Dubai Airport has launched the world’s first border control where passengers do not need to show their passports or boarding passes.
Jetsetters in the glitzy Middle Eastern city can now walk through the tunnel, dubbed the ‘red carpet corridor’, without stopping or showing any documents.
The passage, launched at Dubai International Airport last month, instead uses artificial intelligence, biometric cameras and flight data to automatically recognise customers – and any dodgy-looking luggage.
The change slashes the time it takes to get through security to just six to 14 seconds.
And ten people can pass through the tunnel at once, meaning families or big groups, especially during the busy summer holiday rush, will not suffer for it.
All passengers need to do to be able to use the new system is register their passport details and provide a photo in advance of hitting the terminal.
It is currently only available for business class travellers on flights departing from terminal three – but bosses plan to roll it out soon to the arrival halls too.
The airport announced plans for the high-tech tunnel in February last year, initially expecting it would launch before 2025 – but it was only set in motion in August.
Dubai Airport has launched the world’s first border control where passengers do not need to show their passports or boarding passes (pictured)
The passage (pictured), launched at Dubai International Airport last month, instead uses artificial intelligence, biometric cameras and flight data to automatically recognise customers – and any dodgy-looking luggage
The system (pictured) is currently only available for business class travellers on flights departing from terminal three – but bosses plan to roll it out soon to the arrival halls too
Dubai Airports has worked on it with government body General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDFRA) in hopes of ‘enhancing the traveller experience at Dubai International Airport’.
Brigadier Walid Ahmed Saeed, assistant deputy director at GDRFA Dubai, said: ‘Just by walking through this corridor, you have completed your exit.’
It comes after Singapore’s main international airport launched a similar concept last year.
The technology at Singapore Changi Airport, which also uses AI and biometrics, still has passengers present their passport upon arrival.
But they need not produce them for checking when they depart, if their biometric data was captured when they arrived.
More records will soon be set back in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), at the main airport of the country’s capital, Abu Dhabi.
The Zayed International Airport will soon benefit from the so-called Smart Travel Project, which will see biometric sensors installed at every checkpoint.
This spans from check-in counters, immigration booths and boarding gates, to VIP lounges and the tills of the duty-free shop.
The change (pictured) slashes the time it takes to get through security to just six to 14 seconds
All passengers need to do to be able to use the new system (pictured) is register their passport details and provide a photo in advance of hitting the terminal
Ten people can pass through the tunnel (pictured) at once, meaning families or big groups, especially during the busy summer holiday rush, will not suffer for it
The airport announced plans for the high-tech tunnel (pictured) in February last year, initially expecting it would launch before 2025 – but it was only set in motion in August
Dubai Airports has worked on the system (pictured) with government body General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDFRA) in hopes of ‘enhancing the traveller experience at Dubai International Airport’
Brigadier Walid Ahmed Saeed, assistant deputy director at GDRFA Dubai, said: ‘Just by walking through this corridor, you have completed your exit’. Pictured: The new system
The technology is already in place in parts of the terminals, including any used by partner airline Etihad, and is set to expand across the whole airport.
Andrew Murphy, the airport’s chief information officer, said: ‘We’re expanding nine touchpoints and this would be a world first.’
The major updates come despite the fate of Dubai International Airport (DXB), which just benefitted from the ‘red carpet corridors’, currently hanging in the balance.
CEO Paul Griffiths has said once the city’s new Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) opens, DXB – which is 65 years old – will no longer be needed.
‘There is little sense in operating two major hubs with such close proximity to one another,’ he said. ‘We will move every single service to DWC.’
He explained the existing hub is simply too old to keep running: ‘By then, every single asset at DXB will be close to the end of its useful operating role, so the economics of keeping DXB open will not be possible unless we invest a huge amount of money.’
It is unclear exactly when Dubai International Airport will close.
But the city’s new airport is only set to open in 2032 and will not be completely finished until the 2050s – so it may be some time yet.
