Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, one of the city’s two major airports, introduced on Monday China’s first automated clearance system for airline passengers using facial recognition technology. The automated clearance procedure was deployed at Shanghai Hongqiao’s Terminal One and includes unassisted passenger check-in, luggage check-in, security check and boarding, according to a statement posted on the Shanghai government’s official website. It said the project, which took three years to complete, installed eight self security checking machines at the terminal. These machines scan passengers’ ID cards and make use of facial recognition technology to complete the security check process in about 12 seconds. Although the terminal’s throughput per hour will remain at 10m passengers, the quality of the clearance procedure will be improved, said Dai Xiaojian, the VP of operator Shanghai Airport (Group) Co, in the statement. During rush hour at the airport, the terminal will be able to handle clearance of 2,000 passengers per hour, he said. The system in Shanghai moved ahead of a planned deployment of facial recognition technology in Beijing’s new US$12b airport, which is designed to handle up to 100m passengers a year at full capacity.<br/>
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Someday soon you may not have to show a driver’s license or passport at the airport security lane in the US. The TSA on Monday unveiled a multistep plan to make increased use of facial recognition and other biometric identification tools to improve accuracy and speed wait times. TSA, which has tested biometric systems in Los Angeles and Atlanta, will start using the technology on international travellers entering and leaving the US and then expand to tests on domestic passengers enrolled in the agency’s PreCheck programme, according to a 23-page report outlining TSA’s plans. “With the threat to aviation evolving every day, developing the next generation of security technology with our industry partners is critically important,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said. TSA is following on the heels of Customs and Border Protection, which is boosting its use of facial recognition for people entering the US. Airline passengers must show proof of identification before entering a TSA screening lane along with their boarding pass. This allows TSA to check names against terrorist watch lists and verify identities of passengers. Using facial-recognition software or fingerprints would replace those manual checks and are seen as less prone to fraud. <br/>
London Gatwick will seek permission to use an emergency landing strip for additional flights after the world’s busiest single-runway airport missed out on a govt-backed expansion program. The UK hub, which is struggling to expand after London Heathrow was selected as the location for a new runway serving southeast England, will make the proposal as part of a new five-year master plan to be revealed later this week, it said Monday. “The draft plan will set out for our local communities, partners, airlines and stakeholders three possible growth scenarios,” it said. Those will include “the possibility of bringing its existing standby runway into routine use.” Opening up the emergency runway would deliver an “incremental increase” in capacity that would complement the expansion of other airports in the region, Gatwick said, adding that the development will be open for views and feedback and would be fully compliant with international safety requirements. The British Airline Pilots’ Association said the proposal is welcome so long as it meets safety rules, saying airport expansion has become even more vital with the UK poised to exit the EU. However, opposition is already taking shape. The Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions campaign group said the airport was seeking to expand by “stealth” and raised concerns about planes touching wings and having to cross paths because of the proximity of the existing runway to the emergency strip.<br/>
Safety officials say a near collision of airliners in San Francisco last year was a few feet from becoming the worst crash in aviation history and underscores the need for faster reporting of dangerous incidents before evidence is lost. The NTB issued a final report Thursday on the incident in which an Air Canada jet nearly crashed into planes lined up on the ground at San Francisco International Airport. The pilots were slow to report the incident to superiors. By the time they did, the plane had made another flight and the cockpit voice recording of the close call was recorded over. The NTSB says the recording could have helped investigators understand why the Air Canada pilots missed the runway and were about to land on a taxiway where four other planes were idling before they aborted their landing. The NTSB did not allege that the pilots deliberately delayed reporting the incident, but it did say that investigators could have gained a better understanding of what the crew was doing before the close call. The NTSB is considering recommending that cockpit recorders capture the last 25 hours of flying time, up from two hours under current rules. Board member Weener also criticized the airline industry's reliance on self-reporting of safety issues, saying the industry and the FAA should consider stronger measures to intervene after a dangerous situation.<br/>
Last Thursday, the world’s longest nonstop flight — a 9,534-mile, 18-and-a-half-hour journey from Singapore to Newark on Singapore Airlines’ new Airbus A350-900 Ultra Long Range aircraft — touched down, raising the bar for super-long-haul travel, which most industry experts define as any flight over 8,000 miles one way. New, lighter and more fuel efficient, dual-engine aircraft — including the Airbus models and Boeing’s Dreamliner — make flying for nearly a day economically viable as the number of ultra-long-haul flights increases. Singapore’s new route, which takes 18 hours and 45 minutes in the opposite direction, isn’t the only rear-numbing new itinerary. In March, Qantas launched a London-to-Perth route. It is the third longest flight at about 9,000 miles, after Qatar Airways’s Doha-Auckland route. In September, Cathay Pacific Airways began flying 8,153 miles, its longest route, between its base in Hong Kong and Washington, D.C. In late November, Air NZ plans to add service between Auckland and Chicago, its longest flight at a distance of about 8,200 miles. As flight times grow, carriers are experimenting with everything from healthy menus to onboard gyms to make almost 20 hours in the air more bearable. Business classes are the beneficiaries of most of the new investment. Some airplanes, like SIA’s new craft, contain only business (a recent round-trip fare was $5,000) and what are called premium economy seats ($1,498 round-trip in December), which are more spacious than standard coach. But across the industry, even regular economy passengers will find extra perks. Story has more details.<br/>