The industry’s most comprehensive enterprise Kubernetes platform has underpinned a new system to speed-up the travel experience, from passenger check-in to baggage claim.
Red Hat, a leading provider of open source solutions, has announced that NEC Corporation has used Red Hat OpenShift as the foundation for Narita International Airport’s new ‘Check-in to boarding experience’ known as ‘One ID’ in Japan. One ID covers the entire passenger experience within an airport, from check-in to boarding, and uses Red Hat OpenShift to provide the massive scale and flexibility required to handle peak passenger volume at Narita.
A global leader in IT and networking solutions, NEC provides products and solutions to address a variety of public and private sector challenges, with the company emphasizing public safety solutions, including biometrics, over the past few years. One ID extends biometric technology to provide a solution tailored to the growing need for ‘fast travel’ in the airline industry.
The system requires a facial photo of a passenger to be registered when they initially check-in at an airport service desk or self-service KIOSK at Narita Airport. From there, the passenger is able to move more rapidly through the airport, including screening, baggage storage and the boarding gate without having to show a boarding pass or passport. Biometric scanners at each phase of the travel process are able to confirm the individual’s identity, helping to improve traffic flow through the airport and the overall travel experience.
Analyzing the types of data collected by solutions such as One ID requires extensive computing power backed by a flexible, scalable infrastructure that can support usage spikes at peak travel times. The industry’s most comprehensive enterprise Kubernetes platform, Red Hat OpenShift, provides NEC with cloud-native architecture as well as operational agility, future-ready developer services and integration with extended hardware and software systems.
One ID is expected to go live at Narita International Airport’s 1st and 2nd passenger terminals in the near future. Following the introduction of One ID at Narita Airport, NEC aims to continue rolling out advanced solutions in co-operation with domestic and international airports throughout the world.
Ashesh Badani, Senior Vice President, Cloud Platforms, Red Hat, said: “Next-generation technologies must be built on a platform that can deliver stable, production-ready innovation. With Red Hat OpenShift, NEC has the enterprise-grade backbone for One ID which can scale as needed to support high traveler traffic and provide tools, services and flexibility to fuel advances in the traveler experience.”
Toshifumi Yoshizaki, Senior Vice President, NEC Corporation, said: “By combining NEC’s biometric scanning technology with Red Hat’s OpenShift, we have built an agile and highly scalable platform for the future utilizing open, robust and flexible container services. As a result, travelers will be able to proceed quickly at the airport. In the future, we will promote the deployment of this solution at airports in Japan, internationally and throughout a wide variety of industries.”
