Standing between e-gate lanes at Helsinki airport, Mika Hansson, a Senior Advisor at the National Police Board, who played a key role in the DTC rollout, quips his journey to Montreal for ICAO TRIP has been made easier by using the DTC.
He shared the photo of himself to LinkedIn, adding he gave a presentation about the DTC pilot in Finland. The DTC has encapsulated major strides in digitalising the travel industry.
Finland is a decisive player in the digital travel credential experimentation, currently the first country pilot testing the digital pass (digipass) at Helsinki-Vantaa airport until February. The first journey to digitally verify a passenger using the DTC took place on September, 1 2023 from Helsinki to London.
The DTC pilot project will enable passengers on Finnair flights travelling to London, Edinburgh and Manchester to pass seamlessly through border control without queuing by sliding a traditional passport in to the chip reader which extracts the DTC information to allow entry.
Mika Hansson said: “While I knew it was an interesting topic, it wasn’t until the symposium that I realised just how hot of a topic it is!”.
The passport will remain in use while another example of digitalisation is accelerated for travel. Certain EU borders will be receptive to the digipass led by Finland and in partnership with Croatia, where more DTC pilots are planned for the end of September.
To submit a valid DTC application, passengers must verify their identity in-person at either Helsinki-Vantaa or Tikkurila police station, joining up law enforcement and border controls to monitor migration.
The FIN DTC Pilot digital travel document app can be downloaded on iPhone or Android devices as pragmatic testing takes place in a real border control environment. The DTC experimentation is expected to be the first of its kind in the world.
Finnish Border Guarda will still be physically deployed to check personal data from applications 36−4 hours in advance of departure. The UK border remains controlled by local authorities and passport procedures, so the passport must be carried on any return journeys to Helsinki Airport and currently only Helsinki Airport has stepped across to deploying the DTC.
Face recognition kiosks at Helsinki Airport when you leave and return from the country compare your facial photo with the DTC required photograph. The DTC is only available to adult Finnish passengers.
