OREANDA-NEWS.   Vancouver Airport Authority today announced the sale of 12 BorderXpress Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks to the City of Phoenix, Ariz. to greatly expedite the customs entry process for international travelers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX).

BorderXpress kiosks help speed up the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) process by an average of 89 percent. International travelers arriving at PHX will experience shorter wait times, less congestion and faster customs processing times. The kiosks will be fully operational in July 2014.

“We are thrilled to partner with the City of Phoenix to improve the international travel experience for passengers flying through PHX,” said Craig Richmond, President & CEO of Vancouver Airport Authority. “YVR BorderXpress APC kiosks provide a quick, easy and secure alternative to the traditional full clearance with a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer by partially automating the inspection declaration process. As a result, airports can process four times more passengers per CBP officer to dramatically cut processing wait times.”

Instead of filling out a declaration card and taking their travel documents to a CBP officer, eligible passengers choosing to use APC can proceed directly to a self-service kiosk in the U.S. CBP customs-control area. The Phoenix kiosks are ESTA-enabled, accepting eligible international travelers with Electronic System for Travel Authorization approval from 38 countries not requiring U.S. entry visas, including Australia, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Travelers then follow the on-screen instructions to scan their passport, answer the customs declaration questions using the touch screen, receive a receipt confirming their information and proceed to the CBP officer to finalize processing. This service is available without pre-registration and at no cost to the user.

PHX is the latest major airport location to implement BorderXpress APC kiosks, which are currently in use at 14 locations across North America—more than any other provider. These international travel hubs include: Atlanta (ATL); Charlotte (CLT); Chicago (MDW); Chicago (ORD); Detroit (DTW); Fort Lauderdale (FLL); Los Angeles’ LAX (Terminal 5); Montreal (YUL); New York’s JFK (Terminals 1 and 4); Newark (EWR); Seattle (SEA) and Vancouver (YVR). In its first year, BorderXpress kiosks have processed more than 5.6 million passengers and counting.