Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    THE Shenzhen airport officially launched the use of e-lanes for departing travelers Friday, as part of the first batch of airports in China to pilot the service.

    The e-lanes, which are installed on the third floor of the airport at the security check area of the international departure hall, enable travelers to pass checks in 10 seconds, compared to the 45 seconds.

    Qualified travelers flying with Shenzhen Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Air Asia and Tiger Airways can enjoy the e-service.

    Chinese mainland passport holders, mainland one-year multiple-entry travel permit holders who have registered their fingerprints with local police, and foreigners who hold e-passports and six-month or above China residence permits and have registered their fingerprints on the police system can apply to use the e-channels.

    Qualified foreigners who haven’t registered biological information on the police data system can register at the checkpoint office prior to using the e-lanes. Fingerprinting and facial registration only requires around 2-3 minutes.

    The Shenzhen airport now has four e-lanes for inbound travelers and 2 e-lanes for outbound travelers. The e-lanes will reduce transit time for passengers taking international and domestic flights, and prompt airline companies to open more international routes in the city.

    According to the airport, it will open four e-lanes before the end of the year to lay an attractive foundation for international aviation businesses.

    In the first half of the year, the Shenzhen airport served 1.06 million passengers, a 33.9-percent increase over the same period last year.

    In another development, mainland passport holders can use e-lanes when leaving and entering the mainland at Shenzhen checkpoints starting Friday. Foreigners who hold six-month residence permits can use e-lanes at checkpoints when they leave the mainland.

    “Previously, only travel permit holders could use e-lanes. Now, Chinese passport holders can use e-lanes,” said Xie Peixuan, a police officer with Huanggang Checkpoint.

    In the first seven months of this year, Shenzhen checkpoints processed 137 million border-crossing travelers, an average of 645,000 a day.