Star Alliance and Amadeus agree partnership for biometric traveller identity verification

Organisations will work together to create a more “global, frictionless, and touchless” customer journey

Star Alliance, the airline alliance that counts BA among its member and Amadeus have joined forces to roll out biometric-based traveller identity verification.

The partners said a fragmented approached to developing biometric technology means users are expected to upload details to multiple systems on multiple occasions.

Amadeus and Star Alliance described their partnership as a milestone for travellers enrolled in Star Alliance Biometrics or Amadeus Traveller ID.

The will get the benefit of accessing a growing number of airports where identity verification can be utilised during their journey.

The organisations said the deal comes “at a time when it is crucial to reduce new travel frictions caused by responses to COVID-19, and to increase traveller confidence”.

They said they will create a “more global, frictionless, and touchless journey” for the millions of frequent flyers enrolled in alliance member airlines.

Star Alliance Biometrics, that was launched last month, allows passengers to pass through touchpoints within airports, such as check-in kiosks, bag-drop, and boarding gates.

It has deployed a secure identity management solution featuring facial recognition, allowing for a touchless COVID-19 compliant experience at airports.

Amadeus’ identity data exchange and verification solution, Traveller ID, connects a passenger’s digital ID to any online and biometric portal during the journey.

In the future, these passengers will be able to use their Traveller ID to also access existing or new airports that have implemented the Star Alliance Biometrics solution.

In both programmes, travellers consent to share their biometric data with the airlines and service providers of their choice in accordance with data privacy regulations.

Christian Draeger, vice president customer experience at Star Alliance, said: “The best part of this trustful partnership is how we are building upon our individual strengths and working together to deliver a more seamless and safe travel experience.

“It increases our operational ability by speeding up airport processes and immediately benefits those who have already enrolled in our program.

“Through collaboration between the Star Alliance Biometrics and Amadeus Traveller ID solutions, we have a winning proposition that will encompass all aspects of the customer journey.”

Monika Wiederhold, executive vice president airlines central and eastern Europe at Amadeus, said:

“The Traveller ID solution is agnostic, meaning that all types of travel companies can work with us for a variety of digital identity needs, from enrolling travellers, to organising the collaboration of multiple providers to orchestrate the end-to-end identity verification process.

“Ultimately, our objective with Traveller ID is to help the industry deploy frictionless travel throughout the whole passenger journey.

“We can only achieve this through collaboration with travel industry partners, which is why we are so pleased to work with Star Alliance to bring this vision to life.”