Automated Passport Control Kiosks Now at Two Major Airports

Earlier this month, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson and Chicago O’Hare, two of the world’s busiest airports, announced the introduction of biometric Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks. APC kiosks offer a cost effective and rapidly deployable means of reducing congestion at international arrivals. These announcements reflect a decisive global trend towards expediting international airport passengers through rapid adoption of automated border control technology. Acuity Market Intelligence’s latest research “The Global Automated Border Control Industry Report: Airport eGates and Kiosks” projects North American and European airports will drive a global APC Kiosk market of nearly 8,000 units and more than $550 million in revenues by 2018. Currently, less than 400 APC kiosks have been deployed in 13 airports in the US and Canada though North America currently represents 100% of the APC Kiosk market, By 2018, Europe will dominate with 42% market share, while Asia at 24.4% will exceed North America at 16.6%. APC kiosks enable international travelers to rapidly clear passport control by entering their own immigration information. Automating this process via self-service kiosks decreases international arrival wait times by as much as 80% for kiosks users and 50% for all passengers.