World first for HK airport as bag-drop scan completes all-in services using facial recognition

Adelyn Lau

Passengers can now check their baggage at the Hong Kong International Airport in less than a minute by scanning their passports on their phones and dropping their luggage at express counters using facial recognition.

The new service will be available to travelers aged 11 or above who hold electronic travel documents, including e-passports, mainland travel permits for Hong Kong and Macau residents, and exit-entry permits for traveling to and from the two SARs, and for departures to visa-free destinations.

Residents holding passports issued on or before May 14, 2019 are excluded from the service.

Passengers must register to use the express bag drop service via their respective airlines' mobile applications and use their smartphones' NFC - or near-field communication - function to scan their passports by tapping them on the back of their devices.

Once at the airport, they must head to the express bag drop counters with facial recognition machines near the traditional service counters.

Passengers will be asked to attach luggage tags printed automatically at the counter. They will need to scan a QR code displayed on the facial recognition machine with their phones, tap their passport again and scan the luggage tags with their app.

Chris Au Young Hing-wang, the Airport Authority's general manager of innovation and data insights, said HKIA is the world's first to allow passengers to complete check-in, baggage drop-off, security screening and boarding procedures all with facial recognition and mobile phones.

Cathay Pacific, which piloted the all-in-one bag drop service in June, has deployed three dedicated counters for passengers excluding those headed for the United States.

Its budget airline HK Express began the express service at the end of last year and it now covers all its passengers.

Au Young said the new service will cover 80 percent of all passengers in two years, following Hong Kong Airlines' expected launch of the service at year-end.

Expansion to foreign airlines, including those from Singapore and Taiwan, is currently under way, he added.

"After expanding the service to more airways in terminal one, we will further extend it to airlines in terminal two," said Au Young, adding that preboarding procedures using the express bag drop will be two minutes faster.

In the future, the service will also extend to the airport's mobile app, My HKG, allowing travelers flying on different airlines to complete check-in procedures using a single application.

adelyn.lau@singtaonewscorp.com