs with the aim of providing passengers with a seamless travel experience. Hamburg Airport is thus the fourth participating airport. Once registered, passengers can use biometric access at all participating airports.
“In the Lufthansa Group, biometric offers will provide for simplified contactless processes and improve the travel experience of our passengers.” said Falk Durm, Head of Ground & Airport Experience Lufthansa Group.
The identification solution used in Star Alliance Biometrics is powered by NEC I: Delight facial recognition technology from Japan’s NEC Corporation and is available to Miles & More participants who have agreed to the use of their biometric data during the travel process.
Personal data, such as photos and other identifiers, are encrypted and stored securely within the platform. The system has been developed from the outset in compliance with applicable data protection laws and based on the latest facial recognition technology. The storage of personal data is kept to a necessary minimum. For example, no customer names are stored.
