Philippines immigration to procure larger eGates to accommodate persons with disabilities

A Philippines Bureau of Immigration (BI) official said the department plans to procure larger eGates to accommodate passengers on wheelchairs, reports the Philippine News Agency.

The BI Port Operations Division chief made the comments during the launching of new biometric eGates at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 as the new eGates are not able to accomodate physically disabled travellers, senior citizens on wheelchairs, and children depending on their height due to the position of the facial recognition camera.

“We have a special lane for PWDs (persons with disabilities),” he added. “Maybe we can order larger units (of eGates) in the next batch that we will install so we could also accommodate them.”

The BI intends to have eGates installed at the country’s major airports by year end. Eleven e-gates will be installed at NAIA terminals 1 and 3 while three units will be installed in Cebu, three in Clark, and two in Davao.

In a recent interview with Biometric Update the World Travel and Tourism Council CEO explained how the organization is attempting to bring travel industry stakeholders together with governments to agree on a new system for identifying travelers that would include biometrics as a unique identifier.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  eGates  |  facial recognition  |  immigration control  |  Philippines