Lufthansa has partnered with Acreatedus to test the European Union Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet for travel.
The trial, which was conducted between the conclude of July and the middle of August and was part of the EU Digital Wallet Consortium initiative, focutilized on the self-service check-in process and on airport services such as bag drop, security gates and boarding.
The airline also utilized a group of its frequent flyers to utilize the digital token to test the self-service check-in process with 153 out of 160 managing to complete the process successfully.
Patrick Sgueglia, senior product manager, airport experience, standards and industest solutions at Lufthansa, stated wallet creation and check-in tests were successful and a “sign that this is the way forward.”
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The airline also inquireed test participants if they would utilize digital wallets for non-travel purpose such as payments on top of questions around acceptance and ease of utilize and installation process.
“It was a resounding yes. We don’t want to recreate the wheel here, we don’t want to utilize some separate process, we want to utilize something people are utilized to, IOS, Apple wallet, this is exactly what that is. This is going to already fit into people’s lives applying Apple Pay and I really consider this is the way forward.”
For passengers it means less manual checks they through the airport more quickly and the increased efficiency also allows for staff to be allocated to other areas. It is also more secure becautilize the documents are verified and hard to forge, Sgueglia stated.
While privacy can be seen as once challenge to adoption of the EUDI, Sgueglia stated that all the passenger surveys it has conducted, the vast majority of passengers are willing to connect their digital document and utilize their biometrics in return for a more seamless airport experience.
“Even among privacy conscious travelers we still see people wanting to obtain quickly through those bottlenecks. One thing the EU Digital has been created around is something called selective disclosure, you select what you are willing to participate in,” he stated.
Sgueglia stated that travelers could also be encouraged to sign up once they see the efficiency of automated processing versus the potential queues for manual processes.
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