Airports of Thailand (AOT) is adopting an automated biometric identification system, using facial recognition technology, to provide services for passengers at six airports in the country.

The six airports include (1) Suvarnabhumi, (2) Don Mueang, (3) Chiang Mai, (4) Mae Fah Luang Chiang Rai, (5) Phuket, and (6) Hat Yai.

President of Airports of Thailand Kerati Kijmanawat said that the biometric system has been developed and tested and is now ready to be operational for domestic passengers from 1 November 2024 and for international travelers from 1 December 2024.

The system will make the travel of passengers more convenient, as it will reduce their time spent on personal identity verification, including baggage drop-off, security checkpoints, and boarding gates. It will collect passengers’ biometric information and travel itineraries electronically, so that they will no longer need to show passports or boarding passes.

Airports of Thailand has installed five types of common use passenger processing system (CUPPS). They include (1) the ticket checking system (CUTE), (2) the automated check-in system (CUSS), (3) the automated luggage check-in system (CUBD), (4) the passenger validation system (PVS), and (5) the self-boarding gate (SBG).

In the 2024 fiscal year (October 2023 – September 2024), 119.29 million passengers used services at the six airports, representing an increase of 19.22 percent over the previous year. Out of this number, 72.67 million were international passengers and 46.62 million domestic passengers.

The number of flights at the six airports during the period was 732,690, up by 14.5 percent. This number includes 416,190 international flights and 316,500 domestic flights.