Kolkata Airport is now one of the few airports in India with facilities enabling passengers to use DigiYatra. The app was launched on Friday, allowing passengers flying through Kolkata to check in for their flights and board aircraft using facial recognition technology. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is now the fourth airport in the nation to offer this service, joining airports in Delhi, Bengaluru, and Varanasi. In all three airports, "DigiYatra" was initially implemented in December of last year. 


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"Its main objective is to enhance the passenger experience by eliminating the need for verification of ticket and ID at multiple touch points and to achieve better movement of passengers through existing infrastructure using a digital framework," the Kolkata airport said in a statement, as per PTI's report. The trials of the technology started at the Kolkata airport on February 21, and till Thursday, 9,206 passengers utilised the facility.


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Passengers travelling through Air India, IndiGo, GoFirst, Vistara, and SpiceJet will be able to use DigiYatra at the Kolkata airport, the statement said. They will be able to use the facility at departure gates 2B and 3A, security hold areas 1, 2, and 3, and boarding gates 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23.


"It will lead to fast passenger movement, paperless travel, more security, and improved airport infrastructure," Kolkata airport director C Pattabhi said, inaugurating the facility. Passengers will now be able to spend more time shopping at the airport, enjoying food and beverages, besides other services, he added, as per PTI's report.


For availing of the service, a passenger has to register their details on the DigiYatra app using Aadhaar-based validation, and a self-image capture. In the next step, the boarding pass has to be scanned and the credentials are shared with the airport.


At the airport e-gate, a registered passenger must first scan the bar-coded boarding pass. The facial recognition system installed at the e-gate will validate the passenger's identity and travel document.


Once this process is done, the passenger can enter the airport through the e-gate. The data shared by passengers for DigiYatra will be stored in an encrypted format in a decentralised manner.