Future Travel Experience (FTE) awarded Chicago O’Hare International Airport for Best Immigration Initiative

CHICAGO, 2013-09-23 — /travelprnews.com/ — Earlier this month, Future Travel Experience (FTE) presented an award to Chicago O’Hare International Airport for ‘Best Immigration Initiative’.

The award, presented at the FTE Global Conference in Las Vegas on September 5, acknowledged O’Hare’s lead on the implementation of Automated Passport Control  (APC) kiosks to reduce waiting times in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) processing areas.

Ryan Ghee, FTE Editor and Frank Grimaldi, CDA Asst. Commissioner, Design and Construction at the FTE confernece in Las Vegas Thirty-two kiosks, which were developed by Vancouver Airport Authority in close collaboration with CBP, were installed in O’Hare International Terminal 5 this summer.

On behalf of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, we want to thank  FTE for recognizing the APC initiative at O’Hare. It was implemented very quickly through the collaboration of the CBP and our airline partners,” said Rosemarie S. Andolino, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA). “Our customers’ time is valuable. The sooner they can travel through our airport- the sooner they can begin enjoying our amazing city.

Since APC was implemented wait times during peak arrival periods have been reduced by 33 percent. Daily “misconnect” passenger volume has also been substantially reduced.

At the same time, daily passenger volume this summer at O’Hare Terminal 5 increased by more than 20 percent to over 15,000 passengers.

O’Hare is the first airport in the U.S. to implement this program. APC can be used by all U.S. passport holders. It is a free service and does not require pre-registration or membership.

Click here for more information about FTE and its conference.

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