![54% of Airports Now Scan Faces [2026 Data]](/_astro/what-percentage-airports-use-face-scanning.B_ymTNKi_Z1UsXU0.webp)
54% of airports worldwide already have live biometric border control, meaning facial-recognition matching at security or immigration, according to SITA's 2025 Air Transport IT Insights report, which surveyed 236 airports and projects that figure will climb to 83% by 2028. In the United States, the two federal agencies running the checkpoints, TSA and CBP, publish their own separate airport counts, and neither has reached full national coverage yet.
What percentage of airports worldwide use face scanning?
54% of airports globally reported having biometric border control live in 2025, per SITA's Air Transport IT Insights 2025 report, which surveyed 236 airports across every major region. That figure covers any point in the journey where an airport matches a traveler's face against a stored photo, whether that happens at a security lane, an immigration booth, or a boarding gate. SITA's same research found related automation running well ahead of that number at many sites: 77% of airports use self-service kiosks and 63% use automated bag drop, meaning face-matching gates are usually rolled out after, not before, the simpler self-service tools.
The growth curve looks steep from here. SITA expects biometric border control to reach 83% of airports by 2028, a jump of 29 percentage points in three years, driven mostly by airports replacing aging kiosk fleets with combined biometric and self-service units rather than building parallel systems.
Figure 1: Share of surveyed airports with biometric border control live, projected to be added by 2028, and with no current plans. Source: SITA, 2025 Air Transport IT Insights report.
Not every airport counted in that 54% runs the same system. A regional airport with one facial-recognition e-gate at immigration counts the same as a hub running face matching across check-in, bag drop, security, and boarding, so the global figure describes reach, not depth.
What percentage of US airports have facial recognition?
The United States runs two separate facial-recognition systems, and neither one alone gets close to covering every US airport. TSA's PreCheck Touchless ID, the checkpoint-security version that verifies identity without a physical ID or boarding pass, was live at 65 airports nationwide as of June 24, 2026, according to TSA's own press release announcing a new Google Wallet enrollment option. TSA screens passengers at nearly 440 airports nationwide, per the agency's "TSA at a Glance" fact sheet, which puts Touchless ID coverage at roughly 15% of TSA-screened airports.
CBP runs the second system, biometric exit, which photographs departing international travelers at the gate and matches them against passport and visa photos on file. That program was active at 63 US airports as of May 2026, according to CBP's biometrics environments data, up from 57 airports earlier the same year. At roughly 14% of TSA-screened airports, CBP's exit coverage tracks closely with TSA's checkpoint rollout, even though the two systems are run by different agencies for different purposes.
Figure 2: TSA and CBP facial-recognition coverage against the full US airport count TSA screens. Sources: TSA press release (June 2026), CBP biometrics environments data (May 2026), TSA "At a Glance" fact sheet.
A traveler flying internationally out of a large hub can hit both systems on the same trip: TSA's Touchless ID at the security checkpoint, then CBP's exit scan at the departure gate. That overlap is one reason airports collecting this data need to disclose it specifically. A privacy policy generator that lists biometric identifiers as their own data category keeps that disclosure current, since generic "personal information" language does not satisfy the specific-category rules most biometric-privacy statutes require. For a wider look at how biometric data is regulated and monetized outside airports, see our breakdown of the global biometric data market.
How accurate is airport facial recognition, and can travelers opt out?
CBP requires its facial-matching algorithm to hit a minimum 97% accuracy rate, and independent testing by the National Institute of Standards and Technology has found the technology matching travelers at over 98% under CBP's operating conditions. Since the biometric exit and entry programs began, CBP has run facial comparison on more than 939 million travelers and says the process has helped identify more than 2,284 people attempting to enter the country on someone else's travel document.
The system is not error-free. CBP's own testing has found a false-non-match rate, meaning the system fails to match a genuine traveler to their real photo, of up to 3% in some conditions, which at national scale still means thousands of travelers a day get routed to a manual document check rather than being waved through. Opting out is also always available for US citizens: travelers can decline the face scan and present a physical passport instead, though few do. CBP's own participation metrics, as reported by Biometric Update, put opt-out rates at about 0.28% for air-exit travelers, 0.13% for air entrants, and 0.21% for pedestrians crossing land borders, figures CBP has not published in a single dated report but has disclosed piecemeal in briefings and testimony.
Figure 3: How the CBP biometric checkpoint decision tree routes travelers who opt out or fail to match. Source: CBP facial-comparison accuracy requirements and Biometric Update's reporting on CBP participation metrics.
Most travelers never see the opt-out prompt because it takes verbally asking an officer or gate agent, and CBP does not display a default opt-out button at the camera itself.
How many air travelers actually use facial recognition, and are they satisfied?
50% of air travelers reported using biometrics somewhere in their airport journey during 2025, up from 46% in the 2023 survey and 34% in 2022, according to IATA's Global Passenger Survey, which gathers over 10,000 responses from travelers in more than 200 countries in partnership with Ipsos. Usage is heaviest at security, where 44% of surveyed travelers reported using a biometric check, followed by exit immigration at 41% and entry immigration at 35%.
