Immigration in seconds at Dubai's Al Maktoum Airport; robots, smart tunnels to ease travel
According to plans for Al Maktoum International (DWC) airport, departing passengers will have access to a “Smart Corridor” immigration system that will reduce passage time to mere seconds.
If everything goes right, in the same duration it takes one person to get through the Dubai Airport (DXB) immigration smart gates, 10 travelers should be expected to easily pass through the corridor.
While speaking at The Airport Show in Dubai, Lt. General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of the emirate’s General Directorate of Identity and Foreign Affairs (GDRFA), underscored how effortless cross-border movements will be in the near future.
As he elaborated, “The future is seamless travel.” “In the past, these steps included checking passports and stamping. Passports are now all equipped with AI checking mechanisms which enable programmed verification."
Despite the futuristic visions, Dubai Airport remains focused on other parts of the travel experience, such as DXB’s devoted children’s counters and prioritised services for elderly and mother travelers.
“Traveling with a baby and the elderly are the two categories that we always attend to,” he stated. “We have not overlooked children, and we have set up a special counter for them which is the world’s very first.”
Robots for Baggage Dropping
Officials released more information on what Dubai World Central (DWC) dubbed the airport of the future will offer and even the baggage handling will be automated.
In one of the sessions, Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP) showed an advanced vehicle and presented abdulla al shamsi at a podium as their senior director of future of things at the company. He told the public that once people arrive at the airport in their cars, autonomous robots will take charge and will transfer the luggage from the car to check-in.
As soon as the traveler decides to plan their journey, they will be able to book their flights through an app, shop from the airport duty free, and Metaverse airport experience. Once the tickets are purchased, an E Tag will be assigned for the passengers bags.
As Abdulla explained, passengers will have a seamless check-in experience from the moment they enter their vehicle, which will include bag weighing as well. “The driver will have their luggage dropped off, and a self-bag drop robot will fetch it,” he stated. “A concierge robot will greet the passenger at the curb and assist them with their hand luggage while escorting them through the airport.”
But it doesn’t end there for the passengers – they will be provided with an “intelligent traffic management system” designed to monitor cars heading to the airport. This is to ensure that airlines are ready to receive customers. Travellers will also have the option to arrive on the day of the flight via metro or bonded eVTOL aircrafts.
The autonomous vehicles also allow passengers to book home delivery of their luggage, which conveniently removes the need to claim it from biometric kiosks.
Abdulla, along with others, explained the airport travel will be a whole experience in itself. “Immersive mixed-use experience will be there and the delivery robots as well for duty-free or food and beverage,” Abdulla continued. “Many mixed-use experiences will be available for kids. There will also be cafes and lounges to eat and sleeper pods.”
“Immersive experience” as well refers to the capital stemming from travel that will be offered to kids. “They can continue shopping in the lounge and the shopping bags will be delivered to their seats,” Abdulla commented.
As Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airport previously noted, DWC will have eight smaller terminals which means giving the travelers a more intimate experience. He added last week that underground trains will transfer the passengers to the terminals.
Abdullah aboard the guided vehicle explained the trip as an experience where the passenger sees the airport from a different perspective. “The autonomous guided vehicle that will take you inside the airport will have an immersive experience on the glass,” he said.
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