Government Launches DigiYatra Facility at 3 Airports; Promises Data Security

The Indian government has launched DigiYatra facility at three airports across the country. With the new facility, the passengers will now be able to access a seamless entry for their travel at the airports using facial recognition technology. Starting December 1, the DigiYatra facility will be available on IGI airport in the national capital, Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore and Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi. The service will soon be rolling out to few other airports in the coming year.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia launched the DigiYatra facility at the airport in Delhi on December 1. As stated by the minister, the new check-in facility will ensure the safety of passenger data as it will be stored in an encrypted format.

In the initial phase, the service will roll out for the airlines that are onboard. The passengers taking domestic flights could avail this facility at the airports in Delhi, Bangalore and Varanasi. At present, only three airlines — Air India, Vistara and IndiGo —are part of DigiYatra, meanwhile SpiceJet is planning to join the initiative soon.

In August this year, the DigiYatra programme was rolled out for the Hyderabad International Airport for a period of three months. Meanwhile, the facility is scheduled at four more airports — Hyderabad, Pune, Vijayawada and Kolkata — by March next year.

In the coming time, the services will extended to all major airports in the country. For passengers taking domestic flights and willing to check-in through the new technology, the DigiYatra app is available for Android as well as ioS.

To avail the service, a passenger will be required to register their details on DigiYatra app. This can be done using Aadhaar-based validation and an image of the passenger. Later, the boarding will be scanned, following which the details will be shared with the airport around 24 hours before the flying time. On the airport gate, the passenger will be able to check-in using the barcode on the scanned boarding pass and the facial recognition.

However, other processes including security checking and clearance will take place as per usual norms.