Biometric ID systems start operating at six Thai airports in November

File photo: The biometric system allows passengers to scan their faces and enter directly

Biometric facial recognition will be introduced at six airports for domestic air travel on November 1stand for international air travel a month later, according to Airports of Thailand (AOT), the operator of commercial airports in Thailand.

Dr. Kirati Kijmanawat, CEO of AOT, said that the biometric identification system has been on test and trial for quite some time and is now ready to go online permanently at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket and Hat Yai airports, all of which handle large numbers of passengers.

He said that consent must be sought from air passengers for their identification information to be stored in the system. Passengers are only required to give their consent once and it will facilitate their check-in process and make their travel more convenient, according to Kirati.

In addition to the biometric system, the AOT has installed five types of common use passenger processing system (CUPPS) at the six airports, namely the ticket checking system (CUTE), the automated check-in system (CUSS), the automated luggage check-in system (CUBD), the passenger validation system (PVS) and the self-boarding gate (SBG).

All the five systems are equipped with biometrics and are integrated, he added.

According to the AOT, Suvarnabhumi airport handled 60 million passengers in fiscal year 2024, up 24.04% year-on-year and 346,680 flights, up 17.88%. At Don Mueang it was 29.15 million passengers, up 13.25%, and 197,250 flights, up 11.47%. At Chiang Mai it was 8.82 million passengers, up 13.14%, and 57,780 flights, up 9.68%. Chiang Rai saw 1.9 million passengers, down 1.96%, and 12,260 flights, down 3.37%. Phuket saw 16.40 million passengers, up 25.94%, and 98,710 flights, up 19.97%, while, at Hat Yai, it was 3.03 million passengers, down 5.14%, 19,730 flights, down 5.84%.

Most foreign travellers were Chinese, followed by Indian, South Korean, Russian and Japanese.