Industry adoption of automated self-service passenger experiences across airport travel touchpoints has been accelerated by the Covid pandemic and subsequent staff crunch. At immigration, as elsewhere at the airport, automation shortens queues, automates manual processing tasks, and takes away from the routine task of screening low-risk travelers, usually from specific countries and regions. staff will be released.
For example, in Singapore, Singapore and 49 other types of passports You can use the automatic arrival gates. All visitors who have registered their biometrics upon arrival are eligible to use the automated lanes upon departure.
However, these benefits are often denied to passengers using wheelchairs or family groups with children too young to use the gate alone. Places that are located only for
With increasing reliance on these systems, reducing the number of eligible travelers queuing for processing by agents is one of the key goals to expand the number of eligible to reduce barriers for passengers and passengers with reduced mobility.
Singapore’s Border Protection Agency, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (ICA), is changing the status quo with a new set of larger and more adapted checkpoints called Special Assistance Lane (SAL).
SAL’s biometric scanners are wider than standard lanes and feature ample space for wheelchairs, power wheelchairs, staff assisted wheelchairs, and families of up to four, making them ideal for wheelchair users and short travelers. are positioned so that people can use the lane. You can enroll your details using iris and face scans, and use your fingerprint as a backup biometric identifier. Children under the age of 6 still require the assistance of an ICA officer.
This process is very similar to the process used by standard lane checkpoints, which from July 2020 will extend all lanes across the country from the previous fingerprint standard to iris and face scanners.
One key addition is a step that requires travelers to also disclose the number of passengers being checked at automated gates. A scan of your passport will open the immigration gate and your biometrics will be scanned and registered. This process is either successfully automated (in which case the exit gate opens and the passenger or passengers continue their journey) or requires the assistance of Border Patrol.
ICA and Changi Airport worked with HTX (Home Team Science and Technology Agency, the technology arm of the Ministry of Home Affairs) to design, develop and implement the new gates. This includes using design thinking workshops and simulating passenger flows using virtual reality.
“Physical sessions were also conducted for people with reduced mobility to identify potential challenges such travelers may face when using the SAL,” ICA said. says. “This included not only the width of the lanes, but also the placement and angle of passports and biometric scanners. was reflected in the final design of
The ICA further explains:
SAL is already operational in the Terminal 2 Arrivals and Departures Hall and the Terminal 1 Departures Hall at Changi Airport, and ICA plans to deploy the system to the rest of the airport, as well as land and sea checkpoints. I am planning.
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Featured image credited to istock.com/Cunaplus_M.Faba