Acuity’s Airport Automation Predictions Validated by New Biometric Deployments

“Shanghai’s Hongqiao airport, London’s Heathrow, and Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson have all announced deployments or enhancements of existing passenger processing systems based on facial recognition technology.”

Acuity Market Intelligence is pointing to deployments of biometric passenger processing technology announced this week at three major airports as validation of the market research firm’s predictions about the rise of ‘curb to gate’ biometric airport automation.

In a report issued this past summer, Acuity forecasted that between 2018 and 2022, revenues in the biometric airport automation market will grow from $156 million to $389 million. The firm says that by the end of the forecast period, $1.3 billion in revenues will have been generated in this area, and 16,300 eGates and kiosks will be deployed.

The latest deployments are illustrative of the trend. Shanghai’s Hongqiao airport, London’s Heathrow, and Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson have all announced deployments or enhancements of existing passenger processing systems based on facial recognition technology. The modality is quickly emerging as the central mechanism for airport biometrics, offering a reliable means for comparing travelers’ faces to their passport photos, and passively identifying them as they proceed through a given airport.

The trend is currently most prominent in the US and Europe, with the latter expected to continue to dominate the biometric airport automation market over the forecast period. But looking further ahead, Acuity Principal Maxine Most said that there will be a shift “to near total Asian market domination by 2028 or 2030.”

In any case, the global trend is clearly well underway, as these most recent, high-profile deployments illustrate.

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October 19, 2018 – by Alex Perala