eGates at St. Maarten airport redefining passenger experience
Automated Border Control solution ups speed, convenience and security
25 January, 2017
category: Biometrics, Contactless, Government
Travelers to and from the Caribbean nation of St. Maarten are experiencing one of the world’s newest and most user-friendly entry and exit processes. New upgrades to the Princess Juliana International Airport have some calling it an airport of the future thanks in large part to the eGates and Automated Border Control solutions from Portugal’s Vision-Box.
The recently completed second phase of the process upgrades the immigration infrastructure, rolling out fully self-service biometric eGates that expedite flow and improve security for passengers entering the country.
In the project’s first phase security checkpoint eGates were installed. Together, the two solutions are streamlining identification processes for both entering and departing passengers clearing border controls.
Passengers arriving in St. Maarten use the security checkpoint eGates to verify identity upon entry, completing the entire immigration process in just a few seconds using the self-service system.
Passengers scan their ePassport and facial biometric information from the passport chip is matched to a live image capture of the passenger. Once all identification and safety checks have been successfully conducted, the passenger is allowed to clear immigration.
Every passenger transaction is closely monitored by an immigration officer using a Vision-Box developed monitoring system that gives officers immediate information on passenger identity and status.
Later this year, phase three of the project will rollout a unifying management suite to give officials complete overview and control of the entire passenger flow infrastructure and security network. This will allow for proactive monitoring and risk-based assessment of passengers as well as flow metric reporting and business rules configuration.
Also in 2017 the installation of Vision-Box’s Advance Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record (API/PNR) platform will occur. These systems give insight into passenger identification in advance of arrival to facilitate even greater security.
“The identification of travelers in advance will allow for the detection of potential risk and for the activation of preventive measures, as well as offer a range of opportunities to leverage data towards more secure and efficient processes,” says Jean-François Lennon, Vice-President for Global Business Development & Sales of Vision-Box.