SITA enables Miami Airport app users to quickly tap and clear immigration and customs

Miami International Airport (MIA) is the first airport in the world to bring the convenience of Mobile Passport Control, the fast entry process into the USA, into its own airport app experience. US citizens and Canadian visitors arriving into Miami can now use the MIA Airport Official app to submit details to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and simply receive a barcode on their phone to present for clearance.

This convenient service, developed by global air transport IT provider SITA and certified by US CBP for Mobile Passport Control, speeds up the entry process into the USA. As an integral part of MIA’s official app, the new mobile service builds on the personal travel assistant experience already being offered to Miami’s passengers.

“The goal of our mobile app has always been to put as many services as possible in the palm of the traveler’s hand,” said Miami-Dade Aviation Director Emilio T. González. “Now, with the help of SITA’s innovative technology, in addition to easily finding your way to all you need at MIA, North American passengers can now also breeze through passport control with the same customer-friendly travel app.”

Miami International Airport offers more flights to Latin America and the Caribbean than any other US airport. It is America’s third-busiest airport for international passengers, with more than half of its 44.6 million passengers on international travel.

SITA offers the service as an SDK (software development kit). The SDK has been authorized by CBP for airports, airlines and other travel app providers to incorporate the entry process into their own mobile app.

Randy Pizzi, SITA President, Americas, said: “We are very pleased to be a technology partner with MIA as they become the first to incorporate the convenience of US CBP Mobile Passport Control into their airport application. Passenger satisfaction increases when technology solutions, like SITA’s, make it easy for passengers to manage their journey using just one convenient application on their own smartphone or tablet.”

SITA’s innovative design ensures the CBP requirements are met, which reduces the certification process for app developers. It enables eligible travelers to use an airport or airline’s app on their mobile device to submit their passport information and answer CBP inspection-related questions prior to CBP inspection. The convenient service does not require pre-approval and is free to use.

Today the SDK from SITA is available to any international airport in the USA or any airline flying passengers to the USA. SITA is also in discussions with other governments who are looking to digitize their landing card, customs and border clearance procedures. Providing such services via mobile devices enables direct communication with travelers which supports secure pre-clearance and helps streamline the passenger journey.

After a successful tendering process launched in December 2016, Vision-Box is now ready to unleash one more world-premiere: a ground-breaking Automated Border Control solution will be delivered, further securing the country’s borders and providing a seamless biometric-driven experience to arriving passengers.

Canberra, Australia | July 27, 2017–Vision-Box has today entered into a contract with the Australian Government to deliver the world’s first automated ‘contactless’ traveller clearance processes for people arriving in Australia by air at all international airports.

This contract was celebrated in the scope of the Seamless Traveller program and will expand Vision-Box’s successful presence in Australia initially sustained by its important work on the project that began in 2015 after the Australian Government selected the company to provide biometric border control SmartGates at all Airports’ departures.

This three-year contract will deliver the next generation of Automated Border Control passenger-processing technology. Vision Box’s latest innovations will assist the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection to collect and verify biometric data from all passengers arriving at Australian International Airports.

It will also deliver a new capability that will enable known travellers to self-process through the border without the need to physically use a passport (contactless), entirely relying on facial recognition technology.

Miguel Leitmann, Chief Executive Officer and co-Founder of Vision-Box said that “This contract represents an unparalleled milestone in the history of automation at the border, since it is the first time a government will implement biometric identification through contactless services. We are permanently investing in R&D to bring innovation at the service of more secure and frictionless border control solutions. By selecting Vision-Box, the Australian Government once again puts its trust onto us, to build their leading ambition, which is an amazing recognition to our commitment to society in this respect. This is the result of our long-term dedication and the teamwork we have been able to nurture with the DIBP, and I am very proud of what our people have achieved for our customer and how they feel being part of something bigger: making the world a better place”

The joint initiative to transform Princess Juliana International Airport into a seamless end-to-end self-service passenger journey has progressed to phase two with the launch of Vision-BoxTM biometric Automated Border Control eGates.
Lisbon | January 23, 2017–On one of the premier vacation paradise jewels of the Caribbean, Sint Maarten, the joint initiative of Princess Juliana International Airport N.V., Immigration and Border Protection Services, the Police Force of Sint Maarten (KPSM), and Vision-Box has been heavily engaging in transforming the airport into a world class Passenger Experience.

