Passport-free face scan boarding starts at six airports in Thailand

SAMUT PRAKAN, Thailand – Airports of Thailand (AOT) will launch facial recognition technology at six airports from October 29, becoming one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to implement biometric boarding systems.

AOT President Keerati Kitmanawat announced that the new system allows passengers to pass through security checkpoints and boarding gates using only facial scans, eliminating the need to present boarding passes or identification documents.

Domestic passengers will be able to start using the system as of November 1, and international passengers will be able to use the system as of December 1. Each verification takes less than 10 seconds.

Passengers can register for the service at airline check-in counters or self-check-in kiosks. Biometric data will initially be valid for 24 hours, and the registration period is planned to be extended to two years by mid-2025.

The implementation comes at a time when AOT is reporting significant growth in passenger traffic. The company served 119.29 million passengers at six airports in fiscal year 2024 (October 2023-September 2024), an increase of 19.22% compared to the previous year. The number of international passengers increased by 34.82% to 72.67 million.

AOT estimates total passenger volume will increase 8.95% to 129.97 million in fiscal 2025. The winter schedule for 2024/2025 shows that allocated flights have increased by 22.1% to 370,239 flights, and the number of passengers is also expected to increase by 23%. (TNA)