Additional technologies will further enhance the passenger flow

As the high season for Caribbean tourism approaches, Aruba Airport Authority N.V. (AAA) has been working against the clock, and has finally completed a roll-out and expansion of technology to further automate its Border Control facilities with an investment of $2.25M in Automated Border Control Gates and Automated Passport Control kiosks.

Aruba Airport, with a current annual traffic forecast of 2.6 million passengers, experiences a dramatic increase in traffic during the winter months. Having not had a significant increase in airport terminal capacity infrastructure since the Beatrix 2000 project, and several years of considerable growth; peak passenger volumes have become a challenge to manage for Aruba’s national airport; most notably at the airport’s border control checks, which include not only local immigration, but a U.S. CBP pre-clearance operation. Although plans are in the works for an airport expansion, those plans will take several years to realize, and the airport has been focusing on short-term wins to manage through the high season passenger volumes.

Automated Border Control Gates

AAA has installed additional Automated Border Control (ABCs) gates bringing the airport’s local immigration process to 14 e-gates; 6 for arrivals, and 8 for U.S. and non-U.S. departures. The ABCs will allow passengers that have an e-passport to be processed through an automated passport reader system that connects with the Aruba Immigrations border management system; and includes the latest facial recognition biometrics; dramatically improving border security and processing times. The additional ABC gates will also position the airport to expand its award winning Happy Flow project, with its partners Vision Box, Schiphol Group, KLM, and the Government of Aruba.

Automated Passport Control kiosks

AAA has also invested in the installation of twelve (12) additional Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks within the US CBP pre-clearance area; bringing the total to 22 kiosk positions Back in December of 2014 AAA successfully implemented the installation of its first 10 APC’s, and the investment has delivered outstanding results, prompting the airport to continue to expand the program. Additionally, the new kiosks provided by YVR Innovative Travel Solutions, now include upgrades which include facial recognition, and the ability to process Visa holders, improving the overall security of the U.S. border operation, and improving the passenger experience.

“In past years, our high seasons have been associated with very long queues at the airport. We are confident that the implementation of the additional ABC gates, and APC kiosks, and the subsequent improvements in security and efficiency, should make for a much-improved airport experience” according the AAA’s CEO, James Fazio