Star Alliance Expands Use of Biometrics with NEC and SITA Technology

Frequent flyer program customers of Star Alliance member airlines will soon be able to use their biometric identity across any participating airline at any participating airport following a new agreement between the airline alliance, NEC Corporation and SITA.

Connecting to SITA's Smart Path solution, the Star Alliance Biometrics platform will be able to use SITA's shared airport infrastructure already available in more than 460 airports.

The NEC I:Delight platform, which allows passengers who have opted to use the service to be identified quickly and with a high-degree of accuracy, even when on the move, can be easily integrated with SITA Smart Path.

The I:Delight platform is also able to recognize passengers even when wearing a mask, an increasingly important feature for travel during the ongoing COVID19 pandemic. The platform is already in use by Star Alliance member airlines at several airports in Europe.

Jeffrey Goh, CEO of Star Alliance, said, "This agreement is instrumental in bringing further scale to our biometrics service, with the inherent benefits of speed and meeting customer expectations for a more touchless and hygienically safer experience across all of our member airlines. Biometrics is a key element of that experience and our strategy of leading the way in digitalizing the passenger journey."

Passengers using Star Alliance's Biometric platform enroll only once. They can then pass through biometrically enabled touchpoints across multiple member airlines and participating airports using just their face as their boarding pass.

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