PORTLAND: If you fly internationally into the Portland airport, you should find it’s more efficient getting through customs. That’s because of eight new automated passport control kiosks that went online Friday in the international arrivals hall at PDX.
You simply put your passport up to machine, and it scans it and checks your information. The electronic self-serve kiosks also takes your picture and verify that you and your passport are a match.
Airport officials say it will reduce wait times by 25 to 40 percent, which is helpful when you’re tired and want to get home after a long international flight.
“This applies to all arriving U.S. passengers. It’s a free system so anybody can use it with their passport, so we think it’s a big customer service improvement,” said Vince Granato, Chief Operating Officer of the Port of Portland.
Arriving international passengers will still visit with a human to declare any items they need to, and have their bags inspected, if required.
The cost of the BorderXpress Automated Passport Control kiosks is about $500,000 dollars and includes five years of service support. The cost is covered by fees paid to the port by the airlines.
Granato noted the timing was perfect for the kiosks to go online, with the busy summer travel season here, and with PDX adding several international flights.
