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The Finnish authorities announced the adoption of digital passports for their citizens traveling on flights from Helsinki Airport to a number of British cities, according to CNN, so that passengers on some Finnish Airlines flights can quickly pass through border control centers in Airports, by registering a digital copy of their passports in advance.
The Finnish Border Guard said that it will test the digital passport from Helsinki Airport towards the cities of London, Edinburgh and Manchester in Britain, in cooperation with the Finnish Airlines Company and the National Police. According to what was reported by the Youm7 website in Cairo.
The Border Guard statement said that the pilot project allows passage through border control faster and smoother without the need to stand in a long line, without compromising security standards.
The same source pointed out that “the approved DTC passport is a digital copy of the physical passport, and it is equally reliable.
According to what CNN reported, it is certain that other countries “will follow the new procedure approved by the innovation-loving northern country.”
In this regard, she pointed to the announcement by Changi Airport in Singapore of its intention to start adopting digital passports starting in 2024.
CNN reported that the decision issued last week will expand the freedom of travel of Singaporeans around the world, especially since their passport tops the list of the most powerful passports in the world in 2023.
In the middle of last month, Time Out magazine said that among the most promising innovations in the field of tourism and travel currently is what the State of Finland announced its launch, as its first experience in the field of digital travel credentials (DTC), which is essentially a digital passport that can be Download it via smartphone for travelers.
The magazine specialized in tourism and travel news explained that the experimental implementation of this new innovation is currently taking place in the city of Helsinki in Finland, in cooperation between the Finnish police, Finnair, and the company that operates Helsinki Airport, Finavia.
The possibility of using the new digital passport, which is being used under testing, will currently only be available to citizens with Finnish citizenship.
Tourist destinations were identified through which the use of this digital passport was tested for the first time for the Finnish people, and this included flights to London, Edinburgh and Manchester that began at the beginning of this September.
This may be the first time in the world that digital passports have been used in a real border control environment, however, it is not only Finland that is considering such a feature to facilitate travel.
The European Commission has previously contacted a number of countries within the European Union over the past year to test similar features, and the state of Croatia has volunteered to be among the countries in which this feature is tested, with the digital passport being tested in the Croatian city of Zagreb later in 2023. The current one.
With regard to the Finnish experience, citizens who are available to try the digital passport will have to apply to obtain this passport from the Finnish police, and they will need to download an electronic application dedicated to supporting keeping the passport on their phones, provided that the procedures are completed with prior reservation at the police station in the city of Vantaa, which is located. Close to Helsinki Airport.
To obtain a digital passport, volunteers will have to take a physical copy of their real passport, sign a consent form to participate in the experiment, and extract a new photo of themselves to successfully obtain the passport.