The first country in the world to use digital passports

Travellers on some Finnair flights can now quickly pass through border control by pre-registering a digital version of their passport.

Finland has launched a pilot program in partnership with national airline Finnair, airport operator Finavia, and the Finnish Police. The pilot will run until February 2024. Only Finnish citizens flying on Finnair to and from London, Manchester, and Edinburgh will participate in the pilot program, using a new voluntary “Digital Travel Credential” (DTC), according to Forbes.

Finland becomes first country to use digital passports

Travellers using the new digital credentials can “pass through border control faster and more smoothly than usual without queuing,” the Finnish Border Guard said.

Other destinations are sure to follow the lead of this innovation-loving Nordic nation. While the trial is underway in Finland, the European Union wants at least 80% of citizens in the 27-nation bloc to use digital IDs by 2030.

The European Union is co-funding Finland’s digital passport pilot project with €2.3 million ($2.5 million). Along with the six-month pilot, the EU is planning other pilots for Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport in Croatia and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands.

Most countries around the world now issue some form of electronic passport, often identified by a biometric camera icon printed on the cover. RFID chips containing biometric data make passports more difficult to copy or counterfeit.

The US has issued biometric passports by default since 2007. In 2021, a more advanced next-generation passport replaced the original e-passport as the standard travel document in the US. The most notable difference is the polycarbonate data page, which feels more like a passport card or credit card than a passport book. The plastic data page increases the integrity and durability of the passport because its layers are fused together and cannot be separated...

Last week, Singapore's Changi Airport announced that it will no longer require passports by 2024. This is a freedom of movement for Singaporeans, who already enjoy visa-free and visa-on-demand access to more destinations than citizens of any other country. That's why the country's passport tops the list of the world's "most powerful" passports in 2023, according to CNN.

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