Faces could replace passports at Aussie airports

Forgot your passport? That could no longer be an issue with high-tech face scanners being trialled at Australia’s largest airport.

Biometric processing, or face recognition, will be tested at Sydney Airport’s international terminal from May, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

“Your face will be your passport and boarding pass,” the airport’s chief executive, Geoff Culbert, told the newspaper.

Qantas passengers will reportedly be the first to take part in the trial, with customers undergoing a six-step check in. Passports will only need to be shown once for verification, shaving about four minutes off the usual process of passing through customs.

If the trial takes flight, other airlines are expected to follow Qantas’ lead.

Travellers at the airport today told the TODAY show they’d be “open” to the idea as long as it saves time.

“They faster you get through the better,” one passenger said.

Another man joked, “what if I break my face snowboarding and they don’t let me back in”.