Passportless travel is ready, says expert, legislation is the bottleneck

Travelers are beginning to express their preference for biometric options for air travel as speed and convenience continue to be top priorities. Unsurprisingly, young people want their travel experience to be digital, even as they seek reassurances about privacy and security. Not all trips are the same and regional preferences are enabled digital travel credentials (DTC) appear.

These findings from the International Air Transport Association (BEHOLD) newly released 2024 Global Passenger Survey points to an increasingly obvious truth: biometric and digital identification technology is transforming air travel. In the words of Alan Goode in a recent comment for Biometric update“from remote identity verification based on smartphone selfies, to bag storage, access to VIP lounges, going through security, concession shopping and boarding a plane, train or cruise ship, biometrics enable an experience of smooth journey.”

Young people prefer digital wallets for convenience, efficiency

“Passengers want flexibility and transparency when planning and booking travel, plus speed and convenience at the airport,” says Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president for operations, safety and security, in a statement. “More are embracing biometrics, digital wallets and off-airport processes to make this happen.”

Among people under 25, 51 percent express a preference for digital wallets as a payment method, and 90% expressed interest in using a smartphone with a digital wallet, passport and loyalty cards for booking, paying and navigating the airport. These figures far exceed global averages. And they are likely to continue to grow as the boomer generation ages and digital natives become the majority.

“Travellers expect the same convenience when shopping for travel that they get in any other online shopping experience,” says IATA’s Muhammad Albakri, senior vice president for financial settlement and distribution services. “The industry is stepping up to meet the demand for greater customer focus through IATA’s Modern Airline Retailing initiative. Passengers will gradually experience its positive impact in the very near future.”

Among the same young people under 25, 48 percent prefer biometry over traditional passports and boarding passes. More would be interested if data security assurances were more transparent. Experience may also have something to do with it: Of the 46 percent of travelers who went through airport processes using biometric identification, 84 percent were satisfied and 75 percent say they prefer using biometrics over passports and boarding passes traditional.

Europeans are most likely unhappy with biometrics

Regionally, Asia-Pacific leads in the use of mobile apps and digital wallets to book and pay for travel and in their likelihood to use biometric technology in airports. African nations show strong interest in digitizing travel, but often face limited options. North American travelers “actively use biometric identification for airport processes and report high satisfaction with it.” And Europeans are the most cautious about the use of biometrics and the least satisfied.

Specific nations are also charting their own paths in terms of digital travel credentials. Australia recently announced that it is replacing its Inbound Passenger Card (IPC) with Travel declaration to Australia (ATD), allowing travelers to share their data with airport security via a QR code on their smartphone. Pilots have started on select Qantas Airways flights from Auckland to Brisbane, and expansion is expected in the coming weeks.

Nigeria is excited digital identity for travelersand recently announced its intention to adopt DTC, to streamline the air travel experience and reduce bureaucratic delays. As many as 40 electronic check-in gates at multiple airports are believed to be operating across the country, based on reports as of early 2024.

As cautious as they are, the EU is also pressing ahead with DTCs, planning a new one The EU Digital Travel app and a common framework for using DTC. The hope is that digital credentials could ease some of the headaches caused by the EU Input-output system (EES).

74% say digital wallets are essential for travel: PYMNTS survey

The survey results from PYMNTS go even further in terms of the adoption of digital wallets for travelers. Almost three-quarters (74%) of travelers say the company’s digital wallets are “essential” for travel, and it’s not just the young: affluent travelers show a strong preference (82%) for transactions using digital wallets.

The entry of big and familiar names in space for digital wallet has normalized them to some extent, and international standards bodies that can support the travel industry in aligning with digital ID and digital credentials also help the cause.

Covering In Phocuswire, he quotes Darrell O’Donnell, executive director of the Global Acceptance Network (GAN), who believes that digital wallets will be most useful once the sector integrates different travel systems. “It would make my life so much easier if I could just say, ‘Hi, I’m checking in, here’s my reward number,’ and I’d have everything connected seamlessly,” he says.

This kind of standardized, frictionless experience is the dream — but it still exists verification requirements on both the KYC and KYB sides of the equation.

GAN plans to provide a “trusted exchange to verify the identity of the user and the user to verify the provider, bringing together multiple ecosystems in travel, including airlines, hotels, tour operators and loyalty programs, while ensuring the privacy and security of the exchange of data”. It talks about “a new digital layer that will become a ‘DNS for Trust,'” similar to the Domain Name System (DNS) for the web.

The EUDI Wallet program will be a driver of interoperability

EU Digital Wallet Program (The EUDI wallet) and its current large-scale pilot programs are likely to drive advances in digital credentials and interconnectivity, as its nationally managed wallet schemes in member states need to be interoperable across the European Economic Area. Pilots test travel use cases such as hotel check-ins, ferry tickets and boarding flights.

According to Annet Steenbergen, advisor to the EU Digital Wallet Consortium, “We are getting to a point where you will be able check in at the hotel from your couch, share your check-in credentials digitally and slip your room key into your wallet before you arrive. But we are still a long way from being able to travel without a physical passport.”

Blockchain and the digital identity path are not clear cut

Some see blockchain as the main enabler of reusable digital credentials for easier travel. But there is no consensus about its role. For Steenbergen, secure blockchain-based identity is a contradiction in terms. “Blockchain writes something in stone and that goes against privacy, especially the right to be forgotten.” It is doubtful that it will enter the EUDI Wallet ecosystem.

How soon can we expect to travel without a passport?

The biggest question in travel is when the industry can completely eliminate physical documents. The tools are available now. But legislation moves much more slowly than innovation. “Technically, we can do all of this,” says Steenbergen. “The problem is that the current legislation still often says that a travel document must be physically verified.”

Alan Goode puts the introduction of DTC Type 3, which are digital credentials issued without the need to be linked to an electronic machine-readable travel document (eMRTD), between five and ten years. His consulting firm also says the market for government-issued and commercial digital travel identities will generate more than $4.6 billion in revenue by 2029. Meanwhile, IATA, which recently published the results of two proofs of concept on DTC- its One ID and digital wallet. scheme, claims “a seamless fully digital travel experience powered by digital identity and biometrics has gone from theory to proven reality.”

The engines start and the runway is cleared. Traveling without documents can fly sooner than we think.

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