AirAsia launches FACES for check-in

AirAsia has introduced FACES (Fast Airport Clearance Experience System) at Senai International Airport (Johor Bahru) to smoothen passengers’ check-in experience. This makes AirAsia the first airline in Asia to offer a seamless travel experience from check-in to boarding. 

What is FACES?

FACES uses biometric facial recognition technology to fast-track passengers through the check-in to boarding process. Fully owned and operated by AirAsia, FACES will identify enrolled passengers as they approach the automated boarding gate. This allows them to board their flight without having to present any travel documents.

The system bears some similarities to the Fast and Seamless Travel (FAST) system at Changi Airport’s T4, used by the AirAsia group in Singapore. The AirAsia Group moved all Singapore flights to T4 in November 2017. At the time of the move, Group CEO, Ton Fernandes commented that the airline would learn from the FAST systems in place which all their passengers would use.

These include:

• automated check-in kiosks to retrieve flight bookings, print boarding passes and bag tags
• automated bag drop
• immigration clearance and boarding gates

How to participate

You will need to register for FACES. This is only required once :

• You must be aged 18 and above.
• Register at the dedicated enrolment kiosk at the check-in area at Senai International Airport.
• Place your MyKad or chip-enabled passport in the document reader and look at the camera.
• This will create your biometric token.

Upon enrolment, you may:

• Use AirAsia’s biometric gates for all flights as long as the identity document remains valid. 
• Upon expiry of the identity document, it will be necessary to update your record with a new valid document.
• Enrolled passengers will also benefit from an expedited process at the security checkpoint and boarding gate.

FACES was launched recently in the presence of airline and airport representatives and invited dignitaries.

….. Airports are typically the worst part of flying. …….. With FACES, your face is your passport, making it a breeze to clear the gate and board your flight. Tony Fernandes, Group CEO AirAsia and Co-Group CEO AirAsia X

He went on to add that

We hope the success of FACES here will serve as an inspiration and we are keen to work with other airports in Malaysia to revolutionise the way people travel with this technology and make flying enjoyable again.

Senai International Airport is growing in importance and numbers of passengers processed. An increase of 16% in passenger traffic to 3.6 million is projected for 2018. Senai has been the ‘test bed’ for a number of AirAsia passenger initiatives, including their self-bag-tag system.