Dubai-based airline flydubai has launched six new biometric smart gates for crew members, using facial recognition and AI to speed up immigration. Created with emaratech, this upgrade helps over 3,800 staff pass through checks faster and safer. The move is part of a UAE-wide trend to make air travel smarter and more efficient.
Dubai-based airline flydubai has upgraded its immigration process by adding six smart biometric gates for its pilots and cabin crew. These new gates, installed at the flydubai Airport Operations Centre, use facial recognition and artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up the clearance process before flights. This move is part of flydubai’s ongoing push to use new technology to improve operations.
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Smart biometric gates are special self-service gates that use face scanning and AI to check a person’s identity. In this case, flydubai has worked with emaratech, a UAE tech company, to build gates that are designed for airline crew members. The system scans their faces, checks their details, and lets them go through immigration quickly—without showing passports or other documents.
More than 3,800 flydubai crew members, including pilots and flight attendants, will use these gates. The goal is to reduce waiting times, especially during busy travel periods.
These new biometric gates are powered by AI and linked to a real-time platform that checks crew information instantly. The system does the following:
This means crew members can pass through immigration in just seconds. It removes the need for manual checks and long lines. This is a major benefit, especially when the airport is crowded.
flydubai is growing fast. The airline now has 89 planes and flies to over 135 cities. With such a large operation, saving time on the ground is very important. By using smart gates, flydubai can speed up crew processing and help flights leave on time.
The company says this step will also improve safety and support their frontline workers, like pilots and cabin crew, by making their jobs easier.
Mohammed Hareb AlMheiri, Chief Procurement & Technology Officer at flydubai, said the new system is another way the airline is preparing for the future. “We are pleased to have partnered with emaratech to implement this innovative solution,” he said. “It marks another step in future-proofing our operations while supporting our frontline teams.”
Emaratech is a UAE company that creates digital solutions for the government. They’ve helped build several smart border and immigration systems in Dubai. Their CEO, Thani Alzaffin, said the new system offers a “paperless immigration experience” and creates a smooth journey for flydubai’s staff.
He added that working with flydubai shows how companies can lead the way in creating the next generation of travel and border control systems.
The UAE has been working on making travel faster and more digital for many years. This new project with flydubai is part of a bigger plan to improve how people move through airports.
As more people start flying again and flights become busier, airlines need faster, safer, and easier systems to manage travel. These smart gates show how technology can help solve real problems.
