SUVARNABHUMI — The Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) with facial recognition technology for passenger identification will be available for domestic passengers from November 1, 2024 and international passengers from December 1, 2024, in time for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Mr. Keerati Kijmanawat, Chief Executive Officer of Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT), explained that the biometric system has been developed and tested to increase passenger convenience, speed up processes and reduce waiting times at key service points at six airports managed by AOT: Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Mae Fah Luang, Phuket, and Hat Yai.
Passengers who wish to use the biometric system can register their identity at check-in in two ways:
- Check-in at airline counters: Passengers inform airline staff that they are registering their facial data using boarding pass scanners. The system stores facial recognition data and travel documents as tokens.
- Self-service kiosks: After checking in, passengers select their airline, scan the barcode on their boarding pass, insert their passport or ID card and complete the process by scanning their face. The system stores the same tokenized data.
Once registered, passengers can use the biometric system to check in their baggage, pass through security and board their flights without showing their passport or boarding pass. Consent to use biometric data is only valid for a single journey and the entire process takes just 1-2 minutes.
Keerati has provided air traffic data for fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 – September 2024) and reports 119.29 million passengers, an increase of 19.22 percent year-on-year. This includes 72.67 million international passengers, an increase of 34.82 percent, and 46.62 million domestic passengers, an increase of 1.01 percent. There were 732,690 flights, an increase of 14.5 percent. The top five passenger nationalities were China, India, South Korea, Russia and Japan.
For the winter flight schedule (2024-2025), 370,239 flights have been allocated to AOT airports, an increase of 22.1 percent compared to last winter. This includes 222,780 international flights (up 33.1 percent) and 147,459 domestic flights (up 8.5 percent).
AOT expects passenger numbers to increase by 23 percent, with the top five routes coming from China, Malaysia, India, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Looking ahead to fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 – September 2025), AOT forecasts 129.97 million passengers, a rise of 8.95 percent. This will include 78.61 million international passengers (up 8.17 percent) and 51.36 million domestic passengers (up 10.18 percent). AOT also expects 808,280 flights, a 10.32 percent increase, with 453,750 international flights (up 9.02 percent) and 354,530 domestic flights (up 12.02 percent).
At Suvarnabhumi Airport, 64.44 million passengers are expected, an increase of 7.4 percent, with 376,820 flights (up 8.69 percent). Meanwhile, Don Mueang Airport is expected to handle 33.2 million passengers (up 13.91 percent) with 223,200 flights (up 13 percent).
Deputy Transport Minister Monporn Charoensri emphasized the readiness of the Airports of Thailand and the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (AEROTHAI) to support increased air traffic with the full opening of the third runway at Suvarnabhumi Airport. This expansion will allow Thailand to handle 94 flights per hour, up from 68 flights per hour previously.
In fiscal year 2024, the country is projected to handle 836,513 flights, a 16 percent increase from 2023. Suvarnabhumi Airport alone will see 348,980 flights, averaging 950 flights per day. The overall flight volume is approaching pre-pandemic levels and continues to rise, with a target of 1 million flights by 2025.
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