Passports 'redundant' in five years, suggests Dubai Airports chief

Paper passports could be “redundant within five years” due to biometric technology, Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, has said.

“I know many travellers cherish collecting travel stamps, but from a technological perspective, the idea of carrying a physical book in order to fly is outdated,” Mr Griffiths wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

“We have the capability to verify identity through biometrics. Yet we still ask people to repeatedly produce a document to prove who they are throughout their journey.”

Mr Griffiths says the next step depends on governments, airlines and airports connecting their systems and agreeing on common standards for recognising digital identities across borders.

Dubai has already introduced technology to reduce the need for passengers to repeatedly present their documents.

But wider co-operation between authorities and carriers could allow travellers to leave their passports at home altogether, rather than simply keeping them in their bags as they pass through an airport.

In September, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs Dubai (GDRFA Dubai) announced Click and Travel, a service that equips immigration officers with mobile devices connected to its databases. This allows them to complete entry and departure procedures away from fixed passport desks, using biometrics to verify passengers' identities.

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Designed for peak travel periods and emergencies, the process can take as little as 12 seconds. During a trial between May and August, 31,373 passengers were processed using the system.

At launch, the service was available to UAE citizens, residents and visitors leaving the country. For arrivals, it was limited to citizens and residents, with plans to expand eligibility.

The initiative builds on existing biometric services, including Smart Gates, which allow eligible passengers to clear passport control without stopping at a traditional passport desk or presenting physical documents.

Emirates has also been expanding facial recognition across Terminal 3, investing $23 million in more than 200 biometric cameras for use at check-in, immigration, lounges and boarding gates. Registered passengers can use their face instead of repeatedly showing a passport or boarding pass at participating points.

Show caption: Could passports become a thing of the past? Pawan Singh / Th…

While these services reduce document checks within the airport, leaving a passport at home would require authorities at both ends of a journey to recognise a traveller's digital identity.

“Countries will no doubt move at different speeds, but that should give us greater urgency,” Mr Griffiths writes.

He also sees potential for the technology beyond airports. The same digital identity could accompany travellers throughout a trip, from crossing a border to collecting a hire car and checking in to a hotel.

“Ultimately, our guests would spend less time proving who they are and more time enjoying their trip,” he writes. “It's up to us across aviation and tourism to work together to make that possible.”

“The technology is ready. How quickly we make this everyday reality is largely up to us. Your passport has an expiry date. I believe the need to carry it has one too.”