The National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police and Isavia, operator of Keflavik, Iceland’s main airport and other airports, have selected Idemia to provide a comprehensive border management system for all air and sea border crossing points, including new equipment. Backed by this new system, Schengen Member State Iceland will comply with EU Entry/Exit System (EU-EES) regulations. The system is set to be operational from 2021 and will manage an average of 10 million travellers per year with manned and automated controls underpinned by biometric technology.
This new border management system, based on Idemia’s Augmented Borders solution, will be compliant with EU-EES regulations. Idemia will also equip Icelandic border crossing points with its TravelKiosk EU-EES, the latest generation of user-centric multi-biometric border self-service kiosks. Also including automated TraveLane eGates, the entire system will boost throughput and convenience of passengers as they go through border controls. Lastly, to complete this end-to-end solution, the manufacturer will ensure that operator-manned counters, mobile solutions and tracking systems are set up to fit the requirements of the Icelandic Police with a view to shortening response times and improving coordination.
“The National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, the Metropolitan Police and Sudurnes District police have from early 2019 been working on the implementation of EES in Iceland in close cooperation with Isavia” said Jón Pétur Jónsson, Chief Superintendent, at the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police. “The procurement procedure started in September 2019 and today we have reached an important milestone by selecting Idemia as the supplier and future partner for the implementation of EES in Iceland. The police and Isavia place a high expectation to the collaboration with Idemia in the development of solutions that will improve border security and the traveller experience.”
“Isavia is truly excited about this co-operation with Idemia and the Icelandic Police,” added Guðmundur Daði Rúnarsson, Chief Commercial and Airport Development Officer at Isavia. “This is an important step in improving the performance and customer experience of the convenient and easy hub connection between Europe and North America. The Entry/Exit system will affect all airports with traffic crossing external borders. Isavia is confident that implementing Idemia’s self service solutions in co-operation with the border police, will result in a more secure and efficient border crossing point, giving Keflavik the potential to grow even further in its Hub operation.”
“Idemia is proud to accompany Iceland as one of the first countries of the Schengen Area to transform its border control system to comply with the European Entry/Exit System,” stated Philippe Barreau, Executive Vice President for Public Security and Identity activities at Idemia. “We are determined to provide a comprehensive set of multi-biometric solutions that will give the assurance of a future-proof programme, making Iceland our innovation partner in the implementation of the EU-EES. Our advanced border management solutions, based on a 40-year relationship with governments, will offer a better user experience by interactively adapting the border process per traveller category, while ensuring maximum security.”
