An Incheon airport official demonstrates the use of the facial recognition Smart pass service at a departure gate of Terminal 2, Incheon International Airport, Friday. The paperless biometrics system allows passengers to go through departure and boarding gates without having to show their passports and boarding passes. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

 
A new biometric identification system using the facial features of travelers now substitutes for passports at Incheon International Airport, Korea's largest international air hub. The enhanced identification process started being used on July 27, the Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) said, Friday.

The new service, dubbed "Smart pass," enables the quick and efficient identification of passengers at departure and boarding gates at the airport without having to present their passports or boarding passes, according to the IIAC.

The service has been implemented across all departure gates and 16 boarding gates at the airport as of Friday.

"We expect the timely introduction of the Smart pass service (for outbound travels) to greatly help ease congestion caused at the airport for the peak summer season," IIAC President Lee Hag-jae said during the launching ceremony, Friday.

"The IIAC will continue to improve convenience for passengers through the introduction of cutting-edge technology."

For the time being, the service is available only for passengers flying with Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, Jin Air, T-way Air and Delta Air Lines. The airport has plans for full integration of the document-free system by April 2025, extending the service to passengers of all airlines.

Passengers who wish to use the new service should download the ICN Smart pass mobile application or use the self-check-in kiosks at the airport to register their facial information at least 30 minutes before using the service at the departure gates or boarding gates.

Despite the new system, passengers who have their facial information registered and use the service are still required to keep their passports and boarding passes on hand at all times, the airport said.

The uploaded biometric information can be used for five years. The mobile app is available in Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese.

According to the IIAC, since the pre-registration service opened on July 10, more than 25,000 users have uploaded their facial information.

The airport expects the biometric technology to significantly increase aviation security as human biometric information is unique for every individual, thus difficult to falsify and duplicate.

Several international airports including the U.S.' Atlanta, Singapore's Changi and Japan's Narita airports have implemented similar facial recognition systems.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA)'s 2022 Global Passenger Survey (GPS), 88 percent of 10,000 respondents expressed satisfaction with airport biometric recognition, while 75 percent said they preferred it to a paper-based in-person identification process.

The IATA presumes biometric recognition to reduce check-in time by 10 percent and boarding time by 40 percent.