AS EASY AS ABC? - NOT AT THE AIRPORT
Flyers’ anger over new 'technology' border control waiting times
WHEN the new ABC facial recognition passport system was introduced at Alicante-Elche airport in 2016, the government promised it would ‘eliminate unnecessary queues’.
However, hundreds of thousands of passengers are finding that rather than making their passage through the passport check area quicker, the system is creating a blockage, with many travellers having to wait lengthy periods.
More than 18 months ago, the ABC gates were offered as ‘optional’ for passengers with digital passports.
However, all flyers with a digital passport are now instructed to go through – unless they are flying with children or are of Spanish nationality.
A press release from the national government in 2016 stated that the technology would carry out ‘facial and fingerprint identification in an average time of between 20-30 seconds’.
“The identification document is introduced in the ABC system,” explained the press release.
“At the same time, the passenger looks at the camera of the system and has their fingerprint scanned.
“They are identified by the system in this way.”
Government delegate Juan Carlos Moragues stated that it would lead to ‘ greater security and convenience’ and the modern system would allow people to pass through more quickly.
However, flyers have found their wait is substantially longer than having their passport checked by National Police officers – and long queues of frus- trated passengers build up on a regular basis.
Costa Blanca News reader Tony Lister from Torrevieja said he and his wife had a bad experience with the system over the festive period.
“We were on our way back from a visit to our daughter in the UK. We arrived at Alicante and it took us an hour to get from the aircraft to the car park,” he explained.
“The hold-up was a massive queue at border control.
“Standing watching the screens which told us there would be no queues using the automated system was not a joke.
“We waited there so long that when we finally got through, the baggage carousel had stopped running.
“The passport equipment clearly cannot cope with a rush of people.
“Goodness knows what will happen in the summer, when full flights arrive one behind the other.
"Tempers will get frayed very easily.”
Mr Lister questioned why the equipment was ‘clearly not quick enough to cope’.
“Someone needs a kick up the backside for organising this chaos,” he noted.
“And the system needs to dramatically improved.”
A number of other readers also shared their experiences of the ABC system via the Costa Blanca News Facebook page – and the vast majority were negative.
Michael Wike noted that he has been using the airport regularly for 12 years.
“It was always a straightfor- ward procedure going through passport check until the ABC was introduced.
“These machines work fine when there is a lot of them, but ALC only have six.
“Some airports have 30-40 and so no queues.
“The waiting in line for these six machines is ridiculous.”
Suzanne Price lamented that ‘the instructions are printed in the wrong place’.
“They should be on posters well before you get to the machine,” she stated.
“You are supposed to put your passport in then look straight ahead and keep looking ahead, except the instructions are printed next to the passport slot, so people keep looking down to check they are doing it right, and then it restarts and people get flustered and take their passport out and it causes the delays.
“Some people do not like using the machines anyway, but they won’t let them go through to the passport desk until they have already caused a delay at the machine.”
Andrew Weller said the system was ‘far too slow’ and the ‘recognition software is rubbish’.
Kevin Miller labelled the system ‘garbage’ and said it had taken him more than hour to get through in the summer.
He said he would now fly to Murcia instead.
Diane Voyce said she found the system ‘diabolical’ and had ‘spent ages waiting’.
“They had airport staff helping to operate machines, when it would have been quicker for them to check the passport,” she noted.