Dubai Airport opts for contactless technology

15 November 2006

Dubai International Airport has selected Eastnets and Zebra Card Printer Solutions to provide an advanced Bitagae ID Card Management and Issuing System.

The system uses contactless smart card technology at electronic gates (eGates) in the airport, and will help to reduce delays by enabling registered passengers to have automated entry or exit through the airport. Passengers using the system will need to swipe their card and have a three second fingerprint scan before proceeding through the airport.

The e-gate card is now being issued to UAE residents, Gulf Cooperative Country residents and 35 other countries across the globe.

Eastnets, which acts as a reseller for Zebra Card Printer Solutions, has provided full integration and a straight through processing application. The resulting system is the Bitagae card management and issuing system, which controls the data entry, enrolment, issuance, personalisation, RFID encoding capabilities and contactless smart cards produced using Zebra printers.

Eastnets launched the project in 2002 with three issuing stations at the departure terminal. Since then, a further dozen issuing stations have been introduced across different locations in Dubai including the arrival terminal, the municipality and Jebel Ali Free Zone. Over 100,000 cards have so far been created using over 25 Zebra printers to produce the contactless smart cards on Mifare cards with lamination that includes ultra violet and micro-printing security features.

“The e-Gate project is the result of over 10 months of concerted efforts by the staff in our IT department and has been devised using cutting edge technologies that ensure accuracy and speed,” says Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Majid Lootah, head of IT Section, Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department.  “Since the entire plan had been conceptualised in-house, we did not have to outsource much of the components.  However, the ID Card Management System (IDM) was one of the critical components requiring specialised expertise. Therefore, we decided to assign the contract to Eastnets because of its abilities in this field. We are pleased with their professional approach which has led to the successful implementation of this project, the first of its kind in the Middle East.”