This commitment to reinvent and modernize Princess Juliana International Airport continues with phase two of the project with the upgrading of the airport’s passenger
immigration infrastructure, now employing Vision-BoxTM self-service biometric Automated Border Control eGates intended to modernize the process, improve the security of the identification procedure, and expedite passenger flow at one more stage of the passenger journey across the airport.
vb i-matchTM ABC eGates have now integrated the recently announced seamless passenger journey designed by Vision-BoxTM, joining the already existing vb i-matchTM security checkpoint eGates installed in the first phase of the project. Together, these solutions are streamlining identification processes for departing passengers, when entering airside and clearing immigration.

Chief of the National Police Force of Sint Maarten Carl John states that, “The main goal is to introduce an integrated passenger experience program that seamlessly streamlines the identification, verification, validation and enrollment processes in such a way that it positively enhances passenger flow, while maintaining the highest level of security for travelers.”

The enthusiastic arrival of biometric ABC eGate technology at SXM Airport means that, after successfully entering airside using vb i-matchTM security checkpoint eGates, passengers crossing the border will be able to complete the entire immigration process in just a few seconds using a customer-centric self-service touchpoint – vb i-matchTM ABC.

Once at the eGate, the passenger will first scan their ePassport, where facial biometric information from the echip is scanned and matched with a live facial image capture of the passenger. Once all identification and safety checks have been successfully conducted, the passenger is allowed to clear immigration. At the forefront of modernizing the immigration clearance procedure is cutting-edge fraud detection and self-clearing biometric identification capabilities, using an advanced eGate security algorithm authenticating the passenger’s ePassport and identity through multiple fraud and security operations, which take just a few seconds.

Newly appointed airport ambassadors are there to greet and guide travelers in the use of the eGates, additionally to the support of a passenger-centered, expertly designed User Interface, oriented towards the success of the operation! Additionally, every passenger transaction is closely monitored by an immigration officer using vb inspectorTM, a monitoring system giving the officers immediate information on each passenger’s identity and transaction status, detecting identity fraud, leveraging biometric and biographic information during real-time checks of intelligence and criminal databases, and instantly alerting border officers in case of an emergency.

Planned for later in 2017 as part of phase three is the addition of vb orchestraTM, a robust and unifying management suite that will give SXM Airport, Immigration and
Border Protection Services, and the KPSM a complete overview and control of the entire passenger flow infrastructure and security network. OrchestraTM will give airport and security management officials an effective tool for the proactive monitoring and risk-based assessment of passengers. This software engine gives officials the ability to enhance operational security, while optimizing the passenger experience through flow metric reporting and business rules configuration.

The full realization of SXM Airport, Immigration and Border Protection Services, KPSM, and Vision-BoxTM’s collective vision for a full self-service airport of the future will come to fruition with the installation of Vision-BoxTM’s Advance Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record (API/PNR) platform, thus delivering to all stakeholders the full benefits of an Entry/Exit system further boosting the internal security of the airport. The API/PNR is also slated to go fully live at the end of 2017.

Jean-François Lennon, Vice-President for Global Business Development & Sales of Vision-BoxTM highlights that “It has been an amazing journey. With the latest generation
of passenger identification technology in place, Princess Juliana International Airport will soon be ready to benefit from a game-changing asset made possible by a robust
orchestration platform and an API/PNR framework: the power of anticipation. The identification of travelers in advance will allow for effective situational awareness, for the detection of potential risk situations and for the activation of preventive measures, as well as offer a range of opportunities to leverage data, in a privacy- responsible matter, towards more secure, agile, and efficient processes.”