Singapore, from 2024 goodbye to passport for those departing from Changi Airport

Nothing boarding pass or passport...but guaranteed flight thanks to biometric checks. This is the novelty that will be tested at Singapore as early as next year. In fact, passengers departing from Changi International Airport will have the opportunity to try out the automated procedures at both check in and security and border control.

The news was presented at a press conference by the Minister of Communications of the Republic of Singapore, Josephine Teo. The city-state will be one of the first countries in the world to introduce, therefore, automated boarding which-through facial recognition and data processing-will lead the traveler to dispense with all kinds of documents.

For Teo, in fact, this innovation "will reduce the need for passengers to repeatedly present their travel documents at checkpoints and allow for smoother and more efficient processing."

How passportless boarding works

Although it will still be necessary to carry a passport - for obvious legal and security reasons - from early 2024 anyone who has a flight out of Singapore will be able to store the documents carefully in their luggage without the need to show them to the check-in, at check-ins and boarding. A large biometric data collector that will create a "unique authentication token" for each individual traveler will take care of everything.

The token will be a digital document containing all necessary information (full name, date and place of birth, facial image, and all other items that are contained within passports and boarding passes).

Once the token is created and "Coupled" to the face of the traveler; a large number of facial recognition totems will be placed inside the airport, which will be useful in identifying the passenger at various stages of boarding.

The verification of the passport and boarding pass, then, will be replaced by biometric technology, along with facial recognition software (already in use in the priority boarding lanes at Changi Airport and many international airports, but always linked to "scanning" the travel document).

The totems will recognize the face and (and thus the token) of the passenger by giving the "green light" either at the security checkpoint or at the gate.

From eGates to the token

Just a few weeks ago On TFC we had reported. the arrival of eGates For automated control Of passports (also) for Italians arriving in Singapore.

This additional step of the token makes air travel even easier, simplifies access at the airport, and eliminates stressful situations in the run-up to travel.

As can be guessed, however, passport and boarding pass. will still be needed both for transit passengers, those entering Singapore from abroad, and those traveling to countries where facial recognition totems linked to passport scanning are not present.

The example of Aruba

Last March, on the other hand, we talked about the trial of Aruba, small Caribbean island part of the Netherlands, which promised to archive the use of passports. This was a trial of an app for the management and digital recognition of documents.

Travelers flying from March 27, 2023 from the United States, Canada or the Netherlands to Aruba were suggested to download the "Aruba Happy One Pass" to create a digital travel credential (DTC) based on their passport data.

The mobile app provides, even before air travel, to establish information compliance and share it-securely via blockchain - with government and customs authorities on the Caribbean island.

Passengers arriving at the Queen Beatrix International Airport of Aruba therefore no longer have to show any travel documents or fill out any kind of form or form upon arrival in the country. Nor do they go through any border control.