JetBlue Enhances JFK’s T5 Services with Automated Passport Control Kiosks

More than 40 new automated passport control (APC) kiosks went live on Wednesday at JetBlue’s new international arrivals hall extension at Terminal 5 (T5) at JFK International Airport.

The kiosks provided by SITA allow international arriving passengers to move through the customs and immigration process more quickly and smoothly.

SITA’s Automated Passport Control self-service kiosks allow passengers to provide their travel document, biometric data and customs declaration prior to speaking to a US Customs and Border Protection officer.

The biometric process on kiosks increases efficiency and streamlines processes at the ports of entry by off-loading work from the immigration counters to the kiosks.

The kiosks are available to JetBlue its passengers from the US, Canada and visa waiver countries as they arrive from international destinations.

“At JetBlue our goal is to put the pleasure back into flying and this includes the arrival experience of our international passengers. We have invested in all our facilities and as part of this SITA’s easy-to-use kiosks will help travelers on arrival and continue the great JetBlue experience on the ground,” said Eash Sundaram, CIO, JetBlue. “We examined what was available in the market and SITA won us over with its experience and the kiosks’ functionality and flexibility. Things like the automatic height adjustment, reactive lighting and SITA’s ambassador application, all added up to the best experience we could offer our passengers.”

Paul Houghton, SITA President, Americas, added, “JetBlue is an airline that has the passenger experience at its core and it was great that we at SITA were able to meet its exacting standards with our automated passport control kiosks. International passengers arriving with JetBlue and its partner airlines will now enjoy a fast and hassle-free move through customs and immigration at JFK T5i with just a few touches of buttons on the SITA APC kiosks.”

In total, 41 Phase 3 APC kiosks are being supplied by SITA at T5. These have been approved by the US Customs and Border Protection for accurate data collection and verification of passenger facial and fingerprint biometrics against passengers’ passports. This means that they can be used to process any passenger from the USA, Canada or any of the 38 visa waiver countries.

SITA has already supplied APC kiosks to many airports across the United States including Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Boston, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.