ThirdFactor | SAS Airlines matches fingerprints to passengers

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Swedish Airlines SAS Sverige is using fingerprint biometrics in order to make sure the passenger who checked a bag is the one getting on the flight.

Passengers have a fingerprint scanned when checking in for a flight. Before boarding the plane the fingerprint is scanned again to make sure it’s the same passenger. The fingerprint is only stored temporarily. Matching the baggage and person is a legal requirement and was done using ID documents.

Roughly half of all passengers on SAS’ domestic flights travel with baggage and will be able to utilize the biometric solution. From January 29, the biometric solution will be in operation from Arlanda to Luleå and Gothenburg and from Gothenburg to Arlanda. The biometric solution for baggage handling had already been implemented at SAS domestic destinations, with the exception of Örnsköldsvik, since December 2006.

Read the full story here.

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SAS Airlines matches fingerprints to passengers