Ditch your boarding pass, all you need is to show up as Chinese airline launches face recognition software

China Southern Airlines has become the country’s first carrier to use facial recognition software in the boarding process, launching the system at an airport in Henan province.

The airline, known as one of the country’s “big three” carriers, on Wednesday began allowing passengers at the Jiangying Airport in Nanyang to have their faces scanned in lieu of using boarding passes, according to its announcement.

When checking in and boarding, travellers will have real-time images of their faces verified against their ID photos and head shots pre-uploaded on the airline’s mobile application. The scanning process lasts just one second.

One of the first visitors to use the system, a man surnamed Wang, told the state-owned People’s Daily: “It feels very novel. I was carrying lots of luggage, stood in front of the gate, and the boarding doors immediately opened. I didn’t need to pull out my boarding pass. [It was} so much more convenient!”