The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is spearheading a transformative initiative called One ID, poised to revolutionize air travel through the digitalization of admissibility and contactless travel experiences. One ID aims to streamline passenger journeys by leveraging biometric data for identification, offering a seamless and efficient airport experience. One ID has already gone through successful PoC and proof of concept trials. It aims to cut time to book travel, expedite moving through airports and help increase data accuracy for airlines and governments. From security screening to boarding planes, passenger preferences are shifting towards biometric solutions. One ID is set to reinvent the future of air travel, making it faster, more convenient and more secure.
One ID standards have quickly become a cornerstone of the digital transformation taking place across the air travel sector. This comprehensive initiative aspires to transform airport operations by supplementing or replacing current paper-based processes. Thanks to biometric-enabled solutions, passengers are able to move through airports with unprecedented convenience. One ID uses biometric data, such as facial recognition, to provide a smooth travel experience. Beyond reducing processing touchpoints, this approach reduces processing times by an order of magnitude. The outcome of this initiative serves the traveling public incredibly well. It gives airlines and governments powerful benefits by improving data precision and optimizing resource distribution.
The central goal of One ID is to digitize the airport passenger experience with contactless biometric-enabled processes. Travelers can now bypass the annoyance of fumbling with their passports and boarding passes at multiple checkpoints. With their biometric data onboard, travelers have an easier and more seamless experience passing through security, immigration, and boarding. This more direct method mitigates delay, lessens queues, and improves operational effectiveness. The other major focus area is the digitization of admissibility. It ensures that passengers are completely cleared through customs before they arrive at their destination, reducing the chances of delays and other issues.
Proof of Concept Successes
British Airways and its industry partners celebrated a significant success with the One ID program earlier in 2023. Ultimately, they created a working end-to-end digital identity proof of concept (PoC). This pioneering trial proved it was not only possible but effective to use biometric passenger data to enable a completely seamless and digital air travel experience. We ran our PoC on the route from London Heathrow (LHR) to Rome Fiumicino (FCO). This offered an on-the-ground test case for the One ID concept. Travelers in this trial traveled through the airport utilizing only their biometric identification. This was a powerful example of the promise of digital identity technologies and their capacity to interoperate so smoothly with one another.
After this first PoC, the results were very encouraging. They validated that the One ID concept has the potential to dramatically improve the passenger experience while increasing operational efficiency for airlines and airport authorities. The trial really illustrated the importance of collaboration across all industry stakeholders. Airlines, airports, technology providers, and government agencies would need to collaborate closely to ensure that digital identity solutions can be deployed successfully. Given the successful outcome of the British Airways trial, other deployments of One ID should now follow. This development takes us a step forward towards what we hope will someday be a completely digital air travel experience.
By the time of October 2024, IATA and its partners have demonstrated that the industry is more than ready. They are on track to provide an entirely digital air travel experience with One ID. This achievement marks a significant step forward in the modernization of air travel, signaling a departure from traditional, paper-based processes. The industry is completely prepared and looking forward to innovation. Every stakeholder is determined to embrace new technology to the mutual advantage of passengers and the aviation industry. Having set the foundation, we’re now focused on expanding One ID deployments to a much larger scale. Our hope is to grow its adoption with more airports and airlines around the world.
Passenger Benefits and Preferences
One of One ID’s main objectives is to make passengers move through the airport smoothly. It does so by using biometric data that travelers voluntarily provide ahead of time during the check-in process to board. This avoids the frustration and time wasted by having to show passports and boarding passes over and over again at different kiosks, gates, or TSA checkpoints. By smoothing the passenger journey, One ID seeks to ensure a less stressful and more pleasant travel experience. It serves as a reminder that biometric technology significantly increases security and program integrity. To begin with, it provides a much more reliable way to verify people’s identities than at-home tests.
One ID makes it easier to navigate through the airport for a simpler travel experience. It’s allowing passengers to spend less time planning their trip and time spent moving through the airport. From the reservations to the itinerary, our digital on-board booking process makes every step of your journey easier. Biometric-enabled check in and security steps drastically reduce processing times at each point. This efficiency enhances the passenger experience. It helps airports and airlines serve more passengers with the best possible level of service. Frequent flyers, especially business travelers, highly prioritize time savings. They value speed and convenience most of all, making One ID a must-have on their travels.
Passenger preferences are catching up to make this possible more in line with the vision of One ID. This year, 46% of travelers took advantage of biometrics at the airport. That’s a marked increase from 34% in 2022, indicating an overall trend of increasing traveler acceptance of biometric technologies. Furthermore, 75% of passengers prefer using biometric data over traditional passports and boarding passes for One ID, highlighting the demand for a more streamlined and digital travel experience. These figures further emphasize the importance of efforts such as One ID. They are absolutely necessary to meet the evolving needs and preferences of today’s travelers.
Advantages for Airlines and Governments
There’s one ID that provides even greater benefits for airlines and governments alike—beyond the improved experience for passengers. The hardened initiative helps deliver overall better data quality, so passenger information is always reliable and current. By improving data accuracy, this technology minimizes errors and discrepancies, streamlining operations and enabling the reduction of costly delays. Enhanced data quality further ensuring data quality contributes to increased security protections, which can future-proof smart city initiatives against fraud and criminal activity.
Streamlined resourcing requirements Reduced costs from consolidated personnel and technology investments are another major advantage of One ID for carriers and nations alike. One ID automates multiple manual processes that are required for passenger identification and verification. This cutting-edge agency technology dramatically lessens the need for personnel at entry points. This gives airlines and airport authorities the flexibility to focus their resources on more important things, like improved customer service and security. With better efficiency gains come enormous value creation and cost savings opportunities, as well as enhanced operational performance.
One ID is a big win, because it helps to flag admissibility issues upfront. This enables airlines and governments to address issues before passengers ever arrive at their destination. One ID checks passenger info against critical intelligence databases in advance of travel. This enables it to identify people who would be denied entry because of visa complications, travel bans, or other reasons. This forward-looking approach avoids unnecessary delays, lowers the chance of incurring costly fines and penalties, and improves the security of our borders.
