Dubai authorities are embracing technology to cut down on queues and make travelling swifter and easier at the emirate's airports.
Passengers at Dubai airports can now benefit from 'Click and Travel', which promises seamless passport checks, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) Dubai announced on Monday.
The service uses a portable device fitted with advanced biometric recognition technology – facial and iris – which allows immigration officers to verify a traveller's identity in seconds.
The device is linked to GDRFA’s smart platform and official database to help with spot checks, without requiring passengers to queue at a counter.
How 'Click and Travel' works
The 'Click and Travel' service will not replace smart gates at Dubai International Airport (DXB).
“The new service can be used as a backup for smart gates and the Red Carpet tunnel,” said Maj Gen Talal Al Shanqiti, assistant director general for airport at GDRFA Dubai. “It's a new step towards the future of travel. We can use the device when there are long queues, and priority will be for families, children and people of determination.”
The service is available for all passengers in departures. On arrival, it is limited to Emiratis and UAE residents, with plans to expand it to others such as people with visitor visas.
“Usually, passengers go to the passport counters; with this new service, we are bringing the counter services to the passenger,” added Maj Gen Shanqiti. He said travellers can complete procedures with ease, without the need to stop at counters, speeding up the process and making it more flexible.
'Click and Travel' was piloted last October and the service was launched at DXB on Monday. More than 31,000 passengers used the service during the trial phase, GDRFA said.
Smart travel
Over the years, Dubai has invested in smart technology to cut down immigration waiting times, from the introduction of smart gates to the Red Carpet service for eligible travellers.
According to official figures by GDRFA Dubai, around 26 million passengers travelled through the emirate's airports from January until the end of August, with more than 9.4 million passengers using the smart gates.
About 750,000 passengers have used the Red Carpet service so far this year, an artificial intelligence-powered smart corridor that allows passengers to clear immigration within seconds, without showing a passport or boarding pass.
The state-of-the-art biometric systems installed at the gates have eased pressure on passport control officers, as more people opt to pass through them rather than queue for a physical stamp at immigration.
These smart gates take only seconds to pass through and eliminate the need for passengers to show identification documents at various touchpoints across the airport.
Using the Red Carpet service at DXB, passengers have cleared immigration in between six and 14 seconds.
Passengers walk straight through a designated smart lane without showing a passport or boarding pass, or stopping to speak to an officer, while facial recognition and AI process up to 10 travellers at the same time.
