Shipment of 30,000th Passport Reader as MRP deadline nears

Responding to surging demand world-wide, Rochford Thompson passed the landmark this month of completing shipment of the 30,000th Passport Reader since production began in 1993.

To illustrate how Rochford Thompson have become the global leader in this technology, the 30,000th reader itself was shipped to South America where it will be integrated with systems destined for airline use in the Dominican Republic.

In the last year alone, Rochford Thompson have added 26 new Passport Reader customers as more and more airlines automate APIS data collection and state border controls implement scanning of Machine Readable Passports.

Indeed, some of the increase in requirement has been driven by US-VISIT – particularly the USA government mandate that from October 26, 2004, all travellers from countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program must have Machine Readable Passports (MRPs). Use of passport reader technology has been rolled out to most of the USA’s busiest ports of entry already.

Does this mean production will peak this year?

Andre Kay, at Rochford Thompson says “Not at all. We’re scaling production now for continuing rapid growth of Passport Reader demand for the foreseeable future as well as continuing development of the technology.”

“Every week we see new applications for systems that use our readers within the travel security segment. The most demanding in terms of performance will be self-service applications that combine travel document processing and security screening. We understand these requirements well because we listen to what both Governments and Carriers want, which is why more than 80% of the world’s biggest international airlines use our systems.”

September 2004

"Every week we see new applications for systems that use our readers within the travel security segment. The most demanding in terms of performance will be self-service applications that combine travel document processing and security screening. We understand these requirements well because we listen to what both Governments and Carriers want, which is why more than 80% of the world’s biggest international airlines use our systems."

Andre Kay
Rochford Thompson