The picture at Algiers Houari Boumediene
The last obstacle is authorisation
The airport's plan includes facial recognition, automated passage and additional screening equipment. That is a substantial change to the passenger-control process, involving public authorities as well as the airport operator.
In May 2026, chief executive Mokhtar Saïd Mediouni told Horizons that the digital modernisation was practically complete. What it lacked, he said, was approval from higher authorities for operational launch. The earlier December 2025 target had already passed.
This is an unusual case where the most relevant status change may be a government decision rather than a technical installation. It remains unverified as an operating AI system.
Selected implementations
A passenger-control programme awaiting a decision
01 / Reported · unverified
Facial recognition planned for the terminal
The operational problem
Identity verification and passenger screening have to operate within authorised procedures, not merely with functioning cameras and gates.
What the sources report
SGSIA described plans in September 2025 for facial recognition, smart gates and body scanners. The airport chief executive said in May 2026 that the project remained subject to official clearance.
Why it matters
This sequence establishes a credible public-sector programme and an explicitly unresolved permission to operate.
What remains unprovenNo official service-start date, live biometric coverage, model accuracy or passenger-processing result is verified.
Sources and verification (2)
The wider register
What else is happening at Algiers Houari Boumediene?
An older SITA airport-management proposal remains separate. It cannot be used to claim that the facial-recognition programme has started.
Planned SITA airport management solution for Algiers airport's new terminal · Reported · unverified
Biometric Update reported in September 2019 that Algiers airport planned a SITA airport management solution for its new terminal.
Sources and verification (1)
Biometric Update · Evidence grade B
Evidence supports a reported claim; it does not automatically establish a measured operating benefit.
A permission decision worth following
The source trail is clearer about the delayed go-live than about the AI itself. Aerostack should change this assessment only when the authorising decision and real operating scope are documented.