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Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) was presented with the "Leadership in Technology Award" at the annual award ceremony of the trade magazine, Airline Business for its contributions to "green approaches" and the use of biometry at passenger check-in.   

The commendation for the award noted: "SAS has demonstrated that a strained commercial position does not necessarily mean that innovation is sacrificed." 

"We are happy to receive this fine award in recognition of our progress," said Peter Söderlund, Vice President, Product Concepts at SAS. 

"We began using biometric scanning of passengers' fingerprints at check-in in response to intensified security requirements. The objective was to find a way to securely connect passengers with tickets and baggage. ID-card control was too complicated in practical terms, since the number of passengers is significant. A fully automatic solution was the solution and the biometry has functioned quite well," said Mr Söderlund. 

On the environmental side, SAS performed 2,300 "green approaches" in 2006 and 2007. Establishing communication between the airline's flight-path computer and the air traffic control system created the possibility to predetermine approaches for optimal flying and considerable time precision. The results included energy saving, fewer emissions and better predictability for everyone at the airport. 

"We have also equipped four aircraft with additional computer-link possibilities and our ambition is to continue with testing and research on how this can be developed to predict the exact flight route for the entire distance," says Peter Larsson, SAS Project Manager. 

"SAS has calculated that it involves an annual emission of approximately 23,000 tons of carbon dioxide, which would be saved at Stockholm's Arlanda airport if full implementation was possible," said Mr Larsson.