Sydney Airport trials passport-free travel

International travellers may soon be able to keep their passports in their pockets, with the Australian Border Force seeing advanced biometrics – specifically, facial recognition – as the key to unlocking a more streamlined experience at the airport.

The tech would work hand-in-hand with the Australia Travel Declaration now being assessed on selected routes as a digital incoming passenger card.

The ABF recently completed a trial at Sydney Airport where airline crew members’ “faces operated as passports,” ABF Acting Deputy Commissioner Nicole Spencer told the Australian Airports Association Conference earlier this week.

The trial “allowed eligible aircrew to clear the border using their face only, without having to show a physical passport,” and Spencer noted that “the trial has exceeded expectations.”

The goal is “a traveller experience by the end of the decade that enables people to manage their own streamlined journey through the use of biometrics, digital forms and self-service.”

“Passengers will be able to complete their Australia Travel Declaration and provide their biometric credentials ahead of the border, skip the kiosk and go straight to the Smart Gate.”

Furthermore “if they are connecting to a domestic flight and they have nothing to declare they can simply proceed to the exit and transfer without needing to collect their bags… we will be closer to having combined international departures and domestic operations in place.”

Spencer noted that travellers “expect to be able to provide the information they need to one accountable authority, once, and that it will be appropriately shared to help facilitate their journey. Duplication is a killer when it comes to a positive experience.”

The Australia Travel Declaration is “first step to a fully digital border and ditching the quaint paper incoming passenger card.”

Instead, travellers using the relevant app or website “will receive a QR code on their phone or email” which is used “for swifter clearances through border and biosecurity controls.”

Meanwhile, in the here-and-now, Sydney Airport’s T1 international terminal will see 15 new screening lanes featuring advanced CT scanning technology introduced, allowing passengers to leave liquids, gels and laptops in their hand luggage.

As previously reported, a reorientation of the T1 departures security layout will also see security screening relocated in front of passport control.

Under the new arrangement, due to be completed by the end of 2025, travellers will go through the security checkpoint first, and then continue to the passport gates.