London City Airport, UK, is believed to be the first airport to introduce a complete biometric security checking system for all its employees. It is preparing for biometric log-on for passengers "in the near future", says managing director Richard Gooding.
Designed by Daon, the system uses personal photo-identity cards embedded with an electronic chip, and fingerprint readers. Employees wanting access to any secure area must present their card to an electronic reader, then have their fingerprint checked by a scanner against a database.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation's technical advisory group was late last week concluding a meeting to review policy for machine-readable travel documents. ICAO is trying to establish a global standard for machine-readability for travel documents, and then define standardised means of biometric recognition for the document holder so the two can be compared.
Source: Flight International