Figure 4: Growth in traveler-reported biometric usage across three IATA survey editions. Source: IATA Global Passenger Survey, 2022, 2023, and 2025 editions.
Satisfaction runs well ahead of adoption. 85% of travelers who have used airport biometrics say they are happy with the experience, and 74% say they would share their biometric data if it means skipping traditional passport and boarding-pass checks at check-in, security, border control, and boarding. That gap between willingness (74%) and actual reported use (50%) suggests availability, not traveler resistance, is the bigger constraint on faster adoption.
How did airport facial recognition expand this fast, and where is it headed?
Airport biometrics did not start with facial recognition. The US-VISIT program, the first large-scale rollout, began January 5, 2004, and required fingerprint scans and a photo from most foreign visitors at 115 airports and 14 seaports. Facial recognition specifically arrived later: CBP and Delta ran the first gate-level facial-boarding pilot at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in June 2017, and CBP's Director of Passenger Systems described early match rates as "in the high 90s" for accuracy.
Figure 5: Key regulatory and deployment milestones from the first fingerprint biometric program to SITA's 2028 projection. Sources: DHS, CBP, TSA, SITA.
CBP now expects biometric exit to reach every commercial US airport and seaport within three to five years, following a final DHS rule that took effect December 26, 2025 and removed the program's earlier cap limiting it to a fixed list of pilot airports.
How do the major airport facial-recognition programs compare?
| Program | Coverage | As of | Key figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| SITA global biometric border control | 54% of airports worldwide (236 surveyed) | 2025 report | Projected 83% of airports by 2028 |
| TSA PreCheck Touchless ID (US checkpoints) | 65 US airports | June 2026 | About 15% of the ~440 airports TSA screens |
| CBP biometric exit (US departures) | 63 US airports | May 2026 | 97%+ minimum required matching accuracy |
| CBP biometric entry and Preclearance | Nearly all US international arrival gates | 2026 | 939M+ travelers processed since program start |
Source: SITA 2025 Air Transport IT Insights report; TSA press release, June 2026; CBP biometrics environments data, May 2026.
The Bottom Line
54% of airports worldwide, and roughly 15% of the airports TSA screens in the US specifically, already run some form of live facial-recognition matching, and every credible projection points toward that share climbing fast rather than plateauing. SITA's 83%-by-2028 forecast and CBP's own three-to-five-year target for full national exit coverage both describe the same trend: airport facial recognition is moving from pilot to default infrastructure, not staying a niche convenience feature. Opt-out remains legally available and functionally almost unused, under 1% across every CBP checkpoint type measured, which means the practical question for most travelers is no longer whether they will be scanned but how many separate systems will scan them on a single trip.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of airports use facial recognition? 54% of airports worldwide already have live biometric border control, meaning facial-recognition matching at security or immigration, according to SITA's 2025 Air Transport IT Insights report, which surveyed 236 airports. SITA projects that share will reach 83% of airports by 2028.
How many US airports have TSA facial recognition? 65 US airports had TSA PreCheck Touchless ID facial-recognition lanes live as of June 24, 2026, according to TSA's own press release announcing a Google Wallet enrollment partnership. That is roughly 15% of the nearly 440 airports TSA screens passengers at nationwide.
How many airports use facial recognition for international departures? 63 US airports had CBP's biometric exit program active as of May 2026, up from 57 earlier in the year, according to CBP's own biometrics environments data. CBP requires a minimum 97% matching accuracy from its algorithm, and independent NIST testing shows the technology matching travelers at over 98%.
Do many travelers opt out of face scanning at airports? No. CBP's own participation metrics, reported by Biometric Update, put opt-out rates at about 0.28% of air-exit travelers, 0.13% of air entrants, and 0.21% of pedestrians at land crossings, meaning fewer than 3 in 1,000 travelers decline the face scan and request a manual document check instead.
Where the Numbers Come From
- SITA. (2025). "Air Transport IT Insights 2025, Airports." Biometric border control live at 54% of surveyed airports (n=236), projected to reach 83% by 2028.
- Transportation Security Administration. (2026). "TSA, Google Wallet Launch New TSA PreCheck Touchless ID Opt-In Experience." Touchless ID facial-recognition lanes live at 65 airports nationwide as of June 24, 2026.
- Transportation Security Administration. "TSA at a Glance." TSA screens passengers at nearly 440 airports nationwide.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (2026). "Biometrics Environments: Airports." Biometric exit live at 63 US airports as of May 2026; over 939 million travelers processed; more than 2,284 imposters identified.
- International Air Transport Association. (2025). "IATA's 2025 Global Passenger Survey." 50% of travelers used biometrics in their airport journey in 2025, up from 46% in 2023 and 34% in 2022; 85% satisfaction; 74% willing to share biometric data.
- Biometric Update. (2025). "DHS Expands Biometric Entry-Exit, CBP to Photograph All Noncitizens at US Borders." CBP opt-out rates of 0.28% (air exit), 0.13% (air entry), and 0.21% (pedestrian), and a false-non-match rate of up to 3% from CBP's own testing.
Note: All figures verified as of September 2026. Airport-count figures from TSA and CBP describe live, rolling deployments that change monthly as both agencies expand coverage, so treat airport totals as current to the cited date rather than fixed.
