Yzabelle Bostyn
A SPANISH airline has launched a system allowing passengers to travel ‘without papers’.
Gone are the days of checking you have your passport, boarding pass and TIE with you before boarding a flight.
Budget airline, Vueling, has officially launched a new ‘paperless’ system across multiple Spanish airports.
Using facial recognition, the biometric checks were launched in Barcelona’s El Prat, Madrid-Barajas, Palma de Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza airports in November last year.
Now, the programme is set to expand to a further two locations: Tenerife Norte and Gran Canaria.
Vueling is the first Spanish airline to offer the service, which is expected to become the norm in the coming years.
The biometric system allows passengers to travel without showing any type of documentation, including boarding passes or passports.
Passengers can sign up for the programme while checking in online or at Vueling’s airport desks.
The system is currently being used before security and at boarding gates, subject to availability.
Facial recognition can be used on both national and international flights.
Once registered in the system, there is no need for passengers to repeat registration for future flights.
Travellers can sign up via the ‘Manage your reservation’ section on the Vueling app.
The innovation is a pioneering move both for Vueling and airport management company, Aena.
They began the project two years ago on the Barcelona-Malaga route.
However, if you travel to an airport without facial recognition technology, you will still have to carry travel documents with you to pass through border control.
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