RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The air bridge between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo will be the first in the country to have 100% digital boarding. Passengers will be able to access the aircraft using biometric data, eliminating the need to present identification documents.
The technology is scheduled to go into operation this year at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo and Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro.
The innovation is part of the Digital Safe Boarding project developed by the Ministry of Infrastructure in collaboration with the Special Secretariat for De-bureaucratization, Management, and Digital Administration of the Ministry of Economy.
Yesterday (11), a technical cooperation agreement was signed between Infraero and the Federal Service for Data Processing (Serpro), the state-owned companies involved in implementing this technology. The government expects that the switch will facilitate and speed up the transit of passengers and aircrews.
“The technical cooperation agreement provides for a joint effort to install, operate and improve the initiative coordinated at Congonhas and Santos Dumont airports,” Infraero announced through its social networks.
According to the state-owned company, the air bridge between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo is not only the busiest in Brazil but also the fifth busiest in the world in terms of number of flights.
Under the agreement, the equipment required to install and operate the biometric recognition system developed by Serpro will be purchased. The tender for purchasing the equipment is expected to be issued this month. Full implementation of the technology is scheduled for July.
The use of biometrics in boarding has already been tested. From October 2020 to January this year, more than 6,200 passengers participated in the project’s test phase at seven airports. Civil aviation experts were also brought in to evaluate the technology.
For passengers, the process begins with online check-in. They must provide their personal information, including their unique registry number (Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas – CPF), and take a photo with their cell phone camera.
The airline will use the application developed by Serpro to validate the citizen’s biometric data by comparing the data and the photo submitted with the records in the government databases. After validation, the airport cameras will be ready to recognize the traveler and release his access.