Los Angeles Airport is trialing an advanced biometric self-boarding solution by Vision-Box to clear travelers flying out of the U.S. in a contactless, quick and secure way. The new passenger flow solution allows travelers to board their aircraft in just a few seconds simply by looking into a high-resolution face capture system at the flow-control gateway.

The system deployed by Vision-Box captures a live, high quality image of the traveler’s unique biometric facial traits, for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to match it against the passenger’s file containing the digital facial token captured at the initial immigration process. After assuring the identity and eligibility of the passenger on that specific flight, the gateway opens and the traveler can swiftly board the aircraft.

The project was developed in a partnership between LAX and Vision-Box, supported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency under the umbrella of the U.S. Biometric Exit trial program. British Airways was the first airline to begin expediting boarding procedures using the new contactless technology.

“This industry-first deployment of innovative solutions from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Vision-Box, shows the amazing potential of using biometrics to speed up the boarding process while maintaining safety and security,” said Justin Erbacci, chief innovation and technology officer at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the airport oversight and operations department. “We have been very impressed with the results thus far, and love to see the passengers’ excitement at being some of the first in the world to use facial recognition.”