Air travellers can use facial recognition to enter airports, new Digi Yatra ID by 2019

New Delhi: Air travellers will to enter airports in the country with facial recognition biometric under the government's Digi Yatra initiative that aims at promoting paperless and hassle-free air travel.

The Digi Yatra platform would be operational by February 2019 under which  passengers can opt for facial recognition biometric for air travel by creating a Digi Yatra ID.

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said the initiative would be forward-looking and futuristic.

How will Digi Yatra ID be created?

Under Digi Yatra, there would be a centralised registration system for passengers and each of them would get a unique ID. The ID would be shared by passengers at the time of booking tickets. The ID can be created by sharing name, e-mail id, mobile number and details of any identity proof, including Aadhaar.

Before travel, the airline would share the passenger data and the ID with the airport from where the passenger would be flying out.    

There would be one-time verification at the departure airport while travelling for the first time using the ID. After successful verification, facial recognition biometric would be captured and stored in the Digi Yatra ID.

The Digi Yatra initiative was first unveiled last year that aimed at giving air travellers scope to plan their trips efficiently by identifying price trends and estimate future airfares at the time of ticket booking.

Other facilities included receiveing relevant information pertaining to various facilities, protocols, airline timings, queue lengths at airports etc.

The aviation ministry had said that flyers will get real time notifications about congestion and delays to have greater visibility on the next step of journey. They can conveniently navigate through the airport using digital guidance systems, interactive kiosks and augmented reality apps.

Flyers can also get a prompt when their luggage reaches the baggage claim belt and submit grievances, share experiences and provide feedback under the Digi Yatra initiative.

With PTI Inputs