Please enjoy this Op-Ed contribution from Rudy Daniello, who serves as Executive Vice President at Amadeus AirOps.

Digital identity is unlocking faster, smoother journeys for passengers — and pushing the industry to rethink how it works together.  

According to EUROCONTROL, by 2050 Europe may be unable to accommodate as much as 13% of future passenger demand due to airport capacity constraints — the story is similar in many other parts of the world. Expanding infrastructure is slow and costly. If we want to keep people moving, we must find smarter ways to serve more passengers with what we already have, as well as pushing forward with modernizations and new, greenfield airports. 

Making the most of today’s physical capacity and creating a more seamless journey is where digital identity comes in. Together with biometrics, digital identity is completely transforming the travel experience. In Europe, we have successfully tested the EU Digital Identity Wallet for travel with Lufthansa, bringing an Apple Pay style experience for air travel to life.

But this is not just another incremental improvement. When this is rolled out next year, passengers will experience the most significant change in decades — one that will redefine what it means to travel, from moving through an airport, boarding a plane, or arriving at a hotel. And this isn’t only a European story — Apple’s next version of iOS is expected to include options to store US passports. 

From friction to fluidity 

Think about the typical passenger journey today. At almost every step check-in, bag drop, security, immigration, boarding, car hire, hotel check-in — travelers are asked to prove their identity. It is not unusual for a single trip to involve ten or more identity checks. Each one means presenting documents, waiting in queues, and often repeating the same information over and over again. 

Digital identity replaces all of that with a far simpler process by directly enrolling from a mobile phone with something like the EUDI or Apple Wallet. From then on, passengers are recognized automatically as they move through each stage of the journey. The live image captured at a checkpoint is instantly matched with the enrolment image, removing the need to show documents repeatedly.

The difference this makes is already clear. Perth recently became the first airport in Australia to enable a fully biometric departure process. In Curaçao, in the southern Caribbean Sea, incoming travelers now clear immigration in as little as ten seconds with the Curacao Express Pass. And the appetite from passengers is strong: our most recent research, Connected Journeys, shows 69% of travelers would prefer to use biometrics instead of presenting passports at eGates. 

Digital wallets bring all of this and more together. Instead of carrying multiple physical documents, all credentials are securely stored in a single wallet on the traveler’s phone. In the case of the EUDI Wallet, privacy is built in: information remains under the traveler’s control and is only shared, with consent, at the relevant touchpoints. Because wallets are being designed with interoperability in mind, they will work across borders, meaning that in due course, third country travelers will likely be able to use them too and have a smoother experience wherever they fly. With adoption moving quickly, it is looking likely that most travelers will use digital identity wallets by 2030. 

The result for passengers is faster, less stressful travel and a more streamlined experience.  

Collaboration is key for transformation

While the benefits for passengers are compelling, seamless travel will only become reality if the industry itself works collaboratively. 

After all, what is the point of having a seamless biometric boarding process if you have been sitting at your gate for 40 minutes because of a ground handling issue? Equally, if you’re able to offer a seamless digital journey throughout the airport, this all goes to waste from a passenger experience perspective if their baggage then goes missing or a gate change is poorly communicated. 

This is why collaboration is so important. Airlines, airports, and ground handlers all have a role to play. They must be able to share the right information with each other at the right time.  

The changes underway are already reshaping the roles of industry players. Airlines are evolving into modern retailers, making it possible to offer passengers personalized offers covering every aspect of the journey. Airports are upgrading touchpoints to treat travelers as individuals rather than anonymous passengers moving through checkpoints. Border agencies are adapting systems to handle larger volumes of travelers without compromising security. 

The common denominator is collaboration. Without it, the risk is fragmented experiences that frustrate travelers and waste the opportunity in front of us. We can’t think about digital identity in isolation, we need to think about the entire journey as one, and each technological development as a piece in the puzzle to unlocking seamless travel.  

Beyond the wallet 

Digital wallets are providing a crucial foundation for enabling seamless travel, but they are not the end of the story. Innovation is already moving further, towards concepts that could eliminate queues altogether. 

Free-flow biometrics is a striking example. Instead of queuing at eGates, travelers can be identified as they walk through immigration areas without stopping. In one country where this entirely new concept has already been implemented, capacity increased by a factor of 10 compared to traditional eGates. 

This kind of step change shows just how far digital identity can take us. The focus is no longer simply on making queues shorter — it is about removing barriers altogether and reimagining how passengers experience travel. 

The future is now 

The industry has talked about seamless travel for decades. Today, the technology to make it a reality is here. All that remains is the need for aviation stakeholders to work together on making the most of it. 

We must commit to working together across airlines, airports, technology providers, and governments. We must embrace relevant data sharing and interoperability. And above all, we must keep the passenger at the center of this transformation. 

If we succeed, the prize is immense. We can serve more passengers with today’s infrastructure, avoid the looming capacity crunch, and deliver journeys that are faster, smarter, and more personal. That will make travel more appealing and will grow the pie for everyone involved in our industry. 

Imagine a world where travel feels as natural as walking through your own front door. The technology exists to make this happen.  Working together we can make it the new normal for travelers everywhere. 

About the Author

Rudy Daniello is Executive Vice President at Amadeus AirOps.

He drives the business and solution strategy for the business, focused on delivering the right technology for airports and airlines to execute their strategies optimally and ensuring the passenger is at the heart of everything they do. 

Featured image credited to Lufthansa