Data input technology company Access IS has become an International Air Transport Association (IATA) Strategic Partner to help develop a standard to assist the airline industry’s acceleration of the adoption of Near Field Communications (NFC) technology for secure, efficient passenger processing.

According to Access, major airports and airlines worldwide use its boarding gate readers (BGRs) and passport readers. It has recently announced that all of its BGRs can now be upgraded to NFC by swapping the bases of the units for NFC-enabled ones. The BGRs remain the same size and their existing functions are unaffected by the change, which takes very little time to implement.

Access says it has developed significant expertise in NFC, which is a standards-based, short-range wireless technology that operates at distances of up to 4cm. It delivers fast, secure, contactless communications between an NFC-enabled portable device, such as a mobile phone or personal digital assistant (PDA), and a complementary NFC-enabled reader, in this case the BGR. The technology is under evaluation by transport agencies in Europe, the US and Japan.

“IATA’s stated aim is to help airlines help themselves by simplifying processes and increasing passenger convenience while reducing costs and improving efficiency,” says Paul Cook, managing director, Access. “NFC is the technology that promises the next major advance for achieving these objectives and we believe that Access’ technology experts can play a significant role in driving its adoption under IATA’s Fast Travel Working Group (FTWG). NFC promises to reduce passenger processing time and cut costs for both airlines and airport operators.”

Access IS will be exhibiting at SDW 2012, Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London 22-23 May.