A trial of a new facial recognition border control system has proven successful at Manchester Airport, suggesting that it may become a reality nationwide soon. The trial was conducted on British citizens arriving at Manchester Airport from abroad. British passport holders did not need to take out their passports for examination when arriving back into the country, but instead had their faces scanned.
Phil Douglas, the director-general of Border Force, said that the trial had significantly reduced processing times, making it quicker for Brits to go through border control when returning to the UK. The trial took place over a three-week period in October at Manchester Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country. The trial was conducted exclusively for British passport holders, and the new technology was integrated into existing e-gates.
Douglas explained: “So people approach the e-gate, it recognises them [as] already on our database, and they’re checked through.”
He added: “The border has really changed over the last few years and that work is picking up pace. Public expectations have changed and technology has changed. We now have AI facial recognition, the use of biometric identifiers in parallel with the more traditional forms of identification, like visas and passports.”
The trial removed the need for passengers to scan their passports at the existing e-gates. However, if the scan of their face was not successful, then they were sent to see a border control officer.
While Douglas praised the new method for reducing wait times, he said that it’s important that people still feel the scrutiny of the border control. “They’re stopped [and] it’s a moment they know they’re being checked,” he explained.
However, he revealed that there are plans to bring this facial recognition technology to more ports around the country. “We’ve got a new contract for gates and we’re going to be expanding them even further,” he said.
“It’s our intention that almost everybody will go through an e-gate of one description or another. The Manchester pilot has shown that we can actually reduce transaction times considerably as well.”
He did point out that some airports have complained that this would lead to a build-up of passengers at baggage collection, as they get through passport control too fast. But Douglas says that this new tech will bring British airport border control up to gold standard. Such tech is already used in the likes of Dubai.
