Iberia launched its facial recognition boarding service on its most emblematic route, the Air Bridge, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Customers travelling between Madrid and Barcelona and vice versa will be able to go through the security control and the boarding gate without having to take out their mobile phone and/or show the necessary documents.
The service is available to all customers who have an Iberia Plus card. To register, they must access the private area of the Iberia app and complete the following steps: enter their personal data, take a photo of their ID, scan the document chip and take a selfie using their mobile phone. This process is carried out only once and then, for each trip the customer makes, they only have to link their boarding pass to their biometric profile. It is also possible to complete the registration process at the airport kiosks or on the AENA app.
The only requirements to register for the facial recognition service is to be over 18 years of age and have a Spanish DNI (DNI 3.0 with NFC technology to be able to communicate with mobile phones) or an electronic EU passport.
Six Boarding Gates at Madrid-Barajas Airport
At the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport, Iberia has six boarding gates with facial recognition services: J46, J50, J52, J54, J56 and J58. In addition, it has 2 kiosks in the check-in area (Air Bridge and Business) and four biometric gates in the security area (two in the main access, one in the Air Bridge and one in the Fast Track).
For its part, at the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport the airline has one biometric boarding gate (A02), two gates in the security filter and a kiosk in the check-in area.
Boarding by facial recognition does not affect boarding groups, which will maintain their usual order. Upon arrival at the gate, each customer will choose whether they prefer conventional boarding pass access or the biometric gate (as long as they are registered in the programme and have linked their boarding pass with their biometric identity during the check-in process).
Currently, biometric boarding is available for mobile phones with the iOS operating system and, so near future, it will also be available for Android phones.
Customers must keep in mind that, although this contactless service allows them to board their flight without having to show any documents, they must still carry them in case they are necessary at any point during the trip.
The photo of the identity document is hosted on AENA servers with the appropriate encryption systems and can only be accessed during the operation of this programme. For more information, customers can read the Aena Biometrics Service privacy policy.
