This first-class airport will become the first in the world to move without passports

Have you ever thought about the level of stress you would eliminate if you could get through an airport without having to use your passport.

Don't lose hope as traveling to one of the world's best airports is about to get even smoother next year.

It's Singapore's Changi Airport where, starting in 2024, officials will introduce automated immigration clearance that will allow passengers to leave the city-state without passports, using only biometric data. theirs.

"Passportless immigration clearance", Communications Minister Josephine Teo has called the approval of several changes to the country's Immigration Act that pave the way for the innovative initiative, during a parliament session on Monday.

Biometric technology, along with facial recognition software, is already in use to some extent at Changi Airport in automated lanes at immigration checkpoints.

"But the upcoming changes will reduce the need for passengers to repeatedly present their travel documents at touchpoints and allow for smoother and more convenient processing," said Teo.

Biometrics will be used to create a "single token of authentication" that will be used at various automated touch points – from baggage to customs – eliminating the need for physical travel documents such as boarding passes and passports.

Often ranked as the world's best airport and also one of the busiest, Singapore Changi Airport serves more than 100 airlines flying to 400 cities in nearly 100 countries and territories worldwide.

It carried 5.12 million passengers in June, passing the 5 million mark for the first time since January 2020, when the world was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The airport is a destination in itself and currently has four terminals. The authorities have decided to expand it, adding a fifth to respond to the growing number of travelers.