Say Goodbye to Boarding Passes: ICAO’s Digital Travel Credential Set to Transform Air Travel
Say Goodbye to Boarding Passes: ICAO’s Digital Travel Credential Set to Transform Air Travel
Physical documents like boarding passes and even passports could be replaced with facial recognition technology and a smartphone-based “journey pass.”
The days of printing boarding passes and standing in long check-in lines at airports may soon be behind us. A bold new initiative by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is paving the way for a future where your face and phone do all the work.
In the next two to three years, ICAO plans to roll out a global digital travel credential that will transform the way we travel.
Physical documents like boarding passes and even passports could be replaced with facial recognition technology and a smartphone-based “journey pass.”
What’s Changing?
The ICAO — the United Nations agency that sets global aviation standards — is working to phase out traditional check-in procedures. The big idea? A digital identity system that lets passengers:
- Store passport details securely on their phones
- Receive a digital pass at the time of booking
- Walk through airports using just facial recognition
- Instead of scanning boarding passes or handing over documents, your identity would be verified automatically with a simple face scan at key points like baggage drop, security checks, and boarding gates.
What Airports Need to Do
- l To make this work globally, airports will need a tech makeover:
- l Facial recognition at all major checkpoints
- l Systems that can read digital passports from phones
- l Real-time syncing between airlines, immigration, and airport authorities
While the change will take time and global coordination, the payoff could be huge — faster passenger flow, fewer queues, and less hassle for travellers.
Smarter Travel, Even During Disruptions
This isn’t just about convenience — the new system could radically improve how delays and disruptions are handled.
If a flight is delayed or changed, your digital journey pass would update automatically, and notifications would be sent directly to your phone. No more scrambling to find help desks or reprint boarding passes. It’s all done for you, instantly.
But What About Privacy?
Facial recognition and digital IDs raise an obvious concern: data security. Privacy experts have flagged the risks of collecting and storing such sensitive data.
However, developers of the system, including tech partner Amadeus, say privacy is a top priority. For example, facial scans are deleted within 15 seconds, and all data handling will comply with strict international standards.
