Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has installed 14 Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks, which it says could reduce queuing times by 50% at the customs checkpoint.
Sea-Tac is the eighth North American airport to install APC kiosks, which can be used by US and Canadian citizens, following in the footsteps of Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, DFW, Montréal, Miami and New York-JFK airports.
Instead of filling out a declaration card and presenting their travel documents to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer, eligible passengers can simply answer the customs declaration questions using a self-service kiosk and then present a receipt to a CBP officer.
Charles Goedken, Manager, International Services at Port of Seattle, said: “This is the latest in our cooperative effort with CBP to provide simple, easy-to-use and customer friendly solutions to make the travelling experience as positive as possible. This is necessary to meet the demands of the rapidly increasing number of international flights we are seeing at Sea-Tac.”
Michele James, CBP Director – Field Operations, Seattle Field Office, added: “Automated Passport Control enhances both security and passenger facilitation at our nation’s airports. Passengers choosing to utilise the APC self-service kiosks will benefit from an efficient new system of expedited CBP processing.”
The introduction of APC kiosks is part of Sea-Tac Airport’s strategy to reduce queues and enhance the passenger experience. Last week, we reported on how the airport is using innovative initiatives to improve the airport experience for its customers.
