You Can Now Check In with Your Face at Hongqiao Airport

This article originally appeared on our sister website, Urban Family Shanghai.

By Yuzhou Hu

Terminal 1 at Hongqiao Airport officially reopened on Monday October 15 after a three-year renovation. As we reported last week, the airport's efficiency has been improved immensely, thanks to the newly-introduced self-service machines. 

According to Shine, the T1 terminal welcomed a total of 2,239 passengers with Spring Airlines during the morning of its first day of service, and nearly 90 percent of these travelers tried out the fancy new automated clearance system. 

As the country's first airport self-service facial recognition system, the technology allows travelers to complete check-in, luggage loading, security check and boarding, by merely scanning their passport or face without the assistance of any staff at the airport. 

Image via Shanghai Airports/WeChat

In total, there are 28 passenger check-in machines, 18 for luggage check-in and eight security check. A brigade of 50 volunteers is on standby to guide travelers through the process. In addition, six counters with airport staff will be maintained for those who prefer manual service. 

Even though the revamped terminal's capacity will remain at 10 million people per year, it is said that it can handle 2,000 passengers per hour in peak time with the aid of the new self-service machines.

Image via The Paper

Beijing is also planning to build an airport using facial recognition technology, reports South China Morning Post. While it is still currently under construction, it is said the new airport will not only recognize passengers but also match them to their belongings.

As to the future of the facial recognition technology, Xu Zhengning, one of the officials at the airport told Shine, "We are already making preparations to extend the technology to the Terminal 2 building."

This technology has already been applied to many aspects of our life. For instance, Shanghai police have been using facial recognition to bust jaywalkers. In the foreseeable future, we may even be able to pass the turnstiles of Metro stations by scanning our faces. 

[Cover image via The Paper]

This article was originally published by our sister magazine Urban Family Shanghai. For more articles like this, visit the Urban Family website, or follow the Urban Family WeChat account (ID: urbanfamilyshanghai).