Amadeus makes strategic investment in mobile identity solution Airside to ease traveler flow

March 3, 2020

Last updated: October 26, 2020

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Airside’s mobile Passport app is already used by 8 million travelers to enjoy a paperless experience at customs in most major US airports

The move will allow the integration of some of Airside’s components into the Amadeus Traveler ID platform, helping the travel industry to create frictionless experiences for travelers

Proving who you are when traveling can mean repetitive and time-consuming manual checks of paper documents. Washington DC start-up Airside is working to change this by making it quick and simple for a traveler to authenticate themselves, removing ID bottlenecks and making travel a more pleasant experience for all.

Amadeus has made a strategic investment in Airside and its biometrically-enabled identity verification platform, which allows US citizens and Canadian visitors to the US to securely pass through customs using its Mobile Passport app. Authorized by US Department of Homeland Security, the application has already been downloaded by over 8 million passengers and is recognized in more than 30 US airports.

Airside works by empowering travelers to submit their passport and Customs Declaration forms to the app ahead of time, in order to then access separate, fast security lanes at the airport. The traveler simply scans the app and a decision about border entry is made immediately, speeding up their journey.

However, the use-cases for this technology extend beyond custom checks. Whether it means making a booking, boarding a cruise ship faster or checking in to your hotel room remotely, Amadeus is working on a global platform, with strategic partners such as Airside, to allow players across the industry to create memorable, frictionless experiences for their customers.

Amadeus and Airside also share a common vision on privacy. Airside puts privacy and control in the hands of the passenger thanks to its decentralized architecture, which means that passengers control their own data rather than it being stored in a central database that may be vulnerable to breaches.

“This marks the first investment made by Amadeus Ventures this year. As with all our investments, it is centered around solutions that improve the passenger experience. Biometrics is a key trend for the industry, and one we feel has the potential to reshape air travel as we know it today. Airside has developed an innovative identity management solution that presents many opportunities to improve the passenger journey” said Suzanna Chiu, Head of Amadeus Ventures, Amadeus.

Hans Miller, CEO, Airside remarked, “Airside applications include privacy by design, and we keep security at the heart of everything we do. We feel this investment from Amadeus is testament to the potential of our solutions to help improve the experience for passengers worldwide.”

Airside has previously received investment from backers including Bain Capital, Blazar Ventures, GroTech Ventures and several other leading VC firms.

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