122 smart gates serve 100m passengers at Dubai airport
Over the past four years, more than 100 million travellers have used Dubai International Airport’s smart gates, a senior official said yesterday. Lt Gen Mohammad Al Merri, Director-General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), said the 122 smart gates at Dubai Airports nearly replaced passport control officers for stamping travellers’ passports.
“More than 100 million travellers used the smart gates between 2019 and March 2022. Most travellers don’t need to pass an officer until they reach the air plane, through smart travelling,” Lt Gen Al Merri said at the Global Airports Leaders forum during the 21st Airport Show at the Dubai
World Trade Centre.
Smart tunnel
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, GDRFA-Dubai presented the ‘Smart Tunnel’ that allowed passengers to clear passport control in a few seconds. Travellers can use it by simply walking through a biometric recognition system, without the need to have an exit stamp on their passports. Using facial recognition, the tunnel helped travellers complete passport control formalities without the need for human intervention.
In 2021, GDRFA-Dubai, in cooperation with Emirates airline, presented a new biometric system that eliminates the need for identification documents at different points in the airport. The ‘biometric passenger journey’ uses facial and iris-recognition technology to let travellers complete passport control procedures in as little as five seconds. The contactless system has been installed at 122 smart gates in the arrivals and departures halls.
With Dubai retaining its position as the busiest airport in the world, Lt Gen Al Merri believes that teamwork and coordination helped ensure a smooth travel through Dubai Airports.
“We have an integrated system involving all the other authorities at the airport, such as Customs, police, airlines and Dubai Airports.,” he said. “A traveller [usually] expects to spend more time, going through airport procedures, but in Dubai, he or she passes through the airports in a shorter time. In fact, more than 90 per cent of the procedures is completed even before reaching passport control.”