(14/09/23) The Government of Aruba has been working with
SITA, a leading IT provider to the air transport industry, to
upgrade the immigration experience at Queen Beatrix International
Airport (AUA) in Oranjestad.
A verifiable digital credential
technology has been trialed at the airport, that will ultimately
do away with the need for passengers to show their
physical passport when arriving on the Caribbean island.
Speaking together in a keynote discussion at the ICAO TRIP
conference taking place in Montreal this week, Jeremy Springall,
SVP of SITA AT Borders, and Andrew Hoo, Director of Immigration
for the Government of Aruba, highlighted that the development of
digital travel credentials enables passengers to securely create a
digital version of their physical passport on their mobile device
in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
standards.
SITA upgrading immigration experience at Queen Beatrix Airport (AUA) in Oranjestad, Aruba
“The development of digital travel
credentials represents the biggest innovation in the travel
industry in at least a decade,” Mr. Springall said. “It will fundamentally simplify how
we travel, allowing governments to approve passengers ahead of
travel so they arrive at the airport ready to fly. To be
identified, all passengers need to do is scan their face.”
Following a series of trials using a
digital identity or digital travel credentials (DTC) developed by
SITA and partner Indicio, the Government of Aruba hopes to
permanently roll out digital identity to verify visitors arriving
on the island, making it one of the first countries globally to do
so.
In March, the parties showed that passengers
arriving at AUA could apply for
their travel authorization using a simplified process that
eliminates the need to manually enter information from paper
travel documents.
Using a DTC, passengers
can consent to share any of their relevant data directly from
their digital wallet on their mobile device to multiple entities
across journeys, from the government at the port of entry to other
touchpoints such as hotels or car rental.
The Government of Aruba has committed to realizing
its vision for a seamless traveler experience by supporting the
next stage of development with further expansion and adoption in
the upcoming months.
“As an island where
tourism is fundamental to our economy, we want to make the
immigration process as easy as possible for passengers,” said Mr. Hoo.
“With a
digital travel credential, we now have a way to make entering the
country as easy as scanning your face while meeting our security
needs. This is just the start of our digital transformation
journey. We want to use this technology so that visitors will
never forget they are on vacation when they arrive on the island.”
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