Two Italian airports are currently trialing FaceBoarding, a biometric facial recognition technology for passport-free processing.
Milan Linate Airport (LIN) and Catania鈥揊ontanarossa Airport (CTA) now allow passengers who are over 18 years of age to board a flight without the need to show travel documents.
ITA Airways and Scandinavian Airlines passengers are among the first to be trialed. Travelers flying with other airlines will still be required to show their travel documents before boarding.
鈥淭he Face Boarding service is guaranteed to ITA Airways passengers departing from Milan Linate to all destinations and those departing from Catania and going to Milan Linate,鈥 according to the ITA Airways website.
How can passengers use FaceBoarding?
ITA are instructing passengers to go to the desks for Face Boarding (check-in island 8 in Milano Linate, and the check-in area in front of the SkyPriority desk in Catania).
In order for initial registration, passengers should scan their documents (passport or electronic ID card), and then proceed to do a face scan.
After registration, passengers can continue their journey at the airport, without having to show personal and travel documents and with priority, both at the security and at the boarding gates (in Catania, Gate number 7 has been designated for this).
After this initial desk registration, passengers may use the special Face Boarding App to match identification for future travels.
The trial is set to continue until December 31, 2025.
