Brussels Airport to introduce biometric scanners

More people were caught in Brussels Airport last year trying to pass through security with a disguised look and fraudulent passport, reports De Morgen. These so-called ‘look-alikes’ are people who change their appearance to match the photo on a passport, for example by growing a moustache.

In 2013, about 214 look-alikes were caught at Brussels Airport, compared to 194 the previous year. Last year at Brussels Airport, a total of 1,419 travellers were caught with a forged, falsified, stolen or otherwise fraudulent passport.

"The look-alikes phenomenon is becoming more common," confirms Peter De Waele, spokesman for the federal police. “Wearing a disguise is more and more popular, as passports are increasingly difficult to reproduce.”

Brussels Airport will tackle the problem of look-alikes with the introduction of six new biometric scanners. "The scanners compare the proportions of the head with those on the passport photo, and take a detailed look at the fingerprints," explains De Waele. One such scanner costs around €100,000.