Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson and Chicago O'Hare, among the world's busiest airports, have deployed biometric Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks, which offer a rapid means of reducing congestion at international arrivals, a  report said.

"APC kiosks reflect a decisive global trend towards expediting international airport passengers through rapid adoption of automated border control technology,” Maxine Most, Principal at Acuity Market Intelligence was quoted as saying in eTN Global Travel News.

The global APC kiosk market could be nearly 8,000 units and worth more $550 million in revenues by 2018, eTN quoted a market intelligence report.

"Currently, less than 400 APC kiosks have been deployed in 13 airports in the US and Canada," Most, a biometric identity and security technology expert, was quoted as saying in the eTN report.

"APC kiosk numbers will grow rapidly as they migrate globally to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Though North America currently represents 100 per cent of the APC Kiosk market, by 2018 Europe will dominate with 42 per cent market share, while Asia at 24.4 per cent will exceed North America at 16.6 per cent."

International travellers will be able to quickly clear passport control by entering their own immigration information via APC kiosks.