As travel demand climbs in Canada and around the world, airlines and their partners are looking for ways to move people more efficiently, without compromising the passenger experience.
Toronto Pearson, for example, is prioritizing digital capacity and tools as it embarks on a modernization and expansion program intended to increase capacity from its current 47 million annual passengers to 65 million, within its existing footprint and while reducing friction for travellers.
“We can’t keep thinking solely about adding physical infrastructure as the only way to expand capacity.”
Mark Manickaraj,
Toronto Pearson Airport
Pearson is already working to pilot biometric processing and boarding, deploying four biometric e-gates with partner airline Air Canada as part of a wider digital ID program aimed at making the passenger journey more seamless.
Mark Manickaraj, Executive Director of Digital Products, Data, and AI at Toronto Pearson Airport, believes it is one important part of Toronto Pearson’s effort to meet passengers where they are.
“Passengers today use digital tools and experiences to enhance their daily lives, whether that be banking, shopping, or healthcare, and they expect the same seamlessness when they walk into our airport,” said Manickaraj. “When the journey doesn’t match that expectation, that’s where we see there’s a gap.”
The e-gate deployment, which brings together technology from Toronto Pearson, Air Canada, and several partners, uses a live image of a passenger’s face to verify their identity against an approved traveller record. At the gate, that verification can replace the final passport or boarding pass check.
Toronto Pearson Airport.
The project is part of a much larger effort to rethink how technology supports Canada’s largest and busiest airport. Toronto Pearson currently handles 47 million passengers annually, and expects that number to reach 65 million in the early 2030s. Supporting that growth will require physical expansion, operational improvements, and, according to Manickaraj, digital infrastructure.
“We can’t keep thinking solely about adding physical infrastructure as the only way to expand capacity,” he said. “We need to really look at all of our processes and all the technology that we’ve deployed and really ask ourselves: Are we maximizing our investments? Can we increase capacity with technology and software? And that’s where digital ID shines.”
The digital identity work is expected to scale through Gateway, the terminal-expansion component of Toronto Pearson’s LIFT (Long-term Investment in Facilities and Terminals) program. The multi-billion-dollar LIFT program also includes upgrades to the airport’s existing infrastructure and a revitalization of Terminals 1 and 3. The airport is also exploring ways to make airport wayfinding smoother and more tailored to each unique passenger, and is looking to equip passengers with more personalized, purposeful information about airport services and amenities through digital channels like WhatsApp.
The e-gates are supplied by Dormakaba, a Swiss security technology company. Companies like Airsphere and Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA) provide the middleware that allows the gates to communicate with identity databases, while Air Canada supplies the enrolment software and identity gallery used for participating domestic passengers.
The pilot also depends on close coordination across airlines, airport operators, government agencies, and technology providers. While travellers interact with a single gate, the process relies on multiple systems working together behind the scenes.
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Toronto Pearson’s deployment includes one domestic e-gate and three gates in its transborder area for passengers travelling to the United States. The domestic process requires passengers to enroll through the Air Canada mobile app before reaching the gate. Since a traveller’s image is already captured during US pre-clearance, the three transborder e-gates can compare a live facial image against an existing identity record without requiring registration in advance.
“What we’ve seen, actually, is a very pleasant look on people’s faces when they arrive here and they don’t have to pull out all of their documents,” Manickaraj said.
Toronto Pearson has also observed improvements in boarding times. The airport plans to track usage, processing times, passenger throughput, and customer satisfaction as the program expands. All the while, participation will remain voluntary.
“This will be an opt-in process,” Manickaraj added. “We think that’s really important.”
While Toronto Pearson’s digital ID pilot is currently limited to boarding, it plans to expand biometrics to other passenger processing areas. Manickaraj envisions a future where, once passengers arrive at the airport, they “never have to pull out a document.”
“Our focus is really reducing friction at every touchpoint, and we strongly believe that digital ID is one important part of that effort.”
Mark Manickaraj,
Toronto Pearson Airport
Pearson’s vision extends beyond boarding. The long-term goal is a more connected travel journey where identity can be verified securely across multiple touchpoints, helping passengers move through the airport with fewer interruptions, while maintaining strong privacy and security standards.
Achieving that will require identity infrastructure that Canada does not currently have. The US already operates a biometric matching service for international traveller verification, and the European Union has also rolled out a biometric entry and exit system of its own.
Canada currently has no equivalent national identity gallery that airports and airlines can use to verify travellers, Manickaraj said, which is why Toronto Pearson is working with Air Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency, and other agency partners to develop a privacy-compliant foundation.
“The airlines have brought this to our attention first,” Manickaraj said. “They really see a future where biometrics are used in all parts of the journey, not just at check-in and boarding, but also at all of their gates and lounges, and so they’ve been working very closely with us to enable that experience.”
Manickaraj said privacy is being built into the program from the outset. “Privacy, safety, and security” must come first, he added. “Everything else is secondary to that.”
Pearson is treating digital identity as a foundational part of its operating architecture, and it is betting that biometrics can improve processing, create capacity, and make the passenger experience feel closer to the seamless digital services people already use.
“We’re not just an airport. We’re a gateway into our country. We are a space where millions of adventures begin, and we represent our nation to the world,” Manickaraj said.
“Our focus is really reducing friction at every touchpoint, and we strongly believe that digital ID is one important part of that effort.”
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Explore how Pearson is building a more connected, seamless airport experience.
Feature image courtesy Toronto Pearson Airport.
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