20 Apr 05
Heathrow To Hold Iris Scan Trial
Long lines for some passengers arriving at London's Heathrow Airport will vanish in the blink of an eye next week under a new security system that replaces face-to-face passport control interviews with speedy iris scans.
Immigration officials said on Tuesday they also hope iris-recognition technology will boost security as automated checks end the need to quiz non-European Union passengers individually and check passports at Heathrow.
Under Project IRIS, anyone not holding an EU passport who regularly travels through Heathrow will be invited to have their iris patterns photographed and stored in a database upon departure.
Those passengers can then use special automated security check-points which scan their eyes, avoiding long lines for non-EU passport holders when they return to the country.
A Home Office spokesman said on Tuesday IRIS (Iris Recognition Immigration System) would be introduced at Heathrow's Terminals 2 and 4 at the end of April before being rolled out to other UK airports.
"It is expected that within five years more than a million people will be registered to use the system," the Home Office said in a statement.
This is only a fraction of the 90 million passengers entering the UK each year but is seen as the first step to easing the burden on immigration officers who have to process visitors face-to-face.
Airports across the globe are exploring the introduction of biometric systems which can identify passengers passing through security check-points by scanning their eyes, faces or fingerprints. Germany's Frankfurt Airport has already introduced the system on a trial basis, along with some US airports.
The technology is likely to arouse less suspicion from passengers than a new X-ray machine introduced at Heathrow last year which sees through clothes.
Cheers,
White Cap
