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Two German companies have developed a new biometric system for identifying airline passengers during the boarding process.
Lufthansa Systems Group GmbH, the IT services arm of German airline Lufthansa AG, and high-security document producer Bundesdruckerei GmbH are demonstrating their jointly developed SecBoard system at the InterAirport trade show in Munich through Friday.

The system, designed to conduct biometric checks on passengers prior to boarding an aircraft, will play a significant role in the introduction of “trusted passenger” programs planned by the airline industry to increase aviation security, the two companies said Tuesday.
Passengers with an electronically readable identity card containing biometric data will also benefit from the technology: They will be able to move through airport security points more quickly and easily than travelers without cards, the companies said.

The SecBoard system consists of two parts. The first part is registration. At an enrollment station, passengers’ fingerprints are recorded, digitized and stored on a smart card, which only needs to be issued once but can be used again in all future flights. In addition to the fingerprint data, the card contains a photo of the passenger, personal information and a serial number. At check-in, the serial number is linked to the check-in data.

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