Passports could be redundant within five years, says Dubai Airports CEO

Dubai: At parts of Dubai International Airport, a traveller’s face can already do the work of a boarding pass. Paul Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Airports, believes the next step could be leaving the passport at home altogether.

That could become possible within five years, he suggested in a LinkedIn post. The technology is available, he said; getting governments, airlines and airports to recognise the same digital identity across borders is the task ahead.

“Passports could be redundant within five years,” Griffiths wrote on Monday. “I know many travellers cherish collecting travel stamps, but from a technological perspective, the idea of carrying a physical book in order to fly is outdated.”

His prediction comes as Dubai expands services that let registered passengers move through airport procedures with fewer document checks. It remains a forecast dependent on international cooperation, rather than an announced date for passport-free travel.

What travellers can already do

More than 200 biometric cameras have been installed across Terminal 3 at Dubai International. The initiative, developed with Dubai’s immigration authority, allows registered passengers to use facial recognition at participating check-in, immigration, lounge and boarding points.

Registration involves verifying passport details, taking a photograph and giving consent to use biometric information. Passengers can register at check-in desks in Dubai, while biometric boarding operates at selected departure gates.

The passport therefore remains part of establishing the traveller’s identity, even when it stays tucked away during subsequent checks. Griffiths envisages a further step: having that digital identity accepted throughout an international trip.

“The challenge now is getting governments, airlines, and airports to connect their systems and agree on common standards for recognising digital identities across borders,” he wrote. “That would allow travellers to go from passing through an airport without showing their passport to leaving it at home altogether.”

From smart gates to walking through

Dubai’s move towards fewer document checks predates the latest investment, with facial and iris recognition allowing UAE citizens, residents and visitors whose data had been registered with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) since 2019 to pass through airport procedures without showing passports or IDs.

Officials explained that biometric information was stored for future journeys. Passengers could also clear passport control without an exit stamp, while those travelling to countries requiring one could approach an officer to obtain it.

More recently, it was reported that Dubai’s Red Carpet biometric clearance system had processed 745,188 passengers between January and August. Facial recognition and artificial intelligence allowed travellers to move through a designated corridor without presenting a passport or boarding pass.

Dubai also introduced mobile passport-control service Click and Travel in September this year. It allows officers to complete procedures near passengers using connected mobile devices and biometric verification, with deployment determined by operational needs, including busy periods and queues.

Less time proving who you are

For Griffiths, these changes form part of a longer effort to make airports easier to use. In an interview with Gulf News a year ago, he outlined a goal: “I just want to eliminate queues. I want to make the entire process frictionless.”

He described capturing a passenger’s facial biometrics once, with cameras built into airport infrastructure recognising them as they moved through. The ambition was to reduce repeated interactions along the way.

His latest post extends that thinking beyond the terminal. The same digital identity could accompany a traveller through border clearance, collecting a hire car and checking into a hotel.

Countries would move at different speeds, Griffiths acknowledged on Monday. Making the experience work across destinations would require aviation and tourism businesses to cooperate with governments.

“Ultimately, our guests would spend less time proving who they are and more time enjoying their trip,” he wrote. “Your passport has an expiry date. I believe the need to carry it has one too.”