Qantas Airline passengers in Australia could be handed a shortcut through security checks under a new fast-track security system to give favourable treatment to low-risk travellers.
Under a hi-tech security trial with Qantas to start at Melbourne Airport next year, those passengers would be allowed to receive a less stringent examination at airport departure lounges and pass through security areas more quickly.
Melbourne will become the fourth airport, after London’s Heathrow, Amsterdam’s Schiphol, and Doha Hamad, to test the Smart Security program, which has been devised by airlines and airports.
To use the fast-track system people would register as “known travellers”, and security agencies would check their backgrounds.
Advanced facial biometric technology could link them to their travel documents and communicate the risk assessment to the boarding gate.
They could walk through streamlined checkpoints without having to remove shoes and hand in laptops and mobile phones; devices would scan for banned items and prohibited amounts of liquid.
Any passenger could still be subjected to a random check, and there would still be a lookout at checkpoints for suspicious behaviour.
Melbourne Airport CEO Chris Woodruff said that a memorandum of understanding to conduct the trial had been signed.
“We’re excited to be working with the International Air Transport Association, Airports Council International and Qantas,” he said.
The trial will be monitored by the Office of Transport Security to ensure that new measures get the proper regulatory approvals and comply with national security policy.
About 31 million passengers a year go through Melbourne Airport, and some industry figures would like over half of them to use Smart Security.
The IATA’s CEO, Tony Tyler, said global passenger traffic was set to double in the next 20 years. “Smart Security responds to this growth as well as to continuously evolving security threats,” he said.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said: “We look forward to new processes that will provide a better experience while maintaining the highest security.”