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Once seen with fear and skepticism, airport biometric screenings are now preferred and even expected by global travelers, according to a report by air transport technology company Sita.
“The more passengers use it, the more they like it,” the report notes.
Globally, the number of people who did not use biometric technology at airports fell to 31% this year from 41% in 2024, according to the report.
Convenience levels are increasing as consumers use biometric identification to access everything from their mobile phones to their workplaces, said Sarah Samuel, senior vice president of airport and airline operations in Asia Pacific at travel technology company Amadeus.
Citing the influence of Uber and Netflix, the expectation is that “everything will be on demand” these days, including travel, he said.
Biometric technology is most popular among younger travelers, men and frequent flyers, according to Sita’s 2025 Passenger IT Insights report, released Oct. 6, which surveyed about 7,500 passengers at airports in 25 countries.
Adoption rates are highest at airports in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East/Africa, according to the report.
“In APAC, uptake is definitely very high,” Samuel said, citing the region’s young population and high mobile phone penetration rate. “We’re ahead compared to most other parts of the world.”
Amadeus has helped implement biometric processing at various airport locations in Singapore, Japan, Australia, India and most recently in Bali.
“I used to have huge, very long immigration lines” in Bali, he said. Now “it’s an empty hall.”
Increased convenience with digital IDs
Amadeus is preparing to launch “proximity biometrics” soon, Samuel said. The technology works through a digital identity wallet stored on passengers’ phones that connects to various airport touchpoints. However, all data is deleted once the passenger leaves, he said.
She said the technology will be rolled out in the Asia-Pacific next year.
Biometric vs traditional border checks
62% of travelers said they prefer biometric checkpoints to traditional border counters
According to Sita’s report, digital IDs, which store passports and other details on travelers’ phones, are set to transform travel the way digital wallets have transformed payments.
Passengers are also more accepting of this idea now, with comfort levels rising to 79% in 2025 from 74% in 2024, it showed. Most travelers said they felt comfortable sharing their digital identities and biometrics before traveling as well, the report said.
As more young and digitally savvy consumers take flight, the number of digital identity users will grow from 155 million in 2024 to 1.27 billion in 2029., according to Sita.
Data privacy concerns
Travelers may accept the speed and convenience of biometric processing, although most remain concerned about it, Sita’s report says.
Only 3% of travelers said they were not concerned about biometric identification.
Digital data may lessen passengers’ worries about losing their passports, while increasing fears of losing their phones, data shows.
Even in Asia-Pacific, where the technology tends to be adopted quickly, many travelers say they are uncomfortable sharing personal data with online travel platforms, according to a survey by data analytics firm Qlik.
The survey of more than 4,000 people showed that travelers are more willing to share some data they have already provided in online applications, such as budgets and booking history. However, information related to their live locations ranked near the bottom of the list.
Indian respondents indicated the least concern about data privacy. Meanwhile, Japanese travelers showed the most concern, with 34% saying they did not feel comfortable sharing data of any kind, according to the survey.
“India has a much younger population compared to Japan,” Amadeus said‘ Samuel, adding that technology adoption rates at airports also vary by culture and age.
But it’s hard to resist the urge for faster, more efficient travel, with fewer paperwork and airport bottlenecks.
Samuel said she travels lighter these days because most of what she needs, including her ID and credit cards, is stored electronically.
“I’ve had taxi drivers say, ‘Are you sure you’re ready to travel? . . . You don’t have a bag,'” she said. “I’m like… I have everything on my phone.”
— CNBC’s Kaela Ling contributed to this report.
