News Desk
DUBAI: A record 11.25 million passengers last year used Smart Gates at all the terminals of Dubai International which for the fifth consecutive year has remained the world’s top airport for international travellers with about 90 million passengers, according to a top Dubai government official.
In his welcome address at the Airport Security on the concluding day of Global Airport Leaders Forum (GALF) at the 19th edition of Airport Show at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) on Wednesday, Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA-Dubai), the number of passengers using the Smart Gates at the airport increased from 5.5 million transactions in 2017 to 11.25 million transactions in 2018.
He said a number of technology-driven initiatives have been in place to facilitate the faster movement of passengers for completion of border control formalities at two international airports – Dubai International and Al Maktoum International – in the run-up to and during the Expo 2020 which will bring 25 million visitors to Dubai when it hosts the first Expo in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA).
The multimodal biometric Smart Gates can identify a traveller by either their passport, Emirates ID, eGate card or a QR barcode generated via a Smartphone app. As many as 127 Smart Gates are available across all the terminals of Dubai International. Smart Gates were first introduced in 2013 at Terminal 3 of Dubai International. This helps in reducing the average transaction times to under 10 to 15 seconds.
Another Seamless Passenger Experience product is Smart Corridor which enables passenger to enter the corridor in a sequence and their Iris will be captured on the fly without the need to present any travel document or stand in queue for Iris capture.
Smart Corridor is currently under operational experiment at Terminal 3 Departure. Because of Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities and Iris recognition biometrics, officials are allowed recognition while the passengers are moving, wearing sunglasses or contact lens, and even running – accurately and quickly.
Another government organisation which has been fast deploying smart technology in its operations is Dubai Customs.
In a keynote presentation, Dr. Hussain Al Fardan, Head of Innovations Centre at Dubai Customs and Chairman of Ideas Arabia, said Artificial Intelligence have been playing a crucial role in the drive towards making airport security better and better each passing day. More than 114 world-class innovations have been made so far by Dubai Customs, one of the earliest government departments in the emirate dating back to more than 100 years.
He explained various initiatives of Dubai Customs including the world’s first customs female inspection robot, an Android-based facility which it launched in 2015 at Dubai International T3. The other initiatives include the world’s first government AI Investors Application (AIIA), world’s first Customs Smart Inspection Table, based on Machine Learning and the world’s first government Open Innovation Smart Gate. This smart app made it one of the first government department in the UAE to transfer employees’ imagination to reality using 3D Printing and Virtual Reality (VR).
In another presentation, Harald Jentsch, Head of Baggag Handling Solutions at Smiths Detection, a global technology company with presence in 50 countries, said when using the AI, the detection rate had been found higher than 90 per cent and also equal or even better than the human capability.
He said the majority of European and Middle East airports were currently in the process of implementing European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) Standard 3-approved Explosives Detection Systems (EDS). The new standard is being implemented to detect higher levels of threats, while lowering operational false alarm rates (FAR). The European Commission passed a legislative framework requiring all hold baggage screening (HBS) in Europe be equipped with ECAC Standard 3-approved EDS in the Europe by 2020 and 2022 in specific circumstances.
Upgrading from Standard 2 to Standard 3-approved systems requires redesigning and reconfiguring the Baggage Handling Systems (BHS). In many Standard 2 configurations, the first level of screening is handled by a standard X-ray system, while a more powerful, Computed Tomography (CT) technology is used at Level 3. With the new mandate, Standard 3-approved machines will now be used right at Level 1.
