EVA Airways (EVA Air), a Taiwanese air carrier, introduced a new facial recognition service that will facilitate the passenger boarding process on airline flights from San Francisco (SFO), the United States to Taipei Songshan (TSA) and Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) airports, Taiwan.

On December 1, 2020, EVA Air announced the launch of a new contactless facial recognition technology as a part of the United States Biometric Exit program, following which passengers would be enabled to scan their faces before boarding the plane at the gates. Meanwhile, the personal data would be compared to information given by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection authority as well as the airline’s check-in system, announced the air carrier in a press release.

The airline hopes that the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI)  to the boarding service would help to reduce the typical process time. Meanwhile, being contactless, the new technology would also minimize the risk of potential virus transmission. However, EVA Air outlined that passengers with special needs and infants would still need to follow the usual boarding procedures.

“The scope of contactless facial recognition services will be expanded to the seating arrangement, luggage check-in, and other areas in an increased number of airports worldwide“, stated the Taiwanese air carrier.

In addition to the newly-launched technology, in order to save time in the check-in process, the airline also encouraged its passengers to use the platform of online registration. According to EVA Air, the new facial recognition service would be opened for passengers in checkpoints of Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) and Taipei Songshan Airport (TSE).