A trial of the system has been launched at an airport in Henan province, reports the China South Morning Post.Since Wednesday, passengers at the Jiangying Airport in Nanyang can have their faces scanned in lieu of using boarding passes.When checking in and boarding, travellers will have real-time images of their faces verified against their ID photos and head shots pre-uploaded on the airline's mobile application. The scanning process lasts just one second.One of the first visitors to use the system, a man surnamed Wang, told the state-owned People's Daily: “It feels very novel. I was carrying lots of luggage, stood in front of the gate, and the boarding doors immediately opened. I didn't need to pull out my boarding pass. [It was} so much more convenient!”The airline said its initial use of the technology at Nanyang will pave the way for similar roll-outs at Beijing's new airport and elsewhere. It reportedly plans a large-scale use of the system, including implementing it at the newly built Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Terminal 2 in 2018, the People's Daily reported.Earlier this month, major US airlines Delta and Jet Blue also announced face recognition boarding trials, while Emirates plans to use similar technology in Dubai.
Chinese airline launches face recognition software
