Boeing is hoping to introduce smaller aircraft lavatories, a Spanish carrier is aiming for personalised airfares and now a technology company wants to replace humans with robots at airport immigration.
Seems like flying in the future will have us early 21st century folk wishing for the ‘good ol’ days’.
A French electrical systems company called Thales unveiled new airport technology at the Paris Air Show this week, which basically removes the need for human employees.
Image: AFP
How does it work?
New equipment, which the company says will speed up airport waiting times, scans passports, prints boarding passes and records an image of the passenger’s face and iris.
Information is then shared with computers around the airport, while a criminal check is run in the background.
Once the passenger arrives at the immigration desk, the image scan would already be in the system.
Image: AFP
The tall, white robot will then confirm the person’s identity before they move on, The Daily Mail reported.
Boarding staff will do a final identity check at the gate using an encrypted printed image.
Thales’ Manager, Pascal Zenoni said the robots would only need one human staff member per four or five machines to ensure they’re working efficiently.
“These systems can free up staff for the police and create more space in the airport.”
Pascal Zenoni, Thales Manager
Meanwhile, last week a Spanish industrial and graphic designer released images of what he thinks aircraft could look like by the end of the next decade.
The four-cabin, triple-decker aircraft would be capable of carrying 800 passengers – around 50 passengers less than an A380.
