Amadeus and Star Alliance Unite to Make Touchless Travel More Accessible

Implementation of a digital identity in travel needs to work end-to-end for travelers to realize its benefits  — not just at one airport or on a specific airline, but across every stage of their journey. While the travel industry has been working on implementing biometrics for some years, multiple disparate initiatives from several providers mean that travelers are required to fill in their identification details on multiple occasions.

At a time when it is crucial to reduce new travel frictions caused by responses to COVID-19, and to increase traveler confidence, Amadeus and Star Alliance are announcing a milestone partnership that will allow travelers enrolled in Star Alliance Biometrics or in Amadeus Traveler ID the benefit of accessing a growing number of airports where identity verification can be utilized during their journey. By joining forces, Amadeus and Star Alliance are creating a more global, frictionless, and touchless journey for the millions of frequent flyers enrolled in the respective programs of its member airlines.

Star Alliance Biometrics allows passengers to pass through curb-to-gate touchpoints within airports, such as check-in kiosks, bag-drop, and boarding gates, which traditionally require both passport and boarding pass, by using a secure identity management solution featuring facial recognition technology, allowing for a touchless experience at airports, an important safety feature in times of COVID-19.

At the same time, Amadeus' secure and agnostic identity data exchange and verification solution, Traveler ID, enables a simplified experience across the entire travel chain by connecting a passenger's digital ID to any online and biometric portal at opportune moments of the traveler journey. In the future, these passengers will be able to use their Traveler ID to also access existing or new airports that have implemented the Star Alliance Biometrics solution.

In both programs, travelers consent to share their biometric data with the stakeholders of their choice in full accordance with data privacy regulations.

"The best part of this trustful partnership is how we are building upon our individual strengths and working together to deliver a more seamless and safe travel experience,” said Christian Draeger, vice president customer experience, Star Alliance. “It increases our operational ability by speeding up airport processes and immediately benefits those who have already enrolled in our program. Through collaboration between the Star Alliance Biometrics and Amadeus Traveler ID solutions, we have a winning proposition that will encompass all aspects of the customer journey."

"The Traveler ID solution is agnostic, meaning that all types of travel companies can work with us for a variety of digital identity needs, from enrolling travelers, to organizing the collaboration of multiple providers to orchestrate the end-to-end identity verification process. Ultimately, our objective with Traveler ID is to help the industry deploy frictionless travel throughout the whole passenger journey. We can only achieve this through collaboration with travel industry partners, which is why we are so pleased to work with Star Alliance to bring this vision to life,” added Monika Wiederhold, EVP airlines Central and Eastern Europe, Amadeus.