Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali has begun rolling out a facial recognition system for passengers on domestic flights.
In the future, it will allow travellers to confirm their identity without having to show an ID document every time.
The project is being launched by the airport operator InJourney Airports. The goal of the system is to cut down on manual checks: instead of pulling out documents several times during a trip, passengers will be able to confirm their identity using biometric data.
In Bali, the new technology is already in use on domestic flights. For now, though, ID documents cannot be dispensed with entirely — you still have to show one when boarding. That said, you do not need to carry the original: a photo or a copy on your phone is already enough.
The prototype system is also being tested at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta and Juanda Airport in Surabaya. Going forward, InJourney Airports plans to introduce the technology at other major airports in the country as well.
It is not yet known when document checks will be dropped completely in Bali. It is also unclear whether foreigners will be able to use the new system. So far it applies only to Indonesian citizens.
Meanwhile, Ngurah Rai Airport already has another facial recognition system in place — autogates at international passport control. That is a separate technology: the gates let passengers clear immigration without an officer, whereas the new system is intended for domestic flights and is meant to replace the document check itself.
In other words, once the system is fully rolled out, those who are eligible to use it will not need a document at all on domestic flights — neither the original nor a copy.
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