Pakistan is moving towards a one-window airport clearance system through e-gates and smart scanners to reduce passenger wait times and improve border control.
The plan was discussed on Wednesday during a meeting chaired by Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi, focusing on easing outbound passenger movement while strengthening checks against human smuggling.
The move comes as international passenger traffic continues to grow and complaints about congestion at major airports increase. According to Civil Aviation Authority data, Pakistan handled 25.4 million domestic and international passengers in 2025, a 12 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Officials agreed to improve coordination among airport agencies and replace separate checks with a unified system.
“Joint checking on a single scanner by all institutions will save time and facilitate passengers,” Naqvi said, adding that reducing congestion and waiting times through coordination remains a government commitment.
Under the new plan, joint counters and a single checking system will be introduced so passengers no longer have to move between multiple agency desks.
Modern baggage and document scanners will also be installed to speed up verification and improve detection.
E-gates using biometric passport scanners and facial recognition are expected to reduce immigration clearance time from three to five minutes to less than 45 seconds per passenger.
Officials said that the phased rollout is likely to begin from Islamabad International Airport, where progress on e-gate installation was reviewed.
Naqvi stressed that faster passenger clearance should not affect enforcement measures.
Airlines are also expecting quicker turnarounds once automated gates are introduced.
