Coronavirus: Etihad, Elenium trial airport check-in that doubles as health test

Etihad and Australian firm trial self-serve check-in kiosks that test passenger health, potentially identifying signs of COVID-19.

The Elenium Automation check-in kiosk being trialled at Abu Dhabi airport. Picture: Supplied

Etihad Airways has partnered with an Australian company to trial new technology which turns self-serve check-in kiosks into a health check for travellers, potentially identifying the early stages of COVID-19.

Developed by Elenium Automation, the technology can monitor the user’s temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate. If any sign of potential illness is detected, the check-in process is automatically suspended.

At that point, it will divert to a teleconference or alert qualified staff on site who can make further assessments and manage travellers as appropriate.

The technology can be used at bag-drop points or security screening areas as well and will be trialled at Etihad’s hub airport in Abu Dhabi from the end of April and throughout May.

Working with Amazon Web Services, Elenium has also developed hands-free technology to allow the use of self-service devices through voice recognition, further minimising the potential of any viral or bacterial transmission.

Elenium Automation CEO and co-founder Aaron Hornlimann said patents had been lodged for both the automatic detection of illness symptoms at a self-service touchpoint and touchless self-service technology.

“Combined this would ensure health screenings can become standard across airports without putting staff in harm with manual processes,” Mr Hornlimann said.

“The system would screen every individual including multiple people on the same booking.

“We believe this approach is a world first.”

He said the technology could be retrofitted into any airport kiosk or bag drop or installed as a desktop system at a passenger processing point such as an immigration desk.

“We believe the introduction of touchless self-service and automated health screening will encourage passengers to return to travel sooner,” said Mr Hornlimann.

Etihad Airways vice president of hub and midfield operations, Jorg Oppermann said the technology was not designed or intended to diagnose medical conditions.

“It is an early warning indicator which will help to identify people with general symptoms, so that they can be further assessed by medical experts,” Mr Oppermann said.

“This would potentially prevent the spread of some conditions to others preparing to board flights to multiple destinations.”

He said it had long been the case that aircraft, with their “highly-sophisticated air-recycling systems and standards of hygiene were not the transmission vehicle for illnesses”.

“We are testing this technology because we believe it will not only help in the current COVID-19 outbreak but also into the future, with assessing a passenger’s suitability to travel and thus minimising disruptions,” said Mr Oppermann.

“At Etihad we see this is another step towards ensuring that future viral outbreaks do not have the same devastating effect on the global aviation industry as is currently the case.”

Etihad has resumed flying a reduced schedule of services with the aim of helping foreign citizens get home from Abu Dhabi.

The airline was forced to suspend all international flights on March 25 at the direction of the United Arab Emirates government, along with the Dubai-based carrier Emirates.