Sydney airport announced Thursday that it will begin trialing facial recognition technology, in conjunction with Qantas, in an effort to get passengers from the couch to the gate much faster.
“Your face will be your passport and your boarding pass at every step of the process,” Geoff Culbert, Sydney airport CEO, explained in a statement, suggesting that in the future you’ll no longer need to bumble about in your coat pockets or bags searching for a passport because it will be right there — on your face.
The new technology is set to speed up check-in, bag drop, access to the lounge and boarding the plane. Australia’s current system, SmartGate, is already using face scanning technology to electronically analyze passports of those traveling into and out of the country and Canberra airport are currently trialing facial recognition software for international travelers.