In the age of globalization, more travelers are going through airports now more than ever. TSA recorded an average of 2.07 million safety checks a day in 2022 and with such high traffic, the need for safety and efficiency increases. In this article, we will highlight the challenges of authorities face to ensure border security and what the future holds in terms of solving these issues head-on.
Challenges of Civil Aviation Security
The challenges that national security authorities face can be split into two categories: experience and safety.
When it comes to experience, you want passengers to feel comfortable and move quickly with minimum wait time to check in, pass through border controls and board the airplane. Long lines and unnecessary hold-ups can create a negative atmosphere that can lead to unrest, dissatisfaction, and even emotional outbursts from the stress of possibly missing flights.
After experiencing a global epidemic like COVID19, the airport lingering crowds near each other pose a higher risk of spreading infections and disease.
In terms of security, airports must constantly update their security measures to keep up with evolving threats. For example, in the first three months of 2022, 3,000 guns were confiscated at airport checkpoints, and with the tenfold rise of ghost guns since 2016, there need to be better technologies to detect 3D-printed weapons. Threats continue to develop and change and civil aviation security must adapt and get ahead of them in order to keep the public safe.
The Future of Passenger Experience and Safety
With a greater need for better, more efficient and safer passenger experience, the future can be paved with advancements in technology. Below, we go over some of the technology trends that may change the airport security experience.
Contactless Corridors
Contactless corridors aim to increase the speed and ease of going through security by setting up a corridor that passengers can walk through while cameras, with in-depth x-ray scanners, use facial recognition software to check each traveler’s identity, cross-referencing the facial data with internal databases. This process would greatly shorten waiting time at check in counter, immigration and boarding a less stressful experience for passengers.
The effectiveness of the contactless corridors tested after the implementation in various airports as there are advanced technology capabilities to ensure a traveler’s facial change, such as a new beard or facial injuries, are properly identified.
Biometric Technologies
Another technology used at airports would be biometric data, such as fingerprinting, voice recognition, and facial recognition, to identify passengers without the need for ID or boarding passes as they go through security checkpoints. This can speed up the boarding process, and coupled with mobile apps, could make it extremely convenient for passengers.
To improve border controls and security, companies like Securiport provide civil aviation tools that are customized solutions and include biometric technologies. These types of tools, paired with data analytics, would assist authorities to catch fraudulent documentation, expired visas, and other issues that may cause a risk for passengers and airport facilities.
With the adoption of faster and more accurate biometric devices for contactless airport security, governments ensure that the data is protected, and privacy laws are respected.
Artificial Intelligence
In all industries, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are being used to increase the speed and accuracy of services, and airport security will also benefit from the technology. The combination of AI and ML can be used to process data and learn patterns to help detect potential threats to support with greater evidence for human decision-making. For example, CT scanning technologies combined with AI-backed software can automatically detect potential weapons in baggage. And smart cameras combined with trained ML models can detect suspicious behaviors based on certain criteria.
Given the advancement of technology and data governance frameworks, authorities only use Rules-Based Targeting methods to protect their borders.
Digital Travel Credentials (DTC)
For faster check-ins, airports are trialing the use of Digital Travel Credentials (DTC), which allow passengers to share identification data with airport security checkpoints while using facial recognition to verify that identity. This removes the need for physical identification or ePassports and greatly reduces the process to get to boarding.
In the future, we can be seeing more use of DTC which may make travel more frictionless for passengers.
The Future Is Now
In this age of globalization, it is more important than ever to bolster aviation security and improve the experience for passengers. As a global leader in intelligent immigration controls and civil aviation security solutions, Securiport leverages cutting-edge biometric technologies and other tools to customize solutions for your security needs. For more information, feel free to contact their dedicated team of experts to see how they can help you.
