Madrid-based Iberia airlines is trialing biometric facial recognition at its home airport for contactless flying. 

The airline, in partnership with Spain’s airports authority, IT company Inetum, and biometric technologies provider Thales, has begun a pilot project which includes mobiles tablets that can reportedly identify passengers wearing face masks.

The organizations have formed a consortium, supported by Spain’s industrial technology development agency CDTI, to investigate “new ways to operate in the air travel industry with the new health measures imposed since the Covid-19 outbreak”.

For this project, the airline said it hopes to improve the entire airport experience and eliminate physical contact for safety and security.