July 12 2022
Delayed vacations, canceled honeymoons and other travel turmoil. With the summer vacation season upon us, experts around the world are predicting further airport chaos – with some even recommending that travelers cancel holidays in order to avoid the frenzy and potential disappointment.
Travel is now surging after a period of depressed demand due to COVID-19, but staff levels have not returned to normal. This is leading to long lines, last-minute flight cancelations, and unhappy travelers.
Following our survey of over 16,000 travelers across the globe, iProov has some exclusive insights on the topic. If you’d like to jump straight to our travel whitepaper, download the full report here for all of the data and insights.
In this article, we’ll explain how travel could be improved with biometric authentication technology. By enabling remote document and ticket checks, airlines can reduce congestion and bottlenecks while improving the traveler experience.
A number of factors have combined to create a “perfect storm” of airport chaos across the globe. In the UK, for example, airports attribute congestion to:
The situation has reached the point where the UK government called a meeting to discuss airport chaos, and a working group is being formed between the aviation industry and the UK government in order to address the issue.
Across the pond in the US, there’s a similar story. Demand for travel services is soaring post-COVID. Reuters predict a summer of “long lines, higher prices” as airlines, hotels, and rental car companies are all seeing an uptick in demand. Simultaneously, Reuters reports that the US travel industry is facing a tight labor market following 2+ years of depressed demand due to COVID-19.
The current airport process causes a number of issues for travelers. Long lines are the most common complaint (read the statistics here), but there’s more: travelers are often asked to get to the airports earlier to get through the manual checks, which combined with reduced staffing leads to even more lines. This leads to customer frustration and increased crowding which, combined with COVID, leads to people feeling more and more uncomfortable about the travel experience.
It’s therefore more important than ever that airports, airlines and other travel service providers find ways to streamline the travel experience as much as possible. Reducing the reliance on manual document checking is one such opportunity. Instead of asking travelers to show the same documents multiple times across the airport journey, the process can be automated using face biometric technology.
With face biometric technology, airports can provide a contactless method of identity verification that starts in the traveler’s home before they even set off – improving traveler experience, reducing queues and optimizing the secure verification process.
Biometric technology offers the convenience, security, efficiency, and inclusivity to make the travel experience faster and less congested.
So how does it work?
Watch the animation to quickly understand how contactless “couch to gate” travel from iProov works:
What are the benefits of biometric-enabled document and ticket checks combined with automated touchpoints at airports?
A recent Valour Consulting report found that:
We’ve established how biometric check-from-home services can alleviate airport chaos by enhancing operational efficiency and easing bottlenecks. But would consumers use it?
The data says yes: 85% of 16,000 respondents in iProov’s recent survey said that they either would or might complete their ticket and ID checks from home to speed up the travel process.
The demand was highest in Spain and Italy, where over 90% of respondents showed a desire to use such a service. Even in Germany, where enthusiasm was lowest, almost four out of five people (78%) said they would or might use the option.
Clearly, consumers overwhelmingly like the idea of a pre-travel check service.
If you’d like to learn more about how iProov can secure and streamline your travel organization’s remote document check, ticket check, and check-in services using face biometrics, book your demo today.