Istanbul Airport tests automated passport control

ISTANBUL – Demiören News Agency

Turkey’s General Directorate of Security and İGA, the group which built and will operate Istanbul Airport for 25 years, will soon introduce an automated passport control system at the mega airport to get passengers to go through customs faster.

Customs officers have already started conducting tests on the system.

The system permits quick passport control at the airport in an easy and convenient self-service process. Travelers will undergo biometric verification using face recognition and fingerprints during this system.

There are currently 30 automated passport control counters at the new airport.

Anyone older than 18 years of age and who is a Turkish citizen will be able to utilize this system.

“Our airport has been designed in a way where our passengers can do self-check-in, they can leave their own luggage and pass through the passport [control] on their own. And with this step, we have in fact established a system in which our passengers will be able to pass through the passport [control] on their own,” said Ersin İnankul, chief information officer (CIO) of İGA.

“Using the system is very simple. Without waiting in any queue, all of our passengers above the age of 18, who use chipped passports, can use this system,” he said.

“Our passengers come here with their passports. In the first stage, they scan their passports. Afterwards, the biometric data on their fingers and faces match the data on the passport and their passage through the passport control is ensured. Our passengers complete their passport procedures in 18-20 seconds…We have designed the electronic passport pass system together with our General Directorate of Security,” he said.