London’s Heathrow airport will next week introduce a long-awaited iris recognition system that could boost security and speed up passport control.
As reported by News From Abroad, the passport and personal database of volunteer, non-EU travellers will be stored on a database run by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate; when they arrive at the airport, they will look into an iris scanner at the immigration gate.
The new system is expected to reduce queuing time for many travellers arriving at the airport.
Today, media outlets around the world – but not those in the UK, interestingly – are quoting the Home Office as saying that Project Iris will be launched next week, at Heathrow’s terminals 2 and 4, before being rolled out around the country.
The signonsandiego.com website, the online presence of the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper, quotes a Home Office spokesman as saying: “It is expected that, within five years, more than a million people will be registered to use the system.”
The website points out that, while one million represents just the tip of the metaphorical iceberg of the UK’s 90 million annual visitors, the move is the “first step to easing the burden on immigration officers”.
At the time of going to press, the Home Office was not able to comment on the story.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd www.newsfromabroad.com
