ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Orlando International Airport is introducing a brand-new biometric scanning system through a 90-day pilot program.<\/p>\n
CEO Lance Lyttle of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA),\u00a0says that the airport has experienced significant growth in international travel, adding that in 2024, there was an increase of over 800,000 international passengers compared to 2023.<\/p>\n
To keep up with that growth, Lyttle says they must rely on technology that can help them move passengers around more efficiently while keeping safety top of mind.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Orlando International Airport is launching three 90-day pilot programs designed to increase biometric exit compliance
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GOAA CEO Lance Lyttle said the initiative is in response to the airport\u2019s increase in international travelers
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Lyttle said the number of international travelers increased by more than 800,000 last year
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In addition to the new biometric scanning systems, construction on the airport gate link trams began late Sunday night<\/p>\n
Lyttle said the partnership between GOAA and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) aims to reduce passenger processing times by 60% over the course of the next five years.<\/p>\n
Through the partnership, GOAA selected three vendors to provide technologies for biometric exit programs \u2014 which use facial recognition software to identify and track foreign travelers leaving the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among the vendors is Aware, Inc., which, according to\u00a0CEO Ajay Amlani, has been providing biometric solutions to the federal government for decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis works basically with children, taller people, people in wheelchairs, different ethnic backgrounds, different physical capacities and capabilities,” Amlani\u00a0said. “It\u2019s much more inclusive technology than any other technology for being able to board an aircraft, and much more secure, because it\u2019s utilizing a biometric which is anchored to your identity.”<\/p>\n
Diane Sabatino, the executive assistant commissioner of the Office of Field Operations with CBP, said she supports the new initiative as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we think about thousands of people that arrive at facilities every single day, seconds matter,” she said. “When we think about just a couple seconds where they don\u2019t have to get their passport, put bags down, move things, this is important to the efficiency of the entire process and not just to CBP.”<\/p>\n
Officials at Orlando International Airport say they are also looking forward to construction upgrades of the airport’s gate link trams \u2014 which started Sunday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The gate link transports passengers from TSA and security checkpoints straight to their gates.<\/p>\n
With a total cost of $253 million, airport officials say the construction project will help enhance reliability and improve safety for travelers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The project has to be completed within two years to minimize disruptions to passengers and avoid prolonged construction.<\/p>\n
Officials say the goal to replace four tracks at MCO \u2014 two on each airside, one at a time over the two-year period. Meaning passengers can expect at least one gate link on each side to continue running during the construction.<\/p>\n
Shuttle busses stationed at the airport will still be available 24 hours a day to get travelers to the airside, and officials say travelers should be prepared to take those steps, especially if traveling overnight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to Lyttle, Orlando International Airport is the busiest airport in the Sunshine State, and is ranked ninth busiest in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Orlando International Airport is introducing a brand-new biometric scanning system through a 90-day pilot program.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[11687,11902,2031,15636,2967,274,558,28,115,139,141,140,277,3139,135,1576,278,107,835],"class_list":["post-75928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-air-travel","tag-app-air-travel","tag-app-local-business","tag-app-money-tech","tag-app-public-safety","tag-app-top-stories","tag-business","tag-florida","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-public-safety","tag-sasha-teman","tag-tampa","tag-technology","tag-top-stories","tag-travel","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}