German Airline Lufthansa Tests New Tickets with Thumbprint Data

BERLIN (AP) -- German airline Lufthansa said Wednesday it has started testing new tickets encoded with passengers' thumbprint data - a system it hopes will speed up the check-in process without compromising security.

The 14-day test period started Monday, with Lufthansa employees trying out the system, spokesman Thomas Jachnow said. If all goes well, the airline would like to start rolling out the system in 2006.

Though people will still be able to check in using the ``classic system,'' the voluntary use of biometric data would make the process quicker, Jachnow said.

Passengers would be issued tickets encoded with their thumbprint data, then check themselves in by placing their thumbs on a machine. Frequent fliers would have their thumbprint data encoded on their frequent flier cards instead of their tickets, Jachnow said.

The German government is also starting to make use of biometric data in travel documents and will start to issue passports with facial data encoded in them this November. A fingerprint will be added starting in March 2007.