Manchester tests passport system

DYNAMIC new facial recognition technology which aims to boost border security and speed up the passport-checking process is being trialled at Manchester airport.

The pioneering new scheme will see passengers with biometric passports pass through a series of machines designed to scrutinise their passport and improve border safety.

Passengers will first have their passport scanned in a machine to check it has not been tampered with, before passing through a further machine which will scan their face and check it against their passport photo as well as checking that the passenger is not on any watch lists.

If any inconsistencies are picked up the passenger will be sent back through the manual channels, while border officials will be on hand to supervise all the decisions made by the scanning equipment.

The sophisticated equipment measures the distance between different points on the face and so can see through minor changes in appearance, such as the shaving of a beard.

But the machines will err on the side of caution in the case of more drastic image changes and send the traveller back through traditional passport controls.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who launched the scheme, said: “The UK has one of the toughest borders in the world and we are determined to ensure that it stays that way.

“These checks make up just one part of the Britain’s triple ring of security, alongside fingerprint visas for three quarters of the world’s population and the roll out of ID cards for foreign nationals.”

The scheme is expected to bring summer relief from queues, with the time taken for a passenger to pass through the system estimated at just 30 seconds.

The system will be introduced at Stansted in September, and if the trials are successful it will be extended to all major UK airports.

Thirteen million people in the UK already hold a biometric passport, with 7 million more receiving one each year as passports are renewed.

The technology is part of the Government’s new electronic border system, e-Borders, which will be based in Manchester and will see every passenger being counted in and out of Britain and checked against immigration and security watch lists by 2014.

The new hi-tech e-Borders centre will create up to 250 jobs in the North-West of